Seafood Bouillabaisse

We were at the grocery store when I saw something in the freezer section and said, "That isn't a very appetizing name."  The product was called Seafood Medley -- which I thought was a little off-putting because it wasn't very specific.  Normally I don't like anything that could be a hodgepodge of some unnamed fish parts.  But picked it up and was very pleasantly surprised at what I found.

It actually had calamari, clams, mussels, and shrimp. And thankfully there was a bouillabaisse recipe right on the back of the package, which meant dinner that night already planned out for me.

I started by melting some butter and olive oil with minced garlic over medium heat.  Be careful here not to burn your butter or you'll start off with a very bad tasted that will ruin the rest of the dish.

I added a chopped white onion, bay leaf, crushed red pepper flakes, dried thyme, and some white wine. Let that sweat down for a while until a wonderful aroma fills your kitchen.

Next add tomatoes.  You can either use a can of diced tomatoes, drained. Or you could dice up some fresh tomatoes yourself.  But the tomatoes are key here.  The combination of olive oil, onion, garlic, tomato, and bay leaf are very integral in a good Bouillabaisse according to Julia Child.

Add the seafood and cover to cook for about 5 minutes.  You should boil some pasta in salted water and drain.  We didn't quite have enough of our ribbed elbow macaroni, so I had to mix two kinds of noodles.  That means my presentation doesn't look so fantastic -- but it still tasted great.

I topped it with a little bit of bread crumbs just because I thought that would be a nice buttery bit of texture at the end.  This reminded me a little of a cioppino because of the seafood and tomato.  But it was very aromatic and tasty.

I am by no means an expert in this classic French dish.  But I think it was pretty darned good.  And my wife liked it too -- and that's what matters most.