HOT SOUP: Bouillabaisse is one of the classics in soup. It involves a lot of ingredients and the cost is high to reproduce it at home. But as a spectacular dish to entertain with, it can't be beat.

FRENCH FISH SOUP---BOUILLABAISSE:

broth:

    2 tbsp. olive oil                                           

    1 cup chopped onion

    ½ cup chopped celery                                             

    3 cloves garlic, crushed

    1 bay leaf                                                   

    8 peppercorns

    2 sprigs thyme                                                        

    1 lb. fish heads, tails and bones

    lobster claws and shell and shrimp shells    

    water to cover                                                                     

    salt & pepper                                  

    1 cup white wine

bouillabaisse ingredients:

    1 cup each leeks & fennel, julienne                                    

     juice and zest of one orange                                              

    3 cups tomatoes, peeled                              

    2 tbsp. each chopped garlic & chopped parsley

    salt and pepper                                           

    pinch of saffron

    1 large lobster                                                         

    1 lb. shrimp, peeled and de-veined

    ½ lb each mussels & littleneck clams

    2 lbs. assorted small whole fish, such as whiting, sea bass, eel, angler fish

for the Rouille:

    1 red pepper, roasted and peeled                

    2 cloves garlic

    1 piece of white bread, torn into pieces      

    1 egg yolk

    1 tbsp. Dijon mustard                                             

    juice of one lemon

    salt and pepper                                                       

    ½ cup olive oil

slices of hot crusty French bread to serve

To make broth:  In a large saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat until hot. Cook onions and celery for 2-3 minutes; then add in garlic. Cook 1 minute more. Add bay leaf, peppercorns and thyme; and then the fish bones, lobster claws and shrimp shells, as well as wine and enough water to cover. Cover pot and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce to simmer for 1 hour. Add salt & pepper to taste. Remove from heat and strain stock into another pot. Keep warm.

To make Rouille:  In a food processor, combine all the ingredients, except for the oil and seasoning. Puree until smooth. With machine running, slowly add olive oil through the feed tube, pulse on/off until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper.

To make the soup:  Clean and scale the assorted fish. Bring the pot of stock to a simmer and add saffron threads, leek, tomatoes, orange juice, orange zest, fennel, garlic and parsley. Add lobster. Cover and cook for 8 minutes; then add fish, shrimp, mussels, and clams. Cook together for 5-6 minutes, or until mussel shells have opened. Discard any shells that do not open. Check and adjust seasoning.

To serve:  Arrange seafood on a large serving platter. Pour soup into a soup tureen and serve the Rouille and crusty bread on the side.

Alternately, arrange seafood in individual shallow soup dishes and ladle soup over. Drizzle the Rouille over the seafood and serve with the crusty bread.