042411 - Clearing Trees.

Last night, Zach and I attempted Bouillabaisse for the first time. I’d always been discouraged from trying it by the perceived difficulty and cost. It turned out to be simple to make (done in 45 minutes!) and provided you are conscious when picking your mix of seafood (dungeness crab clusters vs. king crab or lobster, peeled vs. unpeeled shrimp, clams available by the pound vs. prepackaged mussels) the cost isn’t totally crazy. 

Bouillabaisse For Two
Serves 2 

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil 
1/2 cup chopped carrots, about 1 medium
1/2 cup chopped celery, about 1 large stalk
1 cup chopped onion, about 1 medium
2 large garlic cloves, finely minced 
1 bay leaf 
Pinch fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon herb de Provence or dried thyme
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
8 ounces diced tomatoes, with their juice 
1/2 cup dry white wine 
1/4 cup dry red wine 
1 1/2 cups fish stock
1 cup clam juice 
Juice of 1/4 lemon 
1 teaspoon fine grated orange zest 
8 leaves fresh basil, sliced thin 
Pinch of saffron 
1 large roasted red pepper, pureed
1/2 pound clams or mussels scrubbed and debearded* 
1/2 pound cooked crab or lobster
1/4 pound cod or other firm fleshed white fish
Salt to taste

Directions:

1. In a large stockpot over medium heat, heat the olive oil. Add carrots, onion, and celery and saute until done. Stir in the garlic, bay leaf, fennel seeds, herb de Provence or thyme, and cayenne pepper. 
2. Add the juice from the tomatoes, white wine, red wine, water and clam juice. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered until reduced by 1/3 and is rich in color and taste. Remove from heat and strain through a sieve, pressing out all liquid.
3. Return broth back into the stockpot and add the lemon juice, orange zest, basil (reserving some for garnish), saffron, diced tomatoes and red pepper puree. 
4. Heat the broth over medium heat. Add clams first, cook a few minutes then add white fish and cooked shellfish and reserved claws. Discard any clams or mussels that do not open. 
5. Evenly divide the fish and seafood into 2 shallow soup bowls and spoon broth over. Garnish with reserved fresh basil. Serve with warm, crusty bread.

*Zach isn’t a fan of shrimp so we made up the difference with extra clams. If you wanted to add shrimp, the mix would be 1/4 pound clams and 1/4 pound shrimp.

Recipe adapted from 2 Stews who also deserves credit for the photo.

I adore poppies. (photo by Sarah)

040211 - Demo Day At Beaver Brook.

032511 - Reunited And It Feels So Good. (from Anj)

Coralie Bickford-Smith’s ceramic inspired covers for Penguin’s Great Food Series are gorgeous. Can’t wait to add them all to my bookshelf. 

NYPL is sharing photos of Elizabeth Taylor from the Billy Rose Theatre Collection on their Tumblr.

Happy Spring! I made this arrangement a couple weeks ago at Little Flower School’s Dutch Masters Class.