| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 2 hr 15 min |
| Prep: | 45 min |
| Cook: | 1 hr 30 min |
| Yield: | 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 blue crabs
- 1 1/2 pounds jumbo shrimp
- 1 lemon, halved and juiced
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 small fennel bulb, halved
- 1 orange, zest peeled in big strips
- 1 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, plus more for garnish
- 6 fresh thyme sprigs
- 2 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 head garlic
- 1 leek, halved
- 1/2 onion
- 5 cups cold water
- 2 cups dry white wine
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 4 lobster claws
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Pinch saffron threads
- 2 lobster tails
- 4 pounds black sea bass, bones reserved, *see Cook’s note
- Rouille, recipe follows
- Croutons, recipe follows
- Chopped fresh parsley leaves, for garnish
- 1 red bell pepper, roasted, peeled, seeded, and coarsely chopped
- 5 garlic cloves
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- Pinch saffron threads
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 18 (1/2-inch thick) baguette slices
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
- To make the fish stock, hack up the crabs with a large sharp knife and put them into a big stockpot. Peel and de-vein the shrimp and put the shells into the pot (reserve the shrimp for later). Add the fish bones on top. Add lemon and lemon juice, bay leaves, fennel, strip of orange zest, parsley, and thyme. Add the tomatoes, squeezing as you add them. Add garlic, leek, onion, water, and wine. Season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper and a pinch of cayenne. Place over a medium heat. Simmer gently for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, but don’t let it boil. Skim and discard the fish foam that rises to the surface. Remove from heat.
- Put the lobster claws into a large cast iron serving pot and strain the stock over them.
- Turn the temperature up and simmer for 5 minutes. Add a splash of olive oil and a pinch of saffron. Lastly add the reserved shrimp and lobster tails, and cook for 3 minutes. Add large bite sized pieces of sea bass and cook for 3 minutes.
- To serve: Place pieces of seafood in a big soup bowl. Put a spoonful of Rouille on Croutons and ladle soup on top.
- To make the rouille, put the red pepper, garlic, mayonnaise, saffron, cayenne, and lemon juice in a food processor. Pulse the mixture until combined and smooth. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- To make the croutons lightly brush the baguette slices with olive oil and bake until crisp, about 10 minutes.
Reviews
Oh my God this was soup was totally amazing!
I watched Tyler make this soup several times, I finally made it myself, it was good, it was really good, really really good, was it expensive? everything is expensive.
This is very close to a classic bouillabaisse (see Julia Child’s Mastering The Art), but some good, obtainable choices have been made for you, and if you buy all that good stuff, the dish will be good!
People are saying it’s too expensive, but it’s a great deal cheaper than getting bouillabaisse at a first rate restaurant. I get my fish at an Asian market, trying to hit the day they receive it. It’s almost half the price of anywhere else in town. Also, you can cut the cost: use deep frozen lobster tails and buy them on special: they keep a long time as they are frozen in water. Instead of lobster claws you could use some other shell fish, maybe a crab claw or two bought frozen on sale. For the black sea bass find the cheapest non-oily fish in the market – it could be the sea bass, if it’s on sale. You could skip the lobster completely and use a few big prawns or shrimp or even frozen scallops. You will still have a very good soup, and you won’t break the bank.
While you are doing all this work, you might as well make your own rouille and skip any store-bought mayonnaise – you don’t want any factory flavors in there!
This is very do-able if you avoid the high end fishmongers or supermarkets. Tyler Florence has done a good job of making this dish accessible for most of us if we plan ahead and use our freezer space.
People are saying it’s too expensive, but it’s a great deal cheaper than getting bouillabaisse at a first rate restaurant. I get my fish at an Asian market, trying to hit the day they receive it. It’s almost half the price of anywhere else in town. Also, you can cut the cost: use deep frozen lobster tails and buy them on special: they keep a long time as they are frozen in water. Instead of lobster claws you could use some other shell fish, maybe a crab claw or two bought frozen on sale. For the black sea bass find the cheapest non-oily fish in the market – it could be the sea bass, if it’s on sale. You could skip the lobster completely and use a few big prawns or shrimp or even frozen scallops. You will still have a very good soup, and you won’t break the bank.
While you are doing all this work, you might as well make your own rouille and skip any store-bought mayonnaise – you don’t want any factory flavors in there!
This is very do-able if you avoid the high end fishmongers or supermarkets. Tyler Florence has done a good job of making this dish accessible for most of us if we plan ahead and use our freezer space.
Haven’t tried this recipe, but people the name of the show is Tyler’s ULTIMATE!!! Not tyler’s Budget Quick meals. LOL. I had something simmilar, made by a friend who is a chef in Texas and if this recipe tastes anything like that it must be the best thing EVa.
The soup was tasty, creative, and confident!!!! My family loved it…
Edie
I made this recipe last Valentine’s Day for my wife and I. It is pricey, but absolutely succulent. The recipe turned out looking just as good as it looked on Tyler’s show, and tasted even better!
Save it for a special occasion. It’s worth the price and effort.
Wow….this dish is pricey! You could go out for a good lobster dinner for what it cost. I love you, Tyler, but the average household’s budget would be gone making this one meal. I’d like to see you make more down to earth dishes at affordable prices that aren’t going to take a lot of time.
We served this soup to my husband’s boss and his wife. Let’s put it this way. My hubby got his raise. 🙂 It is truly wonderful.
We cut the recipe in half and it still cost more than $50 to purchase the seafood. We could have had a market priced dinner for what it cost. Plus it just didn’t turn out like it did on the show.
very tastety