15- Minute Bouillabaisse

(Thanks to Sam Gugino in his Cooking to Beat The Clock cook book.)

Serves 4

Ingredients:

8 Tblsp. olive oil

1 medium onion—peeled and quartered

4 cloves garlic—-peeled (save one for the Rouille.)

1  15-oz. can chopped tomatoes, drained or 1  15-oz. can whole tomatoes drained and coarsely chopped

2   8- oz. bottles clam juice

2 tsp. ground fennel (or seeds is OK too)

S&P

1/2 tsp. saffron threads or ground saffron

3   4-oz. pieces monkfish or swordfish (Tillapia works OK too)—cut fish pieces in half

3   4-oz. pieces halibut, snapper, or sea bass—but fish pieces in half

8  oz. cleaned squid bodies cut into rings (since I don’t live near the ocean, I use shrimp that has been mostly defrosted if frozen.)

For the Rouille:

1 small French baguette

¼ C. roasted bell peppers from a jar

1 egg yolk

Directions:

1.Put the onion and 3 cloves of the garlic in a food processor or blender. Pulse till chopped.

2. Put 1 tblsp. oil in large deep heavy skilled over medium-high heat and when oil is hot, raise temperature to high and cook onion and garlic in it.

3. Add the tomatoes, clam juice, fennel, and S&P to taste to the skillet.

4. Over the skillet, crush ¼ tsp saffron between your fingers or use ¼ tsp ground saffron.

Stir well, cover and bring to boil.

5. Then reduce heat to medium, add the fish, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Add the squid or shrimp for the final minute.

6. While the seafood cooks, turn the broiler on to high in preparation to toast the bread. If you wish to turn the broiler on at the beginning of cooking the bouillabaisse, do that. Cut the baguette on the diagonal into 9 half-inch slices.  Put eight of them on a baking sheet and toast both sides in the broiler, about 1 minute on each side.

To make the accompanying rouille:

1. Drop the remaining garlic clove in the chute of the food processor with the motor running.

2.Stop the motor, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatulas.

3.Add the roasted peppers, egg yolk (or ¼ C. egg substitute), reserved bread slice and the remaining ¼ tsp. saffron.

4. Puree, then, with the motor running, gradually add the remaining 7 tblsp. olive oil through the chute until the mixture has the consistency of mayonnaise.

5. Season with salt.

(I do the whole rouille in a blender and it turns out just fine.)

How To Serve:

Divide the seafood and broth among 4 pretty soup plates.  Spread the rouille on the toasted bread slices and put 2 slices on top of each soup plate.  Serve the remaining rouille in a bowl at the table.