Spicy Bouillabaisse Recipes

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:

• Make croutons:
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 250°F.
• Arrange bread slices in 1 layer in a shallow baking pan and brush both sides with oil. Bake until crisp, about 30 minutes. Rub 1 side of each toast with a cut side of garlic.
• Make soup:
• Plunge lobster headfirst into a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling water, then cook, covered, 2 minutes from time lobster enters water. Transfer lobster with tongs to a colander and let stand until cool enough to handle. Discard hot water in pot. Put lobster in a shallow baking pan. Twist off claws with knuckles from body, then crack claws with a mallet or rolling pin and separate claws from knuckles. Halve body and tail lengthwise through shell with kitchen shears, then cut crosswise through shell into 2-inch pieces. Reserve lobster juices that accumulate in baking pan.
• Cook tomatoes, onion, and garlic in oil in cleaned 6- to 8-quart pot over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Meanwhile, peel potatoes and cut into 1/2-inch cubes. Stir potatoes into tomatoes with fennel fronds, bay leaf, saffron, sea salt, and pepper. Add stock and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, until potatoes are almost tender, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Add thicker pieces of fish and cockles to soup and simmer, covered, 2 minutes. Stir in mussels, shrimp, lobster, including juices, and remaining fish and simmer, covered, until they are just cooked through and mussels open wide, about 5 minutes.
• Stir 3 tablespoons broth from soup into rouille until blended.
• Arrange 2 croutons in each of 6 to 8 deep soup bowls. Carefully transfer fish and shellfish from soup to croutons with a slotted spoon, then ladle some broth with vegetables over seafood.
• Top each serving with 1 teaspoon rouille and serve remainder on the side.

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.

SIMPLE BOUILLABAISSE

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the tomatoes, onion, carrot, saffron, bay leaf and parsley. Peel and crush 1 garlic clove and add it to the pan. Add the fish, shrimp and lemon juice, season with salt and pepper and boil for 10 minutes. Add the fish broth and wine, bring to a rapid simmer and cook until the fish is just cooked through. Adjust the seasoning, adding more saffron, lemon juice, salt and pepper as desired.
• Rub the toasts with the remaining peeled garlic clove. Set a toast in the bottom of each of 6 bowls and ladle the soup on top.

SPICY BOUILLABAISSE

Steps:

• In a large oven-proof dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat.
• Add in the onion and garlic, stir/saute for 5 minutes or until tender.
• Add in flour, stir to blend.
• Add in curry, cloves, sugar, saffron, salt, and pepper; stir to combine.
• Add in tomato juice and Tabasco; stir constantly and bring to a boil.
• Lower the heat and add clams with their juice, wine, and parsley.
• Simmer for 10 minutes.
• Add in the remaining seafood and bake in a 375° oven, uncovered, for about 20 minutes or until the fish flakes.

MIAMI SPICED BOUILLABAISSE

Steps:

• For the broth: Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, peppers, Aji, habanero, garlic, fennel, and saffron and saute, stirring constantly, until just soft. Deglaze with sherry, and reduce by 1/2. Add the lobster stock and reduce half way down. Add the cream. Allow to come to a boil and remove from the heat. Allow to cool, puree in a blender.
• For the seafood: In a large deep saute pan with large surface area, heat olive oil. On medium heat, add scallops, clams, head on shrimp and cook for 1 minute. Add shrimp, snapper, mussels, razors, and bay scallops. Add broth and cook seafood until shrimp is tender and clams are open. Finish with cilantro and lime juice and season with salt and pepper.

NEW ORLEANS-STYLE BOUILLABAISSE

Steps:

• For the broth: Heat the oil in a medium pot over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp heads and shells and saute a few minutes until starting to brown. Add the celery, bay leaf, leeks, onions and peppercorns; stir for a couple of minutes. Add the herb bundle and cover with the stock, then add the saffron and bring to a simmer. Let bubble gently for about 30 minutes. Strain and reserve.
• For the spicy garlic aioli: Whisk together the egg yolk, garlic, Dijon and lemon juice in a small bowl. Whisking constantly, slowly stream in the oil to emulsify. Season with salt, pepper and hot sauce.
• For the bouillabaisse: Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a medium to large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the andouille and cook until browned and crisp. Remove from the pan and set aside.
• Reduce the heat to medium and add the remaining tablespoon olive oil to the Dutch oven. Add the garlic, celery, onions, fennel and bell peppers. Let sweat for 8 to 10 minutes, adding the tomatoes during the last few minutes of cooking. Raise the heat to medium-high, add the beer and bring to a simmer. Let reduce for a few minutes, then add 2 to 3 cups of the shrimp stock and bring to a simmer. Add the redfish and shrimp and let cook through, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the crabmeat to heat through. Season with Old Bay and hot sauce and add the andouille back to the pot.
• To serve: Spread the aioli on the toasted baguette slices and divide among four shallow bowls. To each bowl, add three pieces of fish, three pieces of shrimp, some crab and some Andouille. Pour in some of the broth, making sure to include the vegetables in the broth. Garnish with the reserved fennel fronds.

BOUILLABAISSE

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in large Dutch oven or flameproof casserole over medium heat. Add sausage, mushrooms and onions and cook, stirring frequently and breaking up sausage with a fork until sausage loses pink color, about 10 minutes.
• Stir in tomatoes. Bring mixture to boil.
• Reduce heat to low and simmer 5 minutes. Pour in wine and clam juice. Return mixture to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add basil and garlic and cook 5 minutes longer.
• Stock can be prepared ahead to this point. Either refrigerate until ready to use (usually 24 hours) or freeze.
• Before serving, transfer stock to a pot large enough to accommodate stock and shellfish. Bring to boil over high heat.
• Reserve half of the parsley for garnish and add remaining parsley to the pot. Add clams. Reduce heat to medium high and simmer until some clams open. Add remaining shellfish and simmer until done (about 5 - 10 minutes) DISCARD ANY CLAMS THAT DO NOT OPEN.
• Ladle into bowl and sprinkle with reserved parsley. Serve with fresh pasta.

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.

THE LADY'S BOUILLABAISSE

Steps:

• Wash and scrub the mussels in cold water. Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a large, heavy pot. Add the mussels and cover the pot. Steam for 6 to 8 minutes, or until the mussels open. Discard any mussels that didn't open. Remove from the heat and set aside. Cut the fish into 1-inch thick slices. Heat the oil in a large pot. Add the garlic, onions, tomatoes, fennel, saffron, salt, and pepper. Add the boiling water and clam juice. Bring to a rolling boil, add the crabs and fish, and continue to boil for 6 to 8 minutes. Add the mussels and their broth to the pot along with the shrimp, and boil for an additional 5 minutes.
• Slice the French bread, butter it, and toast lightly. Serve the bouillabaisse in large individual bowls lined with toasted French bread; pile in the seafood and ladle the broth over it. Top each bowl with 1 tablespoon of butter. Pass the remaining bread at the table. If you like a spicier soup you may add a couple of whole hot peppers to the pot at the start of cooking.