Fish Soup With Potatoes And Fennel Recipes

FISH SOUP WITH POTATOES AND FENNEL

Steps:

• In a 6- to 8-quart pan, combine broth, wine, cream, fennel seed, and thyme.
• Peel potatoes and thinly slice into pan. Cover pan and turn heat to high.
• Trim tops from fennel and save the feathery greens. Trim off root ends, bruised areas, and coarse fibers from sides of fennel. Rinse and thinly slice fennel and add to soup. When mixture boils, reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are very tender when pierced, about 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, rinse feathery fennel greens and chop.
• Scrub mussels and pull off beards.
• Shell, devein, and rinse shrimp.
• Cut seabass into 1-inch chunks.
• When potatoes are tender, add mussels. Cover and simmer 3 minutes. Add shrimp and seabass and simmer until mussels open, 3 to 5 minutes more. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with reserved fennel greens.

FENNEL AND POTATO SOUP

Steps:

• Slice the fennel into medium-size pieces.
• Heat butter and olive oil together in a pot over medium-low heat. Add sliced fennel, spring onions, and 1 cup of the stock. Cover and simmer gently for 15 minutes until fennel is soft and translucent.
• Pour remaining stock into the pot; add potato. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer gently until the potato is very soft and cooked through, about 25 minutes. Gently mash vegetables with a potato masher or the back of a wooden spoon until soup is thick and chunky. If soup is too thick, stir in water by tablespoons to your desired consistency. Season with black pepper. Let rest 5 minutes to allow flavors to develop before serving.

FISH SOUP WITH FENNEL

Steps:

• Slice the fennel and onion thinly, setting aside the green fennel fronds.
• Cut fish in bite sized pieces.
• Saute the fennel and onion in olive oil in a soup pot until soft but not brown.
• Add seasonings, water and dashi.
• Simmer, covered, on low for 15 minutes.
• Add fish, wine and fennel fronds.
• Continue simmering for 15 minutes.
• Taste and adjust seasonings.
• Serve with French bread and white wine.
• Note: Using dashi no moto (available in oriental grocerie stores) is an easy way of making fish stock. You may substite 2 Knorr fish boullion cubes or 2-8 oz. bottles of clam juice.

FISH SOUP WITH FENNEL AND PERNOD

Steps:

• Stage 1, pre-bedtime. Put onion, celery, garlic and fennel in a food processor, and pulse gently until chopped into a coarse paste.
• Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add coarsely processed vegetables to pan, and sauté, stirring often, until softened, about 4 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons Pernod, and boil until almost evaporated. Add red pepper flakes, and season with salt and pepper.
• Pour in wine, and bring to a boil. Reduce for 2 minutes, and add tomato purée and chopped tomatoes. Bring to boil, stir, cover and remove from heat.
• Stage 2, post-bedtime. Return saucepan to medium heat until barely simmering. Gently slide mussels and fish into broth. Bring broth back to a simmer, and cook, stirring once or twice to give mussels room to open, until mussels and fish are cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes.
• Divide mussels and fish into warmed bowls. Pour soup over all, and scatter with fennel tops. Sprinkle with remaining teaspoon Pernod (skip Pernod if children are eating) and more olive oil. Serve immediately with crusty bread, if desired.

CIOPPINO (SEAFOOD SOUP) WITH FENNEL AND GARLIC

Steps:

• In a large, heavy saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the chopped fennel, onion, shallots, and garlic and sauté for 4 to 5 minutes, until golden brown. Stir in the wine, then the tomatoes, parsley, red pepper flakes, clam juice, and water. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over high heat, then decrease the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the butter and stir to melt, then remove from heat.
• In a large cast iron skillet, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat and toss on the mussels and clams. Cook for 4 minutes. As the mussels and clams begin to open, add the fish, calamari, and shrimp, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sauté for 2 to 3 minutes, until the shrimp turn pink. Discard any mussels or clams that don't open. Add 1 cup of the tomato mixture and simmer for 5 minutes. Transfer the contents of the skillet to the saucepan with the remaining tomato mixture and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes.
• Ladle into soup bowls. Sprinkle with the basil, garnish with the fennel fronds, and serve immediately.