December 08, 2006

And If Your Dinner Tries to Get Away, Just Bop It on the Head

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Welcome to Fish Friday! Today’s fish comes in the form of a bouillabaisse and serves two purposes. Purpose the first: To be really tasty. Purpose the second: To enter into the Super Souper Challenge which is a one off event being hosted by Tami of Running With Tweezers. You can’t go wrong with a flavourful soup full of scallops, shrimp, cod and mussels.

And now for a fish related story… My brother likes to fish and so he and his son, Baby Genius, (who has his own little rod) go fishing together pretty much every week when the weather is good. With all the fishing they do, Brother was wondering if seeing the fish being killed had any effect on Baby Genius. Sometime later he got his answer. After reeling in a smallish fish, Brother was trying to unhook it to throw it back in when Baby Genius exclaimed “Bop it on the head with a rock Papa, so it doesn’t get away!” You can’t sneak anything past Baby Genius…

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Boillabaisse (Adapted from The Soup Bible by Debra Mayhew)
Serves 4-6

Ingredients
1.5kg/3-3 ½ lbs mixed assorted cod, mussels, shrimp, scallops
225g/8oz tomatoes
A pinch of saffron threads
Olive oil
1 onion, sliced
1 celery stick, sliced
1 carrot, sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 strip orange rind
2.5mL/ ½ tsp fennel seeds
15mL/ 1 T tomato paste
30mL/2 T Pernod
Salt and pepper
(Extra veggies and fish shells for stock)

Make a stock by putting the shells and some fish into a pot of water along with an onion, carrot and celery and a bouquet garni, bring to a boil and simmer for 20 min. Strain and reserve liquid.

Heat oil in a large pan, add onion, leek, celery and carrot, cook until softened. Add the garlic, orange rind, fennel seeds and tomatoes and then stir in the saffron and the reserved stock. Season with salt and pepper, bring to a boil and simmer for 30-40min. Add the shellfish and boil for about 6 min. Add the fish and cook for 6-8 min more until it flakes easily. Add the tomato paste and Pernod, check the seasoning, then serve.


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12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yum! Love this type of food! Cannot wait to see the recipe.wh

K and S said...

love that! just "bop" it. growing up we often caught eel, since it is hard to take off the line, my grandpa used to "bop" it to get it off the line. :)

Anonymous said...

Guess that's why he's called Baby Genius!

Lis said...

Hurry with the recipe that looks fabulous!! :D

FH said...

Your title made me laugh!:)

Looks delicious.

Anonymous said...

I love the title, the story, and the recipe - what an awesome post.

Anonymous said...

ahahah very cute…I think that works on cows too! This looks so wonderful! For some reason I fear cooking with anything in a shell. I will eat it but the shell..oh the shell it vexes me…I blame it on the Midwest.

Ari (Baking and Books) said...

That is such a cute story!

Seeing as we only eat vegetarian dishes I don't know what I'd do if something tried to get away. Probably run screaming, cause animated broccoli just ain't natural!

Ari (Baking and Books)

Anonymous said...

LOL, Baby Genius sounds hilarious ;) Great dish, sounds like true winter comfort!

foodiemama said...

yum...looks so warm and comforting!

sra said...

Hi Brilynn, thanks for stopping by. Lovely pix, and though I'm non-vegetarian myself, can't help feeling sorry for the fish - your post made me laugh.

Freya said...

Yes, I really enjoyed the BBM experience - I would love to take part in more in the future! I have found the whole food blogging community to be really friendly so I'm enjoying being part of the whole scene!
By the way, your blog is gorgeous and so funny! My husband and I love your photography! I will make sure I keep stopping by!
All the best, Freya