i bookmark recipes on a daily basis, but every once in a while you come across one that you need some extra support to accomplish.
i wanted to make bouillabaisse, a french fish stew which requires (recommends, for ultimate triumph) the making of your own fish stock using fish bones obtained from a seafood market which you have to call ahead for. i mentioned this to my friend anne, who teamed up with me to spend the majority of a sunday afternoon cooking dinner for ourselves and husbands/future husbands.
we used the recipe outlined by the amateur gourmet, sticking pretty closely to it. it breaks the process into four parts:
- the fumet
- the marinade
- the aioli
- and the actual bouillabaisse
each piece builds upon the last, until you have a classically complex french meal. the fumet is the fish broth, which is made by boiling down fish bones with a vide variety of vegetables and a hint of pernod. it starts out like this:
the marinade is simple, and can be made relatively quickly and set aside. the aioli is to die for – so garlicky but you could eat it by the spoon full. and then the bouillabaisse itself starts with a solid-free portion of the stock and then gets a healthy dose of vegetables and of course, the mussels, clams, and fish:
in between the prepping and boiling down you get to enjoy a little bit of champagne. this part is not required but highly recommended:
and in the end, you get to serve this:
with some good hearty bread and good friends, it’s the ultimate culinary accomplishment.
[…] is like bouillabaisse’s less pretentious younger sister. When we made bouillabaisse last year, it took research and prep […]
writes Ridiculously Simple Yet Totally Fancy Seafood Brodetto | Things I Made TodayThings I Made Today[…] of using the clam broth that the original recipe calls for, i used fish broth left over from the bouillabaisse that has been taking up a chuck of our freezer for the last month, but you can substitue store […]
writes crab chowder with a roasted squash and chickpea salad - things i made today