Bouillabaisse

• 3 1/2 to 4 pounds mixed fish fillets (John Dory, red mullet, red snapper, porgy, pompano, striped bass, monkfish, grouper, hake), cut into 3-inch chunks
• 1 tablespoon pastis (Ricard or Pernod)
• 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons saffron threads, crumbled
• 3/4 cup olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 quarts Fish Stock for Bouillabaisse (see recipe), plus a few tablespoons for rouille
• 2 pounds (about 3 large) potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch slices
• Cayenne pepper
• 4 to 5 cloves peeled garlic
• 1 small hunk country bread, crust removed
• 1 baguette or loaf of country bread, cut into slices and dried in oven

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine fish, pastis, two pinches of saffron and 1/2 cup olive oil.
2. Season lightly with salt and pepper, and mix well without breaking up fish.
3. Cover, and refrigerate for at least three hours.
4. In a large heavy-bottomed stockpot, combine fish stock and remaining saffron.
5. Place over high heat, and bring to a rapid boil.
6. Add potatoes, and cook for 7 minutes.
7. Add largest, firmest pieces of fish from the bowl, and cook for 2 minutes.
8. Add remaining pieces of fish, and continue to boil until potatoes are tender, about 10 more minutes.
9. Season with salt, pepper and cayenne to taste.
10. Prepare the rouille: Crush 2 to 3 cloves garlic, and use a mortar and pestle to mash with a pinch of cayenne pepper.
11. Dunk hunk of bread into 2 to 3 tablespoons hot fish stock, squeeze out liquid, and add to mortar.
12. Mash well.
13. Take 2 to 3 slices potato from Bouillabaisse, and mash with pestle into a thick paste.
14. Gradually add remaining olive oil, drop by drop, mashing mixture in a circular motion until thick and smooth.
15. (If mixture breaks up, add a teaspoon or two of hot fish stock or a little more soup-soaked bread.)
16. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
17. To serve, remove fish and potatoes from soup, and arrange on a large serving platter.
18. Ladle some soup over fish, and keep warm.
19. Rub slices of bread with 2 cloves garlic, and place in a dish on the table along with bowl of rouille.
20. Have diners dab croutons with rouille and place them in soup plates.
21. Ladle soup over croutons, and place a serving of fish and potatoes into each plate.

mixed fish, saffron threads, olive oil, salt, bouillabaisse, potatoes, cayenne pepper, garlic, hunk country bread, baguette

Taken from cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/10583 (may not work)