Bouillabaisse

From issue #5.
Photography by Photography by Aaron McLean.
Bouillabaisse

Inspired by a recipe in Bistro Cooking by Patricia Wells

Serves: 6 - 8

INGREDIENTS

6-8 boneless chicken thighs, skin on

seasoned flour

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, thickly sliced

2 fennel bulbs, thickly sliced

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 1/2 teaspoons toasted cumin seeds

2 bay leaves

1 400 gram tin Italian tomatoes, crushed

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1/3 cup Pernod or Pastis

pinch of saffron

zest of 1/2 an orange

few sprigs of fresh thyme

1 1/2 - 2 cups chicken stock

500grams cooked waxy potatoes

reserved fennel fonds or chopped dill

 

Rouille

200 grams floury potatoes i.e. Agria
1 roasted red capsicum
4 cloves garlic
pinch saffron
½ teaspoon salt
chicken stock
2 egg yolks
100 ml olive oil

METHOD

Cut the chicken into large chunks and dredge in the seasoned flour, shaking off any excess.

Heat the oil in a large saute pan and cook the chicken until golden on both sides. Remove from the pan and set aside. If any flour has burnt, wipe out the pan and add fresh oil.

Add the onion, fennel, garlic, cumin seeds and bayleaves, season and cook until tender. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, Pernod, saffron, orange zest and thyme and cook for 2 minutes.

Add the chicken along with the stock and potatoes. Simmer gently for 5 minutes or until the chicken is just cooked. Taste for seasoning and add the fennel or dill just before serving.

Rouille: Put the diced potato, capsicum, 2 cloves of the garlic, saffron and salt in a saucepan and barely cover with chicken stock. Simmer until the potato is tender, strain and reserve the liquid. Purée the potato mixture, adding the liquid as necessary to make a thick paste. With the machine running, add the yolks, crushed garlic and then drizzle in the oil. Season.

To Serve: divide the bouillabaisse between individual bowls. Serve accompanies by large dollops of rouille and slices of grilled bread

Serves 6 - 8