½ cup olive oil
2 small carrots, thinly sliced
1 leek, sliced
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
Fennel stalk, chopped
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs of thyme
2 quarts fish stock (see recipe below)
2 teaspoons tomato paste
Pinch saffron
6 new potatoes, peeled and sliced
4 live blue crabs
4 pounds marinated fresh, firm, non-oily fish: cobia, grouper, triggerfish, snapper, or
sheepshead (see marinade recipe below)
16 littleneck clams
16 Blue Gold mussels
Sea salt to taste
Pinch cayenne pepper
Rouille
Croutons

Method

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place oil in a large soup pot and place over medium-high heat until smoking. Add carrots, leeks, onion, tomatoes, fennel, bay leaves, and thyme. Sauté with a long spoon for 2-3 minutes or until vegetables are soft. Add fish stock, tomato paste, and saffron. Bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Strain.

Reheat broth to a simmer. Add potatoes and crabs and cook 10 minutes. Add larger pieces of fish and simmer 4 minutes. Add smaller, more delicate fish pieces and the clams. Simmer 4 more minutes, then add mussels. When clams and mussels have opened, transfer cooked seafood to a platter, cover, and keep warm.

Assembling for serving

Bring soup back to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and let flavors concentrate. Adjust seasoning with salt and a pinch of cayenne. Pour the soup into individual soup bowls and then place the remainder in a soup tureen. Serve with platter of cooked and warm seafood, rouille, and croutons.

 

 

Fish Marinade

Ingredients

Prepare fish into chunks, place on platter
3 fresh fennel stalks, chopped
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 pieces orange peel, pith removed
Pinch saffron

Method

Combine all ingredients except fish chunks in mixing bowl, and then add the fish.
Coat evenly, then seal tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate 2 hours.

 

 

Fish Stock

Ingredients

4-5 pounds freshest fish bones from a white fish such as snapper, grouper, or flounder
3 quarts water
2 cups white wine
2 onions, rough chopped
3 stalks celery, rough chopped
6 cloves garlic, smashed
Sprig of thyme
10 black peppercorns
Pinch sea salt

Method

Heat olive oil in a deep saucepot or shallow stockpot. Sweat or soften the vegetables and garlic. Add fish bones and wine and cook covered for 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients. Cover and bring to a boil. Then reduce to a low simmer and simmer for 45 minutes. Skim to remove foam, and then strain.