Lent is a tradition observed by many Christians dedicated to prayer, fasting, and reflection held the 40 days prior to Easter. These 40 days signify the 40 days that Jesus fasted in the desert before beginning his ministry. I am not a religious person by any means, and have never really observed Lent before. However, since being engaged to a Catholic person, I’ve learned to adapt to a few of the traditions during Lent.
One of these traditions is to abstain from meat on Fridays. As a fish lover, I was really ready to embrace learning new techniques and recipes that are vegetable and fish forward. My first Friday meal during Lent was a classic Provençal fish stew dish called bouillabaisse. I was drawn to this dish because it involves multiple types of seafood, and I could practice the cook on each protein using poaching and steaming rather than searing the fish in one rounded dish.
I’ve always loved eating bouillabaisse, but had not seen it being prepared from start to finish until I was in culinary school. I was in my last term (my last four weeks, to be exact) and one of the staple main course menu items was bouillabaisse. I was never assigned to be on the protein station, so I was not particularly invested in memorizing the method of preparing the dish. However, I do remember the hustle in the kitchen during prep, and that regardless of our assigned stations, it always ended up an all hands on deck group project preparing the various components necessary for the bouillabaisse. The protein station needed to cook lobster, simmer the lobster shells and fish carcasses for the broth for hours, prepare a rouille, bake cassava crostini, portion out salmon, clean/de-beard mussels and make a sauce verte to garnish. The result was delicious, rich, and complex - it was a fantastic dish. But it took hours to prep and cook. It all just seemed too complicated and time consuming to make on a Friday night at home!
Then, I stumbled upon a recipe in America’s Test Kitchen Foolproof Fish and had to give it a try. This recipe cuts out the lengthy process of making homemade fumet, and swaps lobster for scallops. It also only uses one cooking vessel which makes cleanup a breeze. The following is my first attempt at America’s Test Kitchen’s “Bouillabaisse.” I am following the recipe nearly identically, however I am omitting their aioli and substituting a sauce verte. Sauce verte adds a fresh element to such a rich dish, and I think it makes a huge difference, but feel free to use to taste.
Bouillabaisse
Adapted from America’s Test Kitchen Foolproof Fish
Serves 6-8
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time: 45 minutes
For the Stew:
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 small fennel bulb, stalks discarded, bulb halved and chopped fine
1 onion, chopped fine
8 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoon saffron threads, crumbled
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3/4 cup dry white wine
2 (8-ounce) bottles clam juice
1 (14.5-ounce) can of whole peeled tomatoes, drained with juice reserved, chopped
2 bay leaves
1 lb halibut fillets, cut into 3-4 inch pieces
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 lb large sea scallops
12 ounces mussels, debearded
8 ounces large shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tablespoons minced fresh tarragon
For the Sauce Verte:
1 cup day-old bread
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup spinach
1/4 cup parsley
1/8 cup chives
1 Tablespoon fresh tarragon
3 cloves garlic
1/2 lemon, juiced
Enough water to soak the bread
Salt and pepper to taste
For the Sauce Verte:
1. Place the bread in a small bowl and cover with water. If your bread is fresh, put it in the oven at 110-225 degrees for about 20 minutes. Allow to soak for about 10 minutes or until the bread is soft enough to squeeze. Squeeze out excess water.
2. Place garlic in a blender and allow to blend until the garlic is chopped.
3. Add remainder of the herbs and spinach to the blender and add bread, olive oil, and lemon juice. Blend until smooth.
4. Transfer to a container and refrigerate until use.
For the Stew:
1. Prep all ingredients.
2. Heat olive oil in Dutch oven until shimmering. Add fennel and onion and cook until translucent and softened. Stir in garlic, thyme, saffron, and red pepper flakes until fragrant. Add wine and cook until reduced by some, about 1 minute.
3. Add clam juice, tomatoes, tomato juice, and bay leaves, bring to a simmer and cook until reduced by half.
4. Use paper towel to pat dry halibut and season with salt and pepper. Add to the pot and bring to a simmer, reduce to a simmer and gently remain simmering (about 2 minutes).
5. Add scallops and mussels to the pot and cover, cook until the mussels have opened slightly and continue to cook until the halibut is mostly opaque (about 2 minutes).
6. Add the shrimp on the top of the stew, cover, and continue to cook until mussels have fully opened, shrimp is opaque and halibut is opaque and fully cooked through.
7. Discard bay leaves as well as any mussels that have not opened.
8. Stir in tarragon and season with salt and pepper to taste.
9. Garnish with sauce verte and enjoy!
Want to learn how to cook fish confidently and correctly? Don't miss our hands-on Fish Butchery and Cookery class on Monday, April 28 at 6pm at Lincoln Square. You'll master:
- Whole Round Fish Butchery
- Sautéed Skin-On Fish Fillets with Roasted Asparagus and Lemon-Dill Aioli
- Fish en Papillote with Leeks, Zucchini and Herb Compound Butter
- Grilled Scallops with Thai Red Curry-Coconut Sauce and Steamed Jasmine Rice
