Bouillabaisse

Description

This recipe was given to the 2007 MasterChef contestants so that they could interpret it as they wished - for example they could steam or boil the potatoes and serve this dish as they liked.

Ingredients

For the potato rouille
1 medium potato, cooked and still hot
1 garlic clove, crushed
1-2 red chillies, finely chopped
1 free-range egg
pinch saffron
dash olive oil
For the bouillabaisse
400g/14¼oz mussels
300g/10½oz clams
dash olive oil
1 bulb fennel, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
8 tomatoes, peeled and chopped
600ml/1 pint 1½fl oz fish stock
1 fillet gurnard
4 fillets red mullet
2 fillets John Dory
ciabatta, to serve

Method

1. To make the potato rouille, crush the hot potato, crushed garlic, chillies, egg and saffron together in a bowl. Transfer to a food processor. With the motor running, drizzle in the olive oil until the sauce has a mayonnaise-like consistency. Set aside in the fridge.
2. For the bouillabaisse, wash the mussels and clams thoroughly, discarding any that have broken shells or fail to close when you tap them.
3. Heat the olive oil in a medium lidded pan and fry the fennel, onion, garlic and tomatoes over a low heat until they have softened to a paste.
4. Pour in half of the stock and bring to the boil. Add all the fish, but not the shellfish.
5. Meanwhile, pour the remaining stock into a separate pan and bring to a simmer. Add the mussels and clams and cook them in the stock. Cover with a lid and leave to cook for 2-3 minutes, until the mussels and clams have opened. Discard any that remain closed.
6. Remove the shellfish with a slotted spoon and add to the bouillabaisse, reserving the stock the shellfish were cooked in.
7. Pass the stock the shellfish was cooked in through a sieve and, if necessary, add some of the passed shellfish stock to the bouillabaisse to get the desired consistency.
8. There are various ways to serve this and the MasterChef contestants had to come up with their own way of serving the dish. Here is ours: lift the fish fillets and shellfish out of the soup onto a warmed serving plate and ladle over a little of the soup. Cover with foil and leave in a warm place for no more than ten minutes while you serve the remaining soup as a starter in warmed soup plates with the rouille and ciabatta.
9. Serve the fish as a main course, with your chosen accompaniments.