Latina Style Bouillabaisse Recipes

COMMANDER'S PALACE CREOLE BOUILLABAISSE

Steps:

• To make the broth base: Heat olive oil in a large pot; saute the garlic until golden.
• Add the crab and shrimp shells; saute for ten minutes.
• Add the rest of the vegetables and cook until tender, about 20 mintues.
• Add stock or water and wine, herbs and saffron; simmer for an hour.
• Puree in batches and strain.
• To make the bouillabaisse: In a large pan, heat 1/4 cup of olive oil over medium heat and saute garlic until golden.
• Add mussels, shrimp, seafood sausage and fish; cook for about five minutes.
• Pour in the whie wine and cook, scraping the bottom of the pan to remove any browned bits.
• Add 8 cups of the broth and bring to a boil.
• In a medium pan, heat 1/4 cup olive oil and saute the vegetables until tender.
• Add oysters and crab meat to the broth and seafood mixture.
• Add sauteed vegetables to the mixture and season to taste with salt and pepper.

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:

• 1. In a large, heavy-bottomed stockpot over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil. Add the fennel, onions, and leeks and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Cook the vegetables, stirring occasionally, until just beginning to tenderize, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato and garlic, re-cover the pot, and continue cooking until the tomatoes begin to break down, 2 to 3 minutes.
• 2. Add the tomato paste, cayenne, saffron, potatoes, fish stock, and bouquet garni. Season with salt and pepper and bring the liquid up to a boil. Cover the pot, reduce the heat to medium, and simmer until the potatoes are cooked, 10 to 15 minutes.
• 3. Add the seafood in order of firmness and cooking time, with the denser fillets of fish going into the pot first, followed by shellfish and then shrimp. Simmer the soup, stirring very minimally to preserve the whole pieces of seafood, until the shellfish have opened and fish fillets have cooked through, 5 to 10 minutes total, depending on the seafood being used.
• 4. To serve, remove and discard the bouquet garni. Carefully remove the fish and shellfish, arranging them on a large serving platter or in warm bowls. Ladle the broth and potatoes over fish and garnish with the herbs. Serve warm.

LATINA-STYLE BOUILLABAISSE

Steps:

• Cook bacon and 3 tablespoons olive oil in a very large skillet over high heat, stirring frequently for 4 minutes. Add onion and cook for 5 minutes. Add peppers and cook for 5 minutes. Add garlic, habenero, saffron, and sherry. Let reduce by half.
• Add evaporated milk to skillet and continue to let mixture cook until reduced by half. Add chopped cilantro and season with salt and pepper. Working in batches, carefully transfer mixture to a blender and blend until smooth.
• Pour blended mixture into a large saucepan; add seafood stock. Cook over medium-high heat until heated through.
• Heat remaining tablespoon olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add clams, scallops, and jumbo shrimp; cook for 2 minutes. Add extra-large shrimp, snapper, mussels, and heated seafood stock mixture. Cook until shrimp is pink and shellfish have opened. Season with lime juice, salt, and pepper. Serve immediately garnished with cilantro sprigs.