My Little Fish Soup Recipes

FISH SOUP

Steps:

• In a stockpot, combine the fish stock and the water. Add the bay leaves, oregano, 1 teaspoon of the black pepper, red pepper, onion, carrot and tomatoes. Bring to a boil and cook over medium-low heat until the vegetables are very soft, about 35 minutes. Strain the stock, pressing the vegetables firmly to extract all the juices.
• Return the strained stock to the pot and add the fish. Cook the fish at a slow simmer until the flesh flakes easily. (Boneless fillets will cook very quickly, in two or three minutes, depending on the thickness. A whole fish may take as much as 25 to 30 minutes.) Remove the fish when done and, if using a whole fish or fish steaks, discard skin and bones. Set the flesh aside in a bowl, drizzling one or two tablespoons of oil over the top to keep it from drying out.
• Add the potato cubes to the stock and cook for 10 minutes or so, or until the potato pieces are tender. Using a slotted spoon, remove and pile the potatoes on top of the fish pieces. Drizzle another tablespoon or two of oil over the top of the potatoes.
• Add rice to the fish stock and cook gently for 45 minutes. The rice should disintegrate into the stock and give it a slightly gelatinous consistency. The recipe may be made ahead of time up to this point and refrigerated if necessary.
• When ready to serve, add the fish and potatoes to the stock and return it to a slow simmer. In a bowl, beat together the eggs and lemon juice until thoroughly mixed. Slowly beat a ladleful of hot stock into the egg mixture, and continue adding la dlefuls one by one, beating constantly, until the egg mixture is close to the temperature of the simmering stock. Carefully stir the hot-egg mixture into the stock. Continue to cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly, until the stock has thickened slightly. Do not let the stock boil or the eggs will scramble.
• When the soup is thickened, remove it from the heat and stir in the hot pepper flakes as well as the salt and black pepper, if desired. Serve immediately, garnished with a little chopped green parsley.

PAM'S POACHED FISH SOUP

Steps:

• Melt butter in a 5- to 6-quart pot over medium heat. Add onion, celery, and carrot; saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Pour in chicken broth, tomatoes, wine, and lemon juice. Bring to a boil. Add tilapia, herbs, salt, and pepper. Reduce heat, cover pot partially, and simmer until tilapia starts to flake, about 10 minutes.
• Transfer tilapia to a plate and cover to keep warm. Simmer cooking liquid until slightly thickened, 10 to 15 minutes. Return tilapia to the pot and heat through, 1 to 2 minutes.

FISH SOUP

Steps:

• Heat a large heavy stockpot and to it add the olive oil. Add the fish bones and cook them over low heat, covered, until any flesh on them flakes from the bones. Add the vegetables and any shells from the shrimp, cover and cook over low heat until the vegetables sweat, about 10 minutes.
• Deglaze the pot with the wine, scraping up any particles sticking to the bottom of the pan. Stir in the saffron, thyme, and basil.
• Add the fish stock or water, and let the mixture gently boil for 1 hour. Then puree it in a food processor or pass it through a food mill. Pass the puree through a medium strainer into a clean stockpot. Stir in the Pernod. Season the base, to taste, with salt, pepper and cayenne. The soup should have a full-bodied flavor: If it seems weak, reduce it over low heat to concentrate the flavor.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Skim any fish oil from the top of the soup and reserve it to stir into the rouille.
• Toast the croutons in the oven until golden, and then brush with rouille.
• Bring the soup to a boil. Add the shellfish and/or uncooked fish fillets to the soup, 1 variety at a time. Cook each until done; then remove from the soup and keep warm. (The lobsters will take about 10 minutes and their shells will be bright red when done; medium shrimp will take 3 or 4 minutes to cook; fish fillets from 1 to 7 minutes, depending on their thickness (they should remain slightly underdone); and the mussels and clams only cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until their shells open).
• Presentation: Place 1 crouton in the bottom of each large, shallow, heated soup plates. Then arrange the fish and/or shellfish around each crouton. Ladle the hot soup over all. Serve immediately. Pass additional rouille in a separate serving bowl.
• Clean the fish bones under cold running water, removing the gills from the head and any traces of blood on the frames.
• In a large saucepan, heat the oil. In it sweat the fish bones and vegetables over low heat, covered, for 10 minutes, stirring once or twice to prevent them from browning.
• Deglaze the pan with the wine, and then add enough water to cover the bones and vegetables by 2 inches. Add the bouquet garni and bring the liquid to a boil. Skim the froth from the surface, reduce the heat, and simmer the stock for 20 to 25 minutes.
• Strain the stock into a clean saucepan. Bring it to a boil and reduce it over medium heat to 1 quart.
• Note: Fish stock will keep in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days or frozen for 2 to 3 weeks. After that time the flavor begins to fade.
• Yield: 1 quart
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 35 minutes
• In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, garlic, mustard, and chili flakes. Whisk in the oil in a very slow steady stream until the sauce begins to emulsify. Add the remaining oil in a thin stream until all of it is incorporated. Add the saffron. Thin the sauce with the stock and season, to taste, with lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
• Yield: 1 1/2 cups
• Prep Time: 10 minutes

" LITTLE BEAR'S" SEAFOOD SOUP

Steps:

• saute onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until onion is almost tender.
• Sprinkle in 2 tablespoons Old Bay Seasoning and stir constantly for about 30 seconds.
• Add in chicken stock, red wine vinegar, oregano, parsley, and Tabasco. bring to almost boiling over medium heat.
• While this is heating, lay out frozen seafood mix, shrimp, and catfish on a cutting board. Sprinkle with the juice from one lemon. Then sprinkle with remaining one tablespoon Old Bay Seasoning and black pepper. Let this stand while mixture is heating.
• When liquid is almost boiling add in the seafood mix, rice, tomato soup, canned tomatoes and okra. Be sure to add all liquid from both the tomatoes and okra. Lastly, add in the gumbo filé.
• Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

MY LITTLE FISH SOUP

Steps:

• Cut the vegetables for the soup into pieces (tomatoes, onion, carrot, leek, celeriac, ginger).
• Clean the herrings, remove dorsal fin and cut them into larger pieces. If you like you can leave the tail fin.
• Heat olive oil in pot and sear herring on both sides for about 1 minute. If you didn't remove the tail fins, remove these four pieces and set aside.
• Add the anchovy fillets and sear for another minute.
• Add all the vegetables, curry powder and cayenne pepper powder and cook for about 3 minutes. Stir well.
• Add fish broth and water and cook , reduce heat to low and cook for about 1 hour and stir from time to time.
• While the soup is cooking cut the fish filets into bite-sized pieces. Clean the tiger prawns. Set aside.
• For Aioli cut the garlic into pieces and add it together with olive oil and egg yolks into your food processor. Mix until smooth and creamy. Salt to taste. Put Aioli into a small bowl and set aside.
• Cut french bread into slices and toast until golden brown. Set aside.
• After 1 hour cooking take soup from heat and puree soup until smooth. You can do this in your food processor. The soup should be very smooth and creamy. You can sieve the soup to remove all remaining pieces and fish bones.
• Put soup on oven over low heat again and add sherry, lime juice, sugar, and saffron. Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Add salmon and tilapia pieces, tiger prawns, and the tail pieces of the herrings. Let simmer for about 10 minutes or until fish is done and flakes easily.
• Divide the soup into bowls and serve with Aioli and toasted french bread on the side.
• NOTE on "small whole fish": I use herrings.
• NOTE on fish tails: I don't remove the tail fin and use these pieces for decoration. If you don't like them, remove them. In this case you can leave all herring pieces in the soup.