Shipping to:Chico, CA

From Our Kitchen to Yours: Seafood Bouillabaisse

Our Pacific Coast Contemporary kitchen is the perfect setting for a steaming bowl of seafood stew.

Maverick Watson

Our newest set, a kitchen and laundry room we call “Pacific Coast Contemporary” calls to mind sweeping views of the pacific ocean. This inspired me to make bouillabaisse, which is a highly-seasoned fish stew made with at least two kinds of fish.

The components of this dish are: seafood broth and poached seafood—shrimp, rockfish, monkfish, scallops, and mussels — served with rouille and baguette. To make this bouillabaisse, you can use any combination of seafood in the stew that you like, but I suggest using shrimp for the quality that the shells add to the stock.

Seafood Broth

Chopping vegetables, sautéing vegetables in olive oil.

Ingredients

1 Tbsp olive oil 
1 onion, sliced
1 can San Marzano tomatoes, strained and crushed 
1 Tbsp tomato paste
4 cloves garlic 
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 leek, chopped
1 fennel bulb, sliced (fronds saved for garnish) 
1 sprig fresh thyme 
1 bay leaf 
Zest of 1 Orange
Pinch of saffron
1 lb shrimp, deveined, chopped with shells
Bones, skin, or heads of other fish used for poached seafood
2 oz Pernod and/or dry white wine
1/2 gallon of water
Fresh parsley

Green chopped parsley, red tomato paste, chopped raw shrimp, white wine

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven until simmering.

Add the onion, garlic, celery, leek, fennel bulb, orange zest, saffron, thyme, and bay leaf.

Drizzle with kosher salt and sauté until the vegetables are softened, about 10 minutes.

Mix in the tomato paste and brown, then add the crushed canned tomatoes.

Add chopped raw shrimp and any other fish bones or heads, stirring occasionally.

As the vegetables begin to brown, add the Pernod/white wine to deglaze the pan.

Add enough water to cover all the ingredients and bring to a rapid boil.

Boil hard for 5 minutes, allowing the olive oil to emulsify in the broth.

Reduce heat to a simmer and cover, cooking for 45 minutes.

After 45 minutes, remove the bay leaf and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Remove the bay leaf and add all the hot ingredients to a blender or food processor, in batches if necessary.

Once pureed, pass broth through a mesh sieve or chinois back into the Dutch oven.

Adjust the texture of your soup base by using more water and adding salt to taste.

Poached Seafood

Tray of fish, shrimp and mussels, blended red sauce in mesh sieve

Ingredients

1 lb mussels
Kosher salt and pepper
1 lb. prawns, sliced in half lengthwise
1 lb rockfish, deboned and cut into 2-inch pieces (save bones)
1 lb monkfish, deboned and cut into pieces
½ lb scallops

Tray with chopped fish, halved shrimps, black mussels.

Directions

Poach the fish in the simmering pot of broth until cooked thoroughly, then remove using a slotted spoon.

After the scallops, prawns, and fish have been cooked, add the mussels to the broth.

Cover and cook until all mussels have opened.

Remove meat from the shells or not, depending on your desired presentation.

Rouille & Toast

Baguette slices on baking sheet, white rouille sauce in bowl

For a simple rouille, add a dash of saffron, minced garlic, a dash of cayenne pepper and a teaspoon of breadcrumbs to your favorite mayonnaise. However, if you want to make your own from scratch you can follow these directions.