Fish Tea Caribbean Bouillabaisse Recipes

BOUILLABAISSE

Steps:

• For the Rockfish Soup:
• Prepare the fish by cutting off the gills and external hairy bits and discarding. Keep the fish in salt water.
• Put the small rock fish (girolles, baby crabs, stone fish) into a large saucepan of cold water on high heat. Add the thyme, rosemary and bay leaves. Bring slowly to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes.
• For the Soup:
• Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cook the chopped onions until translucent. Pour in the tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes, then add the sliced potatoes. Place the pieces of John Dory and the monkfish on top.
• Strain the rock fish soup through a strainer on top of the fish and boil for 5 minutes.
• Place the rascasse, scorpion fish, and red mullet on top. Add a pinch of saffron and watch soup turn a rich yellow color. Finally add the lobster halves and cook for a maximum of 5 minutes.
• Serve the big fish on a serving plate and the soup in a casserole. Serve the pieces of fish on the plate with potato slices and the Croutons with Rouille and pour the soup over the top. Eat immediately.

BOUILLABAISSE

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, and add the onions, leeks, chopped tomatoes, and garlic. Cook and stir over a low heat for a few minutes until all vegetables are soft.
• Stir in the fennel, thyme, bay leaf, and orange zest. Add shellfish and boiling water; stir to combine. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Turn up the heat to high, and boil for about 3 minutes to allow the oil and water to combine.
• Add fish, and reduce the heat to medium. Continue cooking for 12 to 15 minutes, or until fish is cooked. The fish should be opaque and tender, but still firm. Fish should not be falling apart.
• Taste the bouillabaisse and adjust the seasoning. Stir in saffron, and then pour soup into a warmed tureen or soup dishes. Serve immediately.

BOUILLABAISSE

Steps:

• To make the croutons heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Lay the slices of bread on a flat baking tray in a single layer, drizzle with olive oil and bake for 15 mins until golden and crisp. Set aside - can be made a day ahead and kept in an airtight container.
• Use a layer of the green part of the leek to wrap around and make a herb bundle with the thyme, bay, parsley stalks, orange peel and chilli. Tie everything together with kitchen string and set aside.
• Heat the oil in a very large casserole dish or stock pot and throw in the onion, sliced leek and fennel and cook for about 10 mins until softened. Stir through the garlic and cook for 2 mins more, then add the herb bundle, tomato purée, star anise, Pernod if using, chopped tomatoes and saffron. Simmer and stir for a minute or two then pour over the fish stock. Season with salt and pepper, bring to a simmer, then add the piece of potato. Bubble everything gently for 30 mins until you have a thin tomatoey soup. When that piece of potato is on the brink of collapse, fish it out and set aside to make the rouille.
• While the broth is simmering make the rouille by crushing the garlic, chilli and saffron with a pinch of salt in a mortar with a pestle. Mash in the cooked potato to make a sticky paste then whisk in the egg yolk and, very gradually, the olive oil until you make a mayonnaise-like sauce. Stir in the lemon juice and set aside.
• Once the chunky tomato broth has cooked you have two options: for a rustic bouillabaisse, simply poach your fish in it along with the mussels, if you're using (just until they open) and serve. For a refined version, remove the herb bundle and star anise. Using a handheld or table-top blender, blitz the soup until smooth. Pass the soup through a sieve into a large, clean pan and bring to a gentle simmer. Starting with the densest fish, add the chunks to the broth and cook for 1 min before adding the next type. With the fish we used, the order was: monkfish, John Dory, grey mullet, snapper. When all the fish is in, scatter over the mussels, if using, and simmer everything for about 5 mins until just cooked and the mussels have opened.
• Use a slotted spoon to carefully scoop the fish and mussels out onto a warmed serving platter, moisten with just a little broth and scatter over the chopped parsley. Bring everything to the table. Some people eat it as two courses, serving the broth with croutons and rouille first, then the fish spooned into the same bowl. Others simply serve it as a fish stew. Whichever way you choose the rouille is there to be stirred into the broth to thicken and give it a kick.

CARIBBEAN FISH SOUP

Steps:

• Rinse fish with lemon juice; drain.
• Bring water to a boil in a large bowl. Add fish; simmer until soft, about 30 minutes. Strain fish, reserving broth. Let fish cool. Remove bones, trying to keep large pieces of fish intact.
• Bring broth to a boil. Add green bananas, pumpkin, potatoes, corn, carrots, okra, scallions, chile pepper, garlic, salt, pepper, and thyme. Bring back to a boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer until potatoes are almost tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in fish. Simmer until flavors combine, about 5 minutes more.
• Remove soup from heat and let stand before serving, about 30 minutes. Discard chile pepper.

CARIBBEAN BOUILLABAISSE

Steps:

• Fill a tall stockpot with water; bring to a boil. Add lobsters, and cook 9 minutes. Remove lobsters from water; set aside until cool enough to handle. Separate claws and tails from bodies; set all parts aside.
• Make a bouquet garni by placing thyme sprigs, bay leaves, 10 parsley sprigs, and peppercorns in a 12-inch-square piece of cheesecloth. Form a bundle, and tie with kitchen twine. Set bouquet aside.
• In a wide, low-sided stockpot, combine 1 tablespoon butter and 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil; melt over low heat. Add the shallots and garlic; cook until vegetables are translucent, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, remove and discard the peel and pith from limes; cut the flesh in half, and set aside. Transfer the shallot mixture to a small bowl, and set aside.
• Place lobster bodies in the wide stockpot. Raise the heat to medium, and cook, stirring constantly, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the lime flesh and Pernod; light a long wooden match, and carefully ignite Pernod. Allow the flame to burn out. Add saffron; cook 1 minute more. Add tomato paste, bouquet garni, and fish stock. Raise heat to high, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and let stock simmer, skimming foam as it rises to the surface, until stock is reduced by one-third, about 40 minutes. Set a cheesecloth-lined sieve over a large bowl, and strain stock; set aside. Discard solids, and rinse stockpot.
• Using kitchen shears, cut open a lobster tail, and carefully remove the meat in one whole piece; set aside. Repeat with remaining tails, and slice meat in half lengthwise. Crack or cut open each claw, removing meat in one piece. Discard shells, and set the meat aside, covered.
• Heat the remaining tablespoon olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Working in batches, cook the snapper fillets until browned and crisp, 3 minutes on each side. Transfer fillets to a plate, and set plate aside in a warm place.
• Melt the remaining 1/2 tablespoon butter in the rinsed stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the reserved shallot mixture, shrimp, and mussels; saute 4 minutes. Add strained stock, Tabasco, and salt; simmer 3 minutes. Add reserved lobster meat; cook until mussels open and shrimp have cooked through, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
• To serve, place a snapper fillet in each of six large soup plates, and evenly distribute the shellfish and broth among the bowls. Coarsely chop the remaining 6 sprigs of parsley, and garnish bouillabaisse.