French Boullabaisse

As many of you know I am in my last semester of college right now, i am set to graduate on July 23rd and I am so, incredibly excited!! One of my classes I am taking right now for my culinary minor is International Foods. I have been waiting to take this class since I started the program a year and a half ago.  Well now i'm finally in it and I love it!! So every week we work on one contry. We read about and we prepare food from that country and then all sit down together and enjoy it! It's awesome!! Last week we did France and it was to die for! Let me share with you one of my favorite recipes from the day. Just so you can understand how amazing this soup was I liked it more than the crepes and the creme puffs! So yeah...

First let me show you all of our food and the the beautiful place setting just to brag for a second!

So amazing!!! Ok now Here is the recipe. This is a simplified-more realistic version of the soup we made called Boullabisse.

Boullabaisse

Serves 15 people

Ingedrients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
• 1 large onion, peeled and sliced
• 1 small fennel bulb, thinly sliced
• 1 large pinch saffron, soaked in 2 tablespoons orange juice for 10 minutes (optional)
• 1 strip orange zest
• 1 (14-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, in juice
• 6 cups seafood stock (sold at most fish markets) or clam juice
• Some or all of the following seafood (ask your fish seller for enough to serve 4 to 6 people): halibut, cod, tilapiacrabmeat; clams or mussels
• 1 bunch Italian parsley, chopped

1. Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, onion, and fennel and saut until just brown, 5 to 10 minutes.

2. Add the saffron (if using), orange zest, tomatoes, and stock or clam juice.

       You can leave out the saffron to save money. It is very expinsive especially for a college student. It is a great addtion, but if you don't want to break the bank, leave it out.

3. Bring to a boil and cook until the vegetables are tender and the liquid is reduced by half, about 20 minutes.

4. Reduce heat to medium and add the fish (but not shellfish). Cook for about 2 minutes.

5. Add any clams, mussels, and shrimp. Simmer until the shells just begin to open, about 4 minutes more.

           You can pick and choose the type of seafood you use. The more seafood you add, the better! I really loved the different varities of seafood. Also the broth is amazing, so if you like the flovor, but you don't like the texture of seafood, you really could just strain it out!

6. Add any crabmeat.

7. Cook until all shells have opened, the shrimp is pink and curled, and the fish flakes easily, about 2 minutes.

8. Serve from the pot, sprinkled with the parsley and topped with crusty bread and a dollop of rouille.


That's it!! Pretty easy right?! The longer you let it cook at step 3, the better! Let it simmer as long as you can! Let me know how you like it! I took this recipe and made some for the hubby and he loved it! This is a good one if you really want to have something fancy!