Yesterday was sunday.
A perfect day to throw a combined dinner for my daughters who turned 6
& 8 during the week.
The older one got to pick whatever she wanted for dinner
Her choice?
Beef carpaccio for starters and then home made bouillabaisse..
I've schooled that girl right.

Now, there's a million ways to swing a Bouillabaisse, this is the no
brainer version.

You'll need:

A pound of fresh or frozen shrimp. (in the shell)
400 grams of fresh salmon. Cut in 1/2 inch size cubes.
400 grams of Cod, cut as above.
A bag of mussels / clams / almejas, whatever.
Fennel, thinly sliced.
Saffron (2 grams)
Cream

For the Fish stock. (Make your own, or die)
Bone & Head from any white fish, (for the stock only)
Tomato paste.
One apple
Garlic. (5-6 smashed cloves)
2 Shallots
White wine.
Any dry white will do for the stock.

I reccommend a Chardonnay to go with it, it's da bomb with saffron for
some reason.

First, make the stock.
Throw all the shrimpshell & fish bone/head into a hot pan with olive
oil and 3 hole garlic cloves.
Stir and add 2 tbl spoons of tomato paste / purée, and 2 finely
chopped shallots.
Let it get some colour and then add half a bottle of white wine.
(Make sure you scrape the bottom of the pan to get all them nice
flavours out)
By now your kitchen should smell like heaven or something is wrong.

Add 1 litre of boiling water and some of the sliced fennel and half an
apple.
Let it simmer for 25 minutes on low heat.

Sift, throw away the shells etc.
Add the saffron, and then the cream.
Add the rest of the sliced fennel and simmer for another 10 minutes.
Bring to a boil and add the mussels & fish, put a lid on it and boil
for 4 minutes.
Before serving you add some shrimp tails to each soup bowl and pour
the soup on top.
(Do not throw them into the pot and boil, they'll just go all chewy on
you)

Croutons
White bread cut into cubes, fried in olive oil AND butter with some
garlic, herbes de provence & sea salt.

Aioli
Whip together Mayo, some fresh lemon juice and a crushed garlic clove.

Once again, I rule.
(Pic stolen from the web)

P