Recipe: Chicken Bouillabaisse

SERVES TWO TO FOUR AS MAIN COURSE
Source: Mimi Sheraton

FOR THE SOUP:
One 3 1/2-to-4 pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1/4 cup mild-flavored olive oil
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 large leek, white portion only
coarsely chopped
5 or 6 small canned Italian-style plum tomatoes
(a 14-1/2 ounce can), coarsley chopped,
with their liquid
2 or 3 feathery sprigs of fresh fennel, or 1/2 tsp
dried fennel seeds, crushed
5 or 6 saffron threads, or 1/8 tsp ground saffron
1 small bay leaf
A 2-inch strip of orangepeel
(dried on the rack of a 450 F oven
for about 7 minutes or until edges
curl and are slightly brown)

Pinch of cayenne pepper, to taste (optional)
Salt and pepper
3 to 4 cups Basic Chicken Soup
10 or 12 slices of French bread, toasted
Rouille (recipe follows)

FOR THE OPTIONAL GARNISH:
Minced fresh parsley
2 peeled and boiled small potatoes,
1/3-to-1/2 cup cooked rice for each portion.

Pull off all skin from chicken pieces, without cutting into the meat. Trim off all visible bits of yellow fat. Set chicken aside at room temperature. Heat oil in a 4-to 5-quart casserole, preferably of enameled cast-iron and oval shape. When oil is warm, add onion, garlic and leek, and saut slowly but steadily, stirring
often, for about 5 minutes. Cover and simmer over low heat for another 5 minutes or until vegatables begin to soften but are only faintly golden. Stir in tomatoes and their juices, and add fennel, saffron, bay leaf, orange peel and cayenne pepper. Simmer, uncovered, for about 7 or 8 minutes. Add chicken pieces with a little salt and pepper and turn through the vegetable mixture. Pour in just enough soup to come to the level of the chicken. Partly cover pot and boil vigorously for about 30 minutes, adding broth if needed and stirring to be sure nothing scorches. Chicken should be tender by that time. If not, simmer longer unless you are preparing this in advance and reheating it. Discard fennel, bay leaf, and orange peel.

The soup can be prepared ahead up to this point, but if so, chicken should be only barely tender as it will cook during the reheating. If this is to be served within 4 hours of cooking time and the kitchen is cool, keep bouillabaisse at room temperature, loosely covered. Otherwise, cool, cover, and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. When stored, this soup will become greasier than when freshly cooked, because
of added fat seeping out of the chicken. If bouillabaisse is served immediately after being cooked, fat need not be skimmed from the surface as it gives the dish character.


ROUILLE

5 garlic cloves
pinch of coarse salt
4 egg yolks at room temperature
1 1/2-2 cups mild-flavored olive oil, at room temperature
2-3 slices firm white bread without crusts, soaked
in 1/2 cup cold water (optional)
1/2 tsp. salt, or to taste
pinch of freshly ground black pepper
2-3 Tbs. fresh lemon juice, to taste
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper or 1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper
flakes crushed with the garlic and salt
6-8 crumbled saffron threads that have been soaked in a few
drops of lemon juice or olive oil.
Just before serving, stir in 3 tablespoons of the
bouillabaisse broth into the Rouille

Cut garlic cloves in half vertically and remove any green inner core to avoid an overly sharp flavor. The garlic can be crushed to a fine paste with coarse salt using a mortar and a pestle, or it can put through a garlic press and then mashed with the salt. Blend in the egg yolks, using the pestle or a wire whisk.( If you use a blender, puree the garlic with salt and yolks.) Gradually trickle in the olive oil, beating constantly with a whisk or with the blender on slow speed. Watch carefully after you
have added 1 1/2 cups of oil to be sure yolks can absorb more without oil separating. If the mixture curdles, beat 1 tablespoon boiling water and blend or beat slowly until it is smooth.
The soaked bread can be beaten in at this point to add body and mellow flavor. Squeeze all the water from bread; you should have 3 tablespoonfuls of soaked bread. Beat it into the mixture. If you prefer an intense, oily sauce, do not add bread. Season with salt, pepper, cayenne, saffron and lemon juice. This sauce may be served immediately or stored in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours. It should be served at room temperature.