The days are getting a bit shorter and what’s left of the day is usually filled with homework and juggling sports practices. These late days of summer are perfect for outdoor dining and the sweet taste of the seasons seafood. Today we took advantage of both in this simple Fisherman’s soup.
You can use any firm white fish. Halibut works great but in this pot I used cod. That’s the beauty of fish soup, you can change it up any way you like. If you are a rule follower who craves exact instruction, you can simply follow the recipe. If you like to go off road and try new things then you can try adding scallops,clams, potatoes, root vegetables, and play with spices.
I like the combination of coconut milk and turmeric. Let me know what combination works best for your family.
FISHERMAN’S SOUP
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 leeks (white and light green parts), cut into 1/4-inch-thick half-moons
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 small fennel bulb, quartered and sliced
- 1/3 cup dry sherry
- 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1 cup half and half
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt or to taste
- 1 pound skinless halibut fillet or some other firm white fish, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1 pound mussels, scrubbed
- 1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup mixed olives
DIRECTIONS:
- Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat.
- Add the leeks, garlic, and fennel and cook, stirring occasionally, until just softened, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add the sherry, tomatoes and their juices, red pepper flakes, and 1 teaspoon salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Add the fish and mussels and simmer gently until the fish is cooked through and the mussels have opened, 4 to 5 minutes.
- Stir in the half and half and parsley. Cook 5 minutes longer on low heat.
- Serve with the olives.
Leeks are such a cool plant. They are layered leaves compressed into a stem like shape. They have many crevasses and therefor can be very sandy with soil so when you slice them be sure to rinse them well.
I featured this recipe in this week’s Heinen’s 4PM Panic post for Heinen’s. You can read my weekly posts HERE.
This dish needed something cold and refreshing to accompany it. I was recently introduced to Tsamma watermelon juice. I was working in the sun all day at the Polo Match and it was the perfect refresher. So logically I figured it would also make a wonderful pairing for a cocktail. Of course!! You can find it in the produce section of Heinen’s (where I hang out these days). I seem to be at the grocery store every other day. I’ve never been very good at shopping for the week. I love the idea of going to the market daily to get just what we need and enjoying everything at it’s freshest. This is a great concept in the south of France. Walk to the butcher, the baker, the market. Here, it’s a bit impractical. Oh well!
Just as with the Fish Soup this drink can be customized to your liking.
In a shaker add ice, 6 oz watermelon juice, 1 shot Absolute berry vodka, 2 sliced strawberries and 2 shots of Moscato wine. Shake and pour over ice. Garnish with a wedge of lime. It was the perfect cool compliment to the slightly spicy fish soup. These glasses were one of my favorite gifts this year. They’re hand blown cabrillo glass from Quitokeeto in San Francisco. I adore all their unique products.
Enjoy!