SEAT OF MY SOUL

INGREDIENTS

140 ml extra virgin olive oil

1 onion, thinly sliced

1/2 bulb fennel, trimmed, thinly sliced

5 cloves garlic, chopped

pinch of saffron

1 tablespoon smoked paprika

6 tomatoes, halves, seeded, roughly chopped

2 sprigs thyme

2 fresh bay leaves

50 ml Pernod

6 waxy potatoes, halved

750 ml Fish Stock or Chicken Stock

1 calamari

1 x 200 g blue-eye trevalla fillet, skin removed, pin-boned, cut into large chunks

200 g monkfish fillets, skin removed, pin-boned, cut into large chunks

200 g red muller fillets, skin removed, pin-bonned, cut into large chunks

4 raw prawns

16 clams, soaked in water to remove the sand, washed

12 black mussels, well washed, drained, bearded

sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons roughly chopped dill

1/3 cup roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley

grilled crusty or sourdough bread and Pepper Aioli to serve

METHOD

1. Heat 90 ml of the olive oil in a saute pan or large heavy-based saucepan over high heat. Cook onion, fennel and garlic for 3 minutes or until translucent and tinged slightly golden. Add the saffron and paprika and cook for a further 2 minutes until fragrant, then add the tomato, thyme and bay leaves and cook, stirring, for a few minutes. Add the Pernod and potato, then pour in the stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes or until the potato is tender. 

2. Meanwhile, to clean the calamari, rinse and then separate the hood and tentacles. Rinse and remove the contents of the hood and rinse again. Remove the head and beak from the tentacles and rinse again. Remove and discard the quill from the hood, then thinly slice the hood. Set aside.

3. Add the thickest fish chunks (that is the blue-eye) first, followed by the thinner pieces, then 2-3 minutes later add the prawns. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes, then add the clams, mussels and calamari and cook until the shellfish open; discard any unopened mussels and clams. Add a pinch of sea salt if required and season with pepper. Throw in the dill and parsley, then add the remaining olive oil. Divide between 4 bowls and enjoy with grilled bread slathered in garlicky aioli.

This entry was posted on August 11, 2010 at 5:38 am and is filed under Cooking, Family, Friends, People, Personal, Random, Recipe. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.