bass head soup

[dave]

First make a stock;
In a big pan;
bass heads and skeletons, plus any other scraps, lobster shells etc
bulb fennel, chopped
celery
carrots
garlic
onion
peppercorns
bay leaves
water to nearly cover

Bring to the boil, simmer with a lid on, stirring every so often for 20 mins (ish) leave to cool, strain through a sieve

Fry off some onions in olive oil until golden , add chopped celery, fennel, garlic and a couple of chopped potatoes, cook a bit more
Add a tin or two of tomatoes, cook a bit more
Add the fish stock, simmer until the potato is cooked
Liquidize about half in a blender, and put back in the pan
Check seasoning, add salt, pepper and herbs as needed
Add chunks of whatever seafood you fancy (chopped fillets of bass, scallops, cuttlefish, lobster etc)
Simmer until the fish is cooked
Serve!

This works with pretty much any fish (although estuary mullet are not the best for making the stock!), exact quantities of ingredients are completely unimportant

cheers
dave
www.spearo.co.uk

 

[Spaniard]

I shall raid the freezer in honour of this recipe!!!! Should be a few bass heads in there. I guess the first part makes a good all round fish stock.

 

[Oldsarge]

Looks good. The California seafood soup called Ciappino is allegedly derived from the pidgeon-English "chip-in-oh" referring to the idea of making soup from whatever the local Portuguese/Italian/Greek/whatever fishermen had left over and could chip in to the pot. I think this must be the British version? And you guys supposedly can't cook? Bah!