Bouillabaisse

I asked my French friend about her wonderful dinner (twenty years ago) of bouillabaisse and other French magic, including a pear dessert saturated in red wine.

 Here is the recipe [for the Bouillabaisse], from my old book by the Scotto sisters

Vider, étêter, écailler les poissons, réservez les têtes et les arêtes. Couper les plus gros en tronçons de 4 cm et laissez les autres entiers; lavez-le et épongez-les.

Lavez les tomates et hachez-les grossièrement. Pelz oignons, carottes et poireau. Emincez finement le poireau, l'oignon et le cèleri. Coupez les carottes en fines rondelles.

Fiates chauffer l'huile dans une cocotte de six litres, ajputez les têtes depoisson et les arêtes et mélangez cinq minutes sur feu doux. Ajoutez les tomates, les carottes, le poireau, le cèleri et l'oignon et mélangez jusqu'à ce que les légumes blondissent. Ajoutez le thym, le romarin, le fenouil, le laurier, le zeste d'orange, les gousses d'ail entières, les tiges de persil, le safran, sel et poivre. Versez le vin blanc, laissez cuire 45 minutes à feu très doux.

Au bout de ce temps, retires les têtes et les arêtes, ainsi que les branches de thym et toutes les aromates. Mixer le reste pour obtenir un velouté.

essuyez le cocotte et versez-y le velouté. Porter à ébullition sur feu doux, et ajouter les poissons en commençant par ceux dont la chair est la plus ferme (seiche, congre, baudroie, rascasse, rouget) puis ajouter ceux dont la chair est plus tendre (vive, saint-pierre, loup, sole, barbue) en laissant l'ébullition reprendre entre chaque opération. Ajoutez les crustacés. Laisser frémir dix minutes, puis égoutter poissons et crustacés et dressez les sur un plat. réserver au chaud. Versez le bouillon dans une soupière et servez-le chaud sur des tranches de pain frottées d'ail. servez les poissons ensuite.

Here is what you need : 3 kg de poissons et crustacés mélangés. 500 grammes de tomates bien mûres. 1/2 litre de vin blanc sec. 2 carottes, 1 oignon, 1 poireau, 10 gousses d'ail, persil, cèleri, thym, romarin, zeste d'orange, laurier, six filaments de safran, 4 cuillérées d'huile d'olive, pain grillé.

This would serve 8 persons. In Marseille, they often serve it with rouille, which is basically a garlic mayonnaise with a dash of red hot pepper.

Will make you busy a whole day, though, but I guess you enjoy that.

Bon, je vais dîner, A bientôt

Red Lentil Soup -- Shorbat Adas

This is a traditional Middle Eastern soup called Shorbat Adas.  The Mediterranean Wraps shop on California in Palo Alto has an excellent lentil soup which of course I couldn't quite replicate.

3 ounces of bacon

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups of red lentils

 4 cups of chicken or garden stock

3 cups of water, plus more to thin later

1 tsp cumin

3 dried limes - cut into them slightly with a sharp knife in 2 or 3 places

2 limes

1/2- 1 tsp salt (to taste)

½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper

½-1 teaspoon turmeric

2 large carrots, chopped

1 tomato, diced

1 small yellow onion, diced

1 shallot, diced

4 cloves of garlic, diced

First sort the lentils for any stones, grains, or sand. Wash thoroughly and drain.

In a large pot, over high heat, add the olive oil and bacon and slowly render all the fat. Remove the bacon and reserve for garnish. 

Add the vegetables and toss lightly until fragrant and the onions soften. Do not brown it.

Immediately add the lentils and spices. Stir well. The lentils will absorb the oil and heat up and roast.   

When the pan starts to crackle a bit add the broth and the water.

Once the soup begins to boil, reduce heat. Simmer for about 40 minutes, uncovered.

When the lentils are softened and cooked, Add the juice of one lime, puree with a hand blender, avoiding or removing the dried limes, and remove from heat. If the soup looks too thick to you, you can add more water over low heat and stir until homogeneous.

Sprinkle with paprika, serve with lime wedges and pita bread, and garnish with the celery tops and the reserved bacon.  I paired this with a chilled beaujolais for a nice early spring lunch.

Veal Ragoût, Blanquette de Veau

I read the Professional Chef recipe for the Blanquette de Veau, a classic veal stew.  Then I read this. Then I went my own way.

1 1/2 lbs.veal tenderloin, salted and set aside (I used chops, which I boned and trimmed)

1 pint pearl onions, peeled

2 tablespoons butter

6 cup stock (veal or chicken)

Bouquet garni: 1 thyme sprig, 1 bay leaf, parsley stems, 6 peppercorns, 2 cloves garlic, sliced and 3 cloves wrapped in a leek green.

1 celery stalk cut down to 1" 

1 large carrot, chopped.

1 leek, sliced in half in 1” pieces

1 teaspoon coarse salt

4 tablespoons butter

5 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons vermouth

2 tablespoons Cognac

1 cup veal demi-glace 

 3 egg yolks

½ c heavy cream

salt and pepper to taste

fresh parsley

 

Take the veal bones and the fat you trimmed off the meat, bouquet garni and stock and put in a large pot.  Simmer on for 1½ hours. 

While you are doing this, take ½ c of the stock from the pan and 2 T butter and simmer the mirepoix and leeks, covered for 10 minutes.  Remove and reserve the vegetables and the glaze.

After 1 ½ hours, strain the stock, and feed the meat bits to the dog. Add the demi-glace to the stock.  You should have around 4 cups.  

Add the veal cubes to the stock*.  Cook for about 15 minutes over very low heat… barely a simmer.   

Remove the meat and strain the broth over a fine mesh.  Reserve the stock for the velouté and reheat on the stove.  Clean out the pan and place the meat and onions with the glaze in it.  Cover. 

Make the veloute. In a new pan, melt 4 T butter slowly, then add the flour and stir it in –– let it cook for a few minutes but do not let it brown.  Slowly add the stock, whisking. Add vermouth and cognac. Cook it over medium heat for a few minutes, stirring regularly. 

Whisk the egg yolks and cream together and slowly add about 1 cup of the sauce to temper the eggs. Slowly whisk this back into the reserved stock and combine this with the meat and vegetables and cook over a low heat. Do not let it boil or the egg will curdle.  When everything is hot, add salt and pepper to taste, and serve over rice or pasta.  

Garnish with parsley.

What's for dinner?  Something from here.

Tourin, French Garlic and Egg Soup

A head of garlic, chopped fine

1 T. olive oil
1 tablespoon water
water — 1 liter, boiling and salted to taste
1 egg, separated
pepper to taste
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

Toast the chopped garlic in the olive oil. Add the flour. Mix well, then cook until the garlic soften and brows a bit. Add the salted water, and cook for 10 minutes. In a separate dish, mix the egg yolk, pepper and vinegar. Add the egg white to the soup, first tempering in a separate bowl with a whisk, so that no large pieces of egg white form. Cook another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add the egg yolk mixture, again tempering to avoid coagulation.  Serves 2.

Top with croutons and a parsley sprig, Serve hot. Bon appétit.

There's a nice article here describing this French classic. 

Classic Chicken Noodle Soup

Stock

Remnants of a roasted chicken
Cold water to make 1 gallon
1/4 cup olive oil 
1 onion
1 medium celery stalk (I like to pick one with leaves on it)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 whole allspice
2 whole cloves
5 or 6 whole peppercorns
A dash of nutmeg (less is more, we just want to fill the background with some bass tones) 
A beer (for the chef) to deglaze the pan

I roasted a chicken a couple of days ago and we ate the legs for dinner.  We stripped the back and the dog had that so I started with all the bones and 2 breasts and 2 wings.  Roughly chop the onions, celery and chicken wings.  Brown the chicken in the olive oil in a stock pot.    Add the onions and celery and cook for about 8 minutes.  Do not allow the glaze on the bottom of the pan to actually burn. 

Add a little beer to the pan and scrape the glaze off the bottom of the pan.  Add all of the remaining ingredients and bring the temperature up to a simmer.   Simmer for 40 minutes. It is important to skim impurities off the surface along the way, so they don't break down and cloud you stock.  Remove from heat and allow to rest for 10 minutes.  Strain through a chinois. Ice down in a sink.  You can refrigerate this for a few days.

Soup

1 Onion
Several small carrots cut into coins
1 or 2 celery stalks diced
1 teaspoon thyme
2 breasts of chicken (diced or shredded) 
2 ounces egg noodle or pappardelle
4 leaves of black kale  (shredded}
1/4 cup fresh parsley (chopped)


Cook the mirepoix in the oil and reduce heat to medium for about 8 minutes.  Add the remaining ingredients and cook until the carrots and pasta are cooked.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Gumbo, Gumbo.

Here's my recipe for Gumbo. Unless otherwise noted dice everything. Serves 8.

1/4 cup Butter
1/4 cup Olive Oil
3 or 4 Andouille Sausage ( 9 to 12 ounces, sliced)
8 ounces Chicken Breast
1 1/4 pounds of Peeled and Deveined Shrimp.
1 Bell Pepper
2 Small Onions
2 Celery Stalks
1 Shallot 
3-4 Clove Garlic
1/4 c. Flour
2 quarts Chicken Stock
8-12 ounces of Okra (Sliced)
1 t. Onion Powder
1 t. Red Pepper Flakes
2 Roma Tomatoes
2 Bay Leaves
1 T Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 t. dried thyme
2 t. Fresh Thyme
3 t. Fresh Parsley
2 Pinch Salt
1/2 t. Black Pepper
4-5 Green Onions 
1 c. White Rice
1 T. File Powder

Put the oil and the butter in a large pot (4 quart).  Saute the sausage for a minute or two then add the chicken. Once these are well browned remove and reserve.  Add the trinity (Bell Pepper, onion and celery), plus the shallot and the garlic.  Cook over medium heat for 8 minutes, until soft and gently browning. Add the flour and slowly roast while whisking until it changes to a mahogany color.   

Add the stock to stop the cooking of the roux. Bring to a boil and add the rice, okra, onion powder, red pepper, tomatoes, bay leaves, Worcestershire,  thyme, parsley. sat and pepper.  Return the sausage and chicken to the pot. Simmer for 20 minutes to cook the rice.

Add the onions, shrimp and cook for 4 minutes, turn off heat then whisk in the file powder,  Serve with Tabasco sauce.