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Save this recipe for the day when you find yourself with a surplus of whole fresh fish. If you never have such a day, make crab or shrimp stock instead of the fish stock. The best fish to use, both for the stock and the big pieces that will make their way into the soup, are redfish, red snapper, drum, grouper, and lemonfish. For something outrageously good, use pompano. No catfish, escolar, salmon, or tuna. It's a long recipe, but not especially difficult. It will, however, blow the minds of those to whom you serve it.
- Stock ingredients:
- Bones, heads, and scraps from 5-8 lbs. fish (see above), livers and gills removed
- Top four inches of a bunch of celery, cut up
- Stems from 1 bunch parsley
- 1 onion, cut up
- 1 Tbs. black peppercorns
- 1 tsp. thyme
Main recipe ingredients:
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped coarsely
- 1 fennel bulb, chopped coarsely
- 6 large cloves garlic, crushed
- 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
- 2 medium fresh tomatoes, skin, seeds, and pulp removed, chopped coarsely
- 2 medium fresh tomatoes, skin, seeds, and pulp removed, chopped coarsely
- 2 canned whole Italian plum tomatoes, chopped
- 1/2 cup juice from canned tomatoes
- 2/3 cup Sauvignon Blanc or other dry white wine
- 1 large bay leaf
- 2 lbs. white fish (see above), cut into 1-2 oz. pieces
- 1/2 pound squid, sliced into rings (optional)
- Pinch saffron threads
- 16 large shrimp, peeled
- 4 dozen mussels in shells, well scrubbed and de-bearded
- 1/2 lb. lump crabmeat (optional)
- 2 green onions, sliced fine
- 8 sprigs flat-leaf parsley, leaves only, chopped
- 1 tsp. salt
- Toasted French bread rounds
- 1/2 cup Spicy Garlic Mayonnaise (see recipe)
1. Put all the fish bones, heads, skins, and scraps into a stockpot and cover with cold water. Bring it to a boil, then dump the water, saving all the fish parts.
2. Refill the pot with just enough water to barely cover the fish parts. Add all the other stock ingredients, and bring to the lightest possible simmer, with bubbles breaking only occasionally. Hold the stock at that temperature, uncovered, for about 30 minutes. Skim off the scum.
3. Strain the stock and discard all the solids. Return to the slow simmer while you work on the rest of the recipe.
3. In another large kettle, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat until fragrant. Add the onions, fennel, garlic, and crushed red pepper. Sauté until the onions are clear, but don't brown. Add the fresh and canned tomatoes and juice. Sauté another minute, then add the wine and bring to a boil. Hold at a medium boil for about three minutes, then lower the heat to medium.
4. Reserve 3/4 cup of the fish stock, and add all the rest to the vegetables. Add the fish pieces and the squid, and return to a simmer.
5. Put the reserved fish stock into a skillet and bring to a boil. Add the mussels to the pan and cook for about a minute, by which time all of them should be gaping. Discard any mussels that have not opened. Turn the heat off and allow to cool, while agitating the pan so that the stock sloshes inside the mussels. Remove the mussels to a bowl. If any of the mussels appear to have grit or beard inside, clean them. Strain the liquid from the pan and the bowl through a fine sieve into the kettle.
6. Add the saffron and the shrimp to the kettle and cook for about a minute. Add the crabmeat, mussels, salt, and green onions and cook for another minute, agitating the pot to distribute the ingredients. Add salt and cayenne pepper to taste.
7. Divide the seafood equally among four to six bowls, and ladle the broth and vegetables over everything. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley. Serve with toasted French bread round slices spread with spicy garlic mayonnaise.
Serves four to six.