Bouillabaisse

I love when my inlaws, Susan and Angus. Erik and I make fantastic dinners when they are here. We plan all of our menus, especially at Christmas. They have traditions that we keep, like making lasagna on Christmas day and drinking bloody mary's. The bloody mary's are kindly made by our friend, Becky Biles using her husband's hot sauce, Ass Burn. The mix is spicy as hell, and true to it's name, but addictive.

We also started to create new traditions. For instance, this year I made bouillabaisse for Christmas Eve dinner and on Christmas Day I made a delicious egg torta for brunch. We eat, drink lots of wine, and talk into the night. It is always easy and comfortable, even in our small bungalow house.

I thought bouillabaisse was a fantastic idea for Christmas Eve dinner. Before Erik and I moved to Houston we took a trip to Provence and the French Coast. We decieded not to stay in any of the touristy places like Nice. Instead we stayed in a little port town called Cassis. Cassis is known for their calanques, rock formations in the water. They are stunningly beautiful and stark white rocks that jut out of the bright blue water. Cassis is close to Marsaille (a nasty, dirty city we unfortunately got lost in...). In Cassis there are fish restaurants that line the harbor. Fishing boats line the dock, and bouilllabaise is on every menu. Our dinner that night was one of those memorable meals. We ordered a bottle of the local, white wine that is made up in the hills above the town. It tasted like the sea, in a really good way and went perfectly with the bouillabaise we ordered. Initially, when the waiter came over were confused. The meal was 60 euro, and all he brought out was soup, toasts, and rouille. I remember thinking "that was some expensive soup!" Then, he brought over a platter of fresh fish that almost looked like a rainbow. The harbor, the wine, the food, and Erik...it was one of the best meals of my life.

I thought it would be great to replicate the dish for a special occasion like Christmas. Plus, I love the fact that it is a take on the whole Catholic seven fishes thing. Sam, my trusty fishmonger, and I had a great time picking out the fish (He gave me a holiday music cd. How cool is that?). We used monkfish, cod, sole, salmon, trout, and snapper. It wasn't exactly seven, but it was close at six different fishes. I tried to make the fish low in mercury because of the whole boob-feeding thing.

I used Julia Child's recipe from her, Mastering the Art of French Cooking book. The stock was sublime, heavenly actually. I used the heads and guts from a few fresh red snappers, saffron, leaks, fresh tomatos, and thyme from my garden and boiled it down for about 30 minutes. I did not even think it needed any extra salt and pepper. It was super easy to make and really flavorful.

The hardest part of making the dish was creating the rouille. Rouille is a stong, garlicky red pepper sauce that gets added in while you are eating your bouillabaise. Basically, it is mashed garlic, red pepper, oil and potato paste that gets passed at the table.

The fish get added in at the end for about 5 minutes or so, until cooked through. You also serve the yummy stew with some toasted baguette that gets nice and crunchy brown in the oven. The dish was a hit. Everyone, loved it. In fact, there is only a minute amount left over (always a sign of a good meal). We had it with Gordo rose (ode to me...Gordo, Gordon...you get the drift), which was eh...I think a rose from Provence would have been better. It really was a great special occasion dish.

I actually decieded to make the stock again using the same bones and guts (economical huh?). The second stock was also fantastic. I cannot wait to defrost it, add a couple of boiled potatos, some poached eggs, and a bit of chopped red pepper for a warming, flavorful soup on a cold, lazy Sunday.