Cod soup

Ingredients:

• 1/2 big onion, sliced
• 2 ribs celery, chopped
• 1 strip of bacon, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• a pinch of saffron
• pinch of thyme, salt, pepper
• 2 cups chicken stock (fish or shrimp would probably be better)
• 1 cup canned diced tomatos
• about 1/2 pound cod fillets

I wasn’t sure what to do with the saffron so I heated up some water, poured it over the pinch of saffron in a bowl, then strained the saffron liquid into the soup towards the end…it’s probably possible to just toss the threads in the soup though.

Start by rendering the bacon a bit over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, and pinch of salt when the fat is mostly rendered out of the bacon. My bacon wasn’t very fatty so I added some olive oil. When the onion and celery change color and seem soft, add the garlic, pinch of thyme, and some pepper. Do not burn the garlic – I turned the heat down a little at this point. After that has cooked a couple of minutes add the stock, tomatoes, and saffron water. Some white wine could be added at this point. Simmer a few minutes, then add the cod chunks. You don’t want to cook the cod very long – just until it gets opaque and flaky.

For something closer to traditional bouillabaisse, use several types of fish and serve with aioli and little toasts – see the Wikipedia page for more details.