Simplified Bouillabaisse
Using tomato juice or chicken broth lets you customize this simple fish stew without the tedium of creating fish stock, cleaning and steaming clams, and all of those other steps the purists insist you go through.
INGREDIENTS | SERVES 8
- ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, sliced
- 1 bunch green onions (4 to 5 stalks), sliced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 cups tomato juice or chicken broth
- 1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
- 1 cup Chardonnay or other dry white wine
- 2 cups water
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried tarragon, crumbled
- ½ teaspoon thyme, crushed
- 1 tablespoon parsley, crushed
- 1 pound white fish, cut into 1" pieces
- 1 pound frozen cooked shrimp, thawed
- 2 3.53-ounce pouches of whole baby clams
- 1 10-ounce can boiled mussels, drained
- OPTIONAL: garlic toast
Add the oil to a Dutch oven and bring to temperature over medium heat. Add the yellow and green onions; sauté for 5 minutes, or until transparent. Add the garlic and sauté for another 30 seconds.
Add the tomato juice or broth, tomatoes, wine, water, bay leaf, pepper, tarragon, thyme, and parsley; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 1 hour. Remove the bay leaf. At this point, this broth can be refrigerated and reheated later to finish the dish.
Add the fish pieces; simmer for 10 minutes, or until the fish is opaque and cooked through. Stir in the shrimp, clams, and mussels; simmer for 2 or 3 minutes to bring all the ingredients to temperature. Serve with toasted garlic toast, if desired.
Garlic Toast
Preheat the oven to 400 °F. Slice French bread into ¼"-thick slices. Brush both sides of the bread with extra-virgin olive oil, place flat on a baking sheet, and bake for 10 minutes, or until crisp and lightly browned. While the toast is still warm, rub a cut clove of garlic over the top of each slice. Allow 2 slices per serving.
