Wholesale Maine Lobsters Best Wholesale Lobster Prices Sold By The Pound
Bouillabaisse Marseille Style With Whole Maine Lobsters
Bouillabaisse in general is a difficult dish to make because of the diverse ingredients and if you have ever had the dish in France; you would think it is a bit over your head. But lets look at it a different way, it's just vegetable soup with fish and lobsters cooked in it. And it is low in calories and carbohydrates. Besides the importance of using fresh fish; you absolutely need 1/3 teaspoon of finely ground saffron. Now to make your dish with lots of flavor, your going to need 2 quarts of V8 JuiceŽ and at least a quart of good fish broth. Don't use bottled. Instead make your own by buying 1 whole large red snapper, 1 medium sized whole Cod or haddock and have your fish monger scale and fillet them for you; keeping the bony frame and heads for the broth. Also buy 48 cherrystones, four cherrystones for each guest. This dish is written for 12 servings; you can't really make a small bouillabaisse but you could try for 6 serving cutting everything but the saffron in half. I use fresh squid rings 2 pounds and a pound of fresh catfish fillet. 12 small lobsters. Make sure everything is very fresh. You can get away with frozen squid rings or tubes. Put the fish bones and heads in a covered pan with a quart of water. Put to the boil and turn to simmer for 30 minutes. Strain into another pot and put the scrubbed cleaned cherrystones in the pot and cover. The minute it boils remove the pot fro the stove or it will immediately boil over. Let's keep an eye on the clams or your going to lose half the broth. Do not lift the lid wait 8 minutes. Let cool and shuck the clams into the broth. Now you need to have a large soup pot to hold everything. At least a five gallon container, if you want to cook the lobsters in the soup. I don't cook the lobsters with the soup, you'll end up with a rubber band in some ones bowl, they are pretty chewy. But before we add the lobsters and the fish. We have to cook in the broth with the clams, 2 cups chopped onion, carrots, fennel with 2 chopped whites of leeks not the green stems, and a couple of cloves of minced garlic. The fennel and the leeks are very important. You can saute all of the vegetables quickly in olive oil. If not add a half a cup to the broth. Along with a bay leaf and the two quarts of V8 JuiceŽ. Cook covered until the clams and squid are tender on simmer for 1/2 an hour or so. Squid and clams are strange to cook because if you cook them a little they are tender with more cooking they get tough and then tender again with more cooking. Add all of the cubed fish and bring to a slow boil with the lid on. After 8 minutes reduce the pot to a simmer and add the 1/3 teaspoon saffron, a tablespoon of fresh chopped thyme. While this is happening steam or boil the lobsters for 12 minutes. This way is much less messier than cooking them in the soup. Saute slices of French bread in oil for big croutons, don't cut them up into squares, grill the whole slice use garlic. I like to serve this dish the way I first had it in Barcelona at a 173 year old restaurant called Los Caracoles just off the Rambla on Calle Escudillers #14. It is a masterpiece of cuisine from Barcelona set in a very old three story building with an open kitchen. Split each lobster in half and remove the sack. Place the lobster in a large bowl on it's back and ladle the soup and fish over the lobster. Put a big crouton in each bowl and serve. To conserve cost, you can use six lobsters and serve a half to each guest.
