Forgeron Cellars Chardonnay and Fish Soup
By Zacchoreli Frescobaldi-Grimaldi
Yes, canned soups are convenient, but they always taste like a can. Homemade soups are easy to make and taste a hell of a lot better!
Fish Soup
Serves Six
Forgeron Cellars 2011 Chardonnay(about $27 a bottle) pairs exceptionally well with this traditional French soup. For information on this and other Foregeron wines visit www.forgeroncellars.com
Equipment:
4 quart sauce pan
Sauté pan
Measuring cup
Measuring spoons
Chef’s knife
Ladle
Whisk
Ingredients:
4 lbs. lean fish such as cod, haddock or halibut
1 lbs. fresh clams – rinsed
1 lbs. fresh mussels – de-beard, rinsed
1 quart clam juice (or chicken stock)
4 ounces of unsalted butter
2 tbs. all-purpose flour
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups Forgeron Cellars 2011 Chardonnay
½ cup yellow onion – minced
3/4 cup leeks – minced
¼ cup shallot – minced
¼ cup celery – minced
4 large or 5 small cloves of garlic crushed
3 quarts of water
1 bay leaf
½ tsp thyme
1/8 tsp fennel seeds – crushed
1 tsp orange zest
Sea salt and pepper to taste
Steps:
One:In the sauce pan melt two tablespoons of the butter and sauté the onion, leeks, shallot, and celery for about 10 minutes.
Two:
While the vegetables cook, heat the sauté pan and cook the clams just until the shells open. As soon as the clam opens its shell remove the clam from the sauté pan and set aside until needed.
Repeat the same process with the mussels.
NOTE: Immediately removing the clams and mussels once they’ve opened prevents over-cooking. Few people enjoy heating rubbery shellfish!
Three:
Add the water and stock to the sautéed vegetables, then add the bay leaf, thyme, fennels seeds, and crushed garlic.
Bring the stock to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer.
While the stock simmers, melt the remaining two tablespoons of butter in the sauté pan and add the flour. Use the whisk to stir the flour for a couple of minutes.
Turn off the burner and ladle two-cups of hot stock into the sauté pan. Be careful as there will be some splatter. Blend the hot mixture together, then pour the béchamel into the 4 quart sauce pan and stir to blend. Don’t worry about small lumps; they’ll dissolve as the soup cooks.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Four:
Add the 4 lbs. of fish to the soup, cream and orange zest and cook for about 10 minutes.
Bring soup to rolling boil.
Portion the shell fish into the serving bowls and ladle soup over the shellfish. The hot soup will re-heat the shellfish without over-cooking! Serve immediately.