Bouillabaisse with Rouille & Garlic Toasts
A few weeks ago I was invited by the very cool foodies, Clay & Zach of The Bitten Word blog to participate in their Cover to Cover Project Challenge. The D.C.-based food writers set out to challenge folks, assembled on teams, to help cook EVERY recipe in six issues of their favorite October food magazines! The guys had always wanted to attempt to cook every recipe in a single issue of a food magazine over the course of a month. Their epiphany was challenging others to help them meet this goal.
Participants, otherwise referred to as "Bittens", were required to make the dish, snap a photo, share thoughts on the dish, send a link to the recipe and submit the items before Oct. 12th. Simple right? Recipes were promised to range from Halloween foods to ethnic dishes, comfort foods and the flavors of fall. I couldn't wait to get my assignment!
The October magazines they were looking to conquer in "Cover to Cover" fashion by having participants duplicate and test recipes included: Martha Stewart Living, Saveur, Everyday Food, Food & Wine, Bon Appetit and the Food Network Magazine.
I secretly hoped that I would get assigned a recipe from the Food Network magazine for which my mom had gifted me a subscription last Christmas or the Martha Stewart Living that featured the flavors of fall or Everyday Food magazine that I adore that featured comfort foods this month. But, I would obviously be happy with whatever challenge came my way.
I was assigned to Team Bon Appetit to make the October magazine's featured Bouillabaisse with Rouille and Garlic Toasts! Wow! Others on my Bon Appetit "team" included Monica creating homemade Ginger Ale, Annie making Vegetable Shepherd's Pie and Jeanne testing the October featured Yellow Layer Cake with Chocolate-Sour Cream Frosting. (All recipes can be found here on the Bon Appetit website.)
When I read everyone's assignments I realized that I had made layered cakes before, tackled homemade rootbeer (close to Ginger Ale) and created a close proximity of the Vegetable Shepherd's Pie. However, I had never purchased let alone, prepared any mussel dish before. This recipe challenge was truly going to be taking me out of my comfort zone! Don't get me wrong, the recipe sounded delicious and my family loves seafood, so it was going to be a perfect fit!
The challenge started with this delicious recipe having me search high and low within a 60-mile radius for live mussels! You would think that living an hour away from the Pacific Ocean, that I wouldn't have a problem securing the main ingredient of my BouilIabaisse, however, that was not the case. After numerous inquiries, I ended up being able to special order a batch from a nearby grocer. I was told the order would come in four days later! On the designated day, I received a phone call that the mussels weren't up to par and that they were hoping for a fresh shipment the following day.
Here they are...in all their bearded glory...ready to be steamed to their death!
The call came that they arrived and I was quite surprised to learn that they would be arriving alive and I had limited time to prepare them! Yikes! Dinner plans were dumped and date night with the hubs would feature an evening of de-bearding, preparing and de-sanding live mussels! Thankfully, I had a willing partner and a bottle of wine.
I must admit that I would never have ventured to make this recipe, had I not been "challenged". I learned how to beard and steam mussels, how to create rouille and make fresh fish stock.
Here's the link to the Bon Appetit Bouillabaisse with Rouille and Garlic Toasts
The finished product was an absolute hit. The hubs was thrilled with the delicious outcome and encouraged a repeat performance at a later date.
Personally, I loved the bright orange rouille which came together quickly in my Vitamix blender and the only alteration to the recipe I made was the elimination of the raw egg in the rouille substituted for a pat of butter. Mmm...butter. The flavorful bouillabaisse-style tomato-leek-onion based broth was accented with saffron and fresh herbs.
I would definitely make this again and believe it would make for a delightful dinner amongst friends. Be sure to give yourself ample time to secure your mussels and realize that they will come to you alive so you must act quickly!
A special thank you to Clay & Zach who gave me the adventurous nudge to play in the kitchen and master a new recipe. I loved participating and hope I get invited again in the future! I'm up for the challenge.
