Easy Bouillabaisse

This is one of those dishes that look so beautiful and taste so delicious that if you admit how simple the production was, your dinner guests will assume you're being falsely modest. So you may not want to ruin the illusion. ;)


It may look like soup, but it always fills me up as a meal of its own. This stew is quite thick.

Any flaky white fish will do. I've tried this recipe with cod, tilapia, halibut, hake, haddock, and catfish. Maybe my pallet isn't that developed, but I think it tastes great with all of the above, so which fish you want to use is up to you. This recipe is loosely based on this one that appeared in the New York Times, but a number of proportions (and some ingredients) have been altered.

[Serves 3-4 people.]
Ingredients
1/2 cup olive oil (not extra virgin)
2 tomatoes
1 small onion
1 carrot
1 bay leaf
2 handfuls of parsley
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup lemon juice
2-4 fish fillets
salt and pepper to taste
1.5 cups broth
1/2 cup white wine
3/4 cup of bay scallops (optional)
3 slices of white bread (I suggest sourdough)

Directions
Blanch tomatoes (i.e. place them in boiling water for about 5 seconds each, then run them under cold water), which will make it very easy to peel them. Peel, seed, and dice tomatoes. Thinly slice onion and carrot. In a (preferably cast-iron) dutch oven, heat oil until it's beginning to sizzle. Add the prepared tomatoes, onion, carrot, bay leaf, and one handful of parsley. Stir with a wooden spoon/spatula for a minute or two. Crush one clove of garlic and add it to the pan, and cook for about another minute.

Place the fillets (if you want to have a thicker stew, add more fillets accordingly) in the dutch oven -- in one layer, or as close as you can get it. Add the lemon juice, salt, and pepper, and boil the fish for 10-15 minutes, flipping the fillets once halfway through.


While the fish is cooking, prepare the bay scallops. This basically means rinse them under cold water, and then make very sure that they are dry -- pat them down carefully with paper towels until they're completely dry. Melt a tablespoon of butter on a (preferably cast-iron) skillet. Dice one of the garlic cloves and add it to the butter. Making sure that pan is very hot, throw on the scallops. Don't stir them around too much, so that they have a chance to brown nicely on every side. It's easy to overcook scallops, so about five minutes should do the trick. Remove scallops from heat and set aside.

Back to the stew! You can use chicken broth if you want the stew to have a less fishy taste, or fish broth if you're going full-on. If I'm lazy and out of homemade stock, I just use one bullion cube and 1.5 cups of water. Add broth and wine to the stew. Simmer until the fish is just cooked through -- it'll be flaky and come apart easily.

Meanwhile, toast the bread. Rub with butter and the third garlic clove and place on the bottom of the serving bowls.
Toss remaining parsley into the dutch oven. Ladle over the toasts, and top with browned scallops. Eat immediately!