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Canon Image Challenge | all galleries >> CIC 265: The Colors Of Winter >> Eligible > 16 The Wages of a Warm Winter Bouillabaisse
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18-Jan-2025 TRAVELLER

16 The Wages of a Warm Winter Bouillabaisse

Instead of photographing food...these are the implements, the tool of a fine French Soup, two hours of work and more pots and plates and bowls than even are seen here...the 1st clean up.

The problem is that I can never make the same dish twice...there are too many Variables, but this was a very wonderful 2.11 gallons. Yum...(most of it frozen in 7 additional dinners)

3.5 pounds of calamari, Mussels, prawns, scallops, with 1 pound of flaky white fish and 2 pounds of buttered large shrimp;

That's the base, but then 5 medium sized russet patotos, finely diced, everything finely diced, two large stalks of celery, not more a little bit of celery goes a long way, likewise only a half pound of peas, the taste of peas also goes a long way, 3/4 pound of sweet corn, a can of diced tomatoes in garlic and basil, 1 pound of fresh cherry tomatoes, 1/4 pounds of sweet peppers, (avoid, green peppers, fine for chili, not so much for Bouillabaisse), 3/4 pounds baby carrots, one small package of brown rice, 1/2 pounds of pearl onions, and lastly, 1/2 pounds of Portabella Mushrooms..and season to taste.

Since I can't make anything twice, I thought I try an actual recipe

Canon EOS 6D Mark II
1/40s f/5.0 at 20.0mm iso3200 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Canon Image Challenge21-Jan-2025 02:25
Good suggestion, Jim. T, I sometimes find myself becoming insensitive to the smell of things I am cooking. I can usually reset my olfactory detector by leaving the house and returning. I made beef stew in the crock pot today, and my wife came downstairs several times to lift the lid and enjoy a sniff. I gave up on policing it. Came out pretty well despite the interruptions.

Dave
Guest 20-Jan-2025 23:31
Spritz a touch of rmr 86 on the sink and drainpan it will be lik new.
Canon Image Challenge20-Jan-2025 16:11
Rather than add water after a defrost, how about a vegetable stock. I also use a lot of chicken broth instead of plain water - it really enhances the flavor.
V8 juice also works quite well when there are more tomatoes.

Jim
Canon Image Challenge20-Jan-2025 10:47
Interesting that you ask...I don't remember any particular odor...like boiling Polish sausage, or even hamburgers...I am currently eating two smallish pink navel oranges...I've held them up to my noise as a test...I don't smell a thing...maybe its me...but no fishy odor if that is what you are hinting at. Hummm...I will keep testing...lol...(self taught...sort of...but my mother, grandmothers, all my wives, all were not so good cooks. I still say it is Covid shutting everything down...and being 80 I think. All my live I have not cared about food...now I'm pretty good at it.)Traveller
Canon Image Challenge19-Jan-2025 20:29
I'm fantasizing about the aroma.

Are you a self-taught cook?

Dave
Canon Image Challenge19-Jan-2025 17:23
Actually I Think I have less than $50 dollars in this...and it is probably more a French ragout (fish vegetable stew...though it can be and more commonly made with beef).

It is impossible to cook for just one, so I make a lot, and this time a way lot, and freeze the balance.

I have been buying ingredients and freezing them for for close to two months now in preparation for my family's visit...I bought 2 pounds of seafood stock from the German firm, Aldi, and another 1.5 lbs from Walmart, the white fish from a client in the business, and...Yikes, (I just looked in the Trash), the Aldi bags of frozen seafood, but not fish, actually were 2.8lbs and the Walmat was 2.5 lbs. and 2 pounds of garlic shrimp from Costco.

That's a lot of seafood for a base, but the real trick is all the vegetable to make this healthy. Lots of fresh everything...well, one can of diced tomatoes, the rest of the tomatoes were fresh. As were the mushrooms, celery, onions, potatoes, etc.

The trick is the water, (and maybe wisely or not, most everything is cooked separately to maintain their individual textures)....this will be thick, I added 750ml distilled water, and it was still too damned thick at the simmer...so I doubled it to an additional total of 1.5 liters...and it is still too stiff...what happens in all my soups that are heavy vegetable -wise, is that they will just keep on sucking up fluid (and flavor) as they cool. In defrosting I will add stll more water...and if any are laying around, more perfectly fresh vegetables.

I must here note that my family never once let me cook for them...expensive Hollywood restaurants, Pizza, In 'n Out Burgers...lol.

It made me crazy...(grin) Best Wishes, Traveller (please note I added the baby carrots into the recipe...how could I forget the damned baby carrots?)

(Lastly, this is all a product of COVID...my Restaurants are closed...I learned how to cook during the lockdown...etc, etc).
Canon Image Challenge19-Jan-2025 15:00
I love a good bouillabaisse, or seafood stew as I sometimes see it called. I have never tried making it. Most of them I have had have been served over pasta or rice. Your recipe with potatoes sounds pretty good. If this recipe is published, can you post a link?
2 gallons is quite large, and I don't see enough liquid in the list you have written down. Is it more like a standalone stew?


Jim
Canon Image Challenge19-Jan-2025 12:20
I’m gonna take a guess that you dropped over $100.00 for the ingredients, (Midwest pricing, SoCal likely more) but divided by 8 filling and refreshing meals it sounds like a good deal. Aren’t you creative! Paul.
Canon Image Challenge19-Jan-2025 06:11
I'd like to note that with both cathedral and this shot, I've been using again my 20mm prime on the full body camera...so really kind of wide actually. Traveller