You say fish soup, I say Bouillabaisse, for CBC's Weekend Morning Show

I will be presenting the following dish tomorrow for CBC's Weekend Morning Show with Host Nadia Kidwai.   Bouillabaisse is a classic Provençal dish, that is versatile in many of the ingredients as it is based on local and seasonal ingredients. 

The fish and seafood are available at Gimli Fish.  They have a wonderful new delivery system as well! Visit www.gimlifish.com to make an order and you will have amazing fish and seafood within two hours! 

For the soup base, I used onions, garlic, fresh fennel, tomatoes, and herbs, all available now at the St. Norbert's Farmer's Market.  The tomatoes and fennel are from Fertile Farm, the herbs from Almost Urban, and you can find many other things to add to the soup, as per your tastes.

Enjoy!

Bouillabaisse

Ingredients
For the soup broth:

Bones and shells from the fish and shell fish, completely rinsed
9 cups water
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
Salt and pepper to taste
10 whole sprigs parsley


For the soup base:

2 large onions, chopped finely
10 garlic cloves, chopped roughly or crushed
2/3 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon fennel seed
1/2 cup parsley, chopped very finely
Salt and pepper to taste
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
Small handful fresh thyme leaves
3 to 5 long strips of orange rind (no white pith)
3 bay leaves
6 to 12 saffron stems
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped finely (remove seeds and white "ribbing")
1 pound frozen cod, thawed and chopped
1 cup dry white wine
A few splashes of Pernod

For the "body" of the soup:

3 to 4 pounds of various fish or shellfish.

Traditional bouillabaisse has no shellfish, but there is no harm in adding mussels, shrimp, crab or lobster if you feel like it.

There are many kinds of fish you can add to make this your own fish soup recipe. Haddock, red snapper, monk fish, sea bass, striped bass are all good choices. Just avoid the oily, fatty fish such as salmon or tuna, as these will overpower rather than blend in with the other ingredients.

Preparation
1. In a large soup pot, combine all the ingredients for the broth. Bring to a very light boil, and allow to simmer for 30 minutes or so.

2. Run the broth through a strainer, and keep it aside.

3. Heat the oil in the soup pot on medium low to medium heat. Add onions, garlic, parsley, fennel seed (1 teaspoon, not both), and salt. Saute until the onions are soft.

4. Add tomatoes, thyme, orange peel, bay leaves, pepper, saffron and jalapeno. Simmer for up to 30 minutes.

5. Return the fish broth to the soup pot. Add the pound of chopped fish and cook until fish is completely cooked.

6. Remove the orange peel (if it is in large strips) and bay leaves and put them aside. We do not want to puree them.

7. Either use a hand-held blender to puree the soup, or puree in a stand-up blender in batches. Add the bay leaves and orange peels back to the soup, and pour in the white wine and cook for 30 minutes to an hour. Add Pernod.

8. Add the various fish to the soup. Add the longest-cooking fish first so all the fish ends up cooked at the same time.

Happy Thanksgiving! On CBC's Weekend Morning Show

Happy Thanksgiving!  Yesterday I featured a few easy to prepare Thanksgiving side dishes for CBC's Weekend Morning Show, with host Nadia Kidwai.  One is a Mennonite dish, called Bubbat, which is similar to scones, another is a vegetarian creamy mushroom sauce, and the third is a simple way to prepare Brussels Sprouts with Beef Bacon.

This was a Manitoba menu.  The Brussels Sprouts were from Fertile Farm.  The beef bacon is from Wildfire farm.  Both are available at St. Norbert's Farmer's Markets.  I used Notre Dame butter, also from Manitoba.  For the Bubbat, which also uses a wonderful local flour by Prairie Mills, I used wonderful raisins that are available at Millad's Supermarket, on Notre Dame Ave.  They originate in Afghanistan, but are at a great local store.

Mennonite Bubbat

There are many variations on this recipe, dating back to traditions before there were Russian Mennonites in the Molotschna and Chortiza colonies, I'm sure.  

 

Preheat oven to 350ºF

2 cups flour

1 tbs baking powder

1 cup raisins, soaked and dried

2 tbs sugar

1/4 cup butter melted (I melted the butter in the oven in the 8X8 pan so that it would be greased at the same time)

1/2 cup milk

1 cup cream (can add more if more moisture is required)

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.  Add the raisins.  Mix together the milk, cream and egg in a measuring cup.  Add the melted butter to the dry ingredients, mix and then add the milk mixture.  Stir well, incorporating all of the mixture.  If it is too dry, add more cream.  Spread mixture into the 8X8 pan and bake for 30 minutes at 350ºF.  Let cool and serve with dinner. 

Brussels Sprouts roasted with Beef Bacon and Maple Syrup

1 -2 stems Brussels Sprouts, removed from stem and cut in half (Available from Fertile Farm at St. Norbert's Farmers Market)

4 strips beef bacon, cut into chunks (available from Wildfire Farms, at St. Norbert's Farmer's Market)

drizzle olive oil
drizzle balsamic vinegar
a couple pinches salt
up to 1/2 cup maple syrup

Stir all of the ingredients together in a roasting pan.  Roast open at 400ºF for up to 30 minutes or more, until done.

Enjoy!

Mushroom Sauce
2 cups sliced assorted mushrooms
1 yellow onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbs butter
drizzle olive oil
1 cup cream
1/2 cup white wine
nutmeg
salt and pepper, to taste
thyme, to tastes

Sauté onion in a saucepan on medium heat in butter and olive oil until translucent.  Add mushrooms and cook well.  Add seasonings, to aid cooking mushrooms down.  Add cream and wine and simmer.  Enjoy!