Fourth Street Grill's Cioppino

Ingredients

The Croutons

• 1 head garlic, broken apart lightly
• 1 cup light olive oil
• 40 slices baguette (thin slices)

The Rouille

• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 red jalapeno chiles, roasted, peeled, seeded
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, lightly toasted
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
• lemon juice
• salt

The Cioppino

• 1 cup chopped drained seeded tomato (canned or fresh)
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• fresh ground black pepper
• 6 cups fish stock
• 1 tablespoon saffron thread, toasted, pulverized
• 1/2 orange, zest of
• light olive oil, for sauteeing
• 1/2 cup julienned fresh fennel
• 1 cup julienned leek
• 1 cup julienned carrot
• 2 tablespoons minced shallots
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 3 ounces Pernod
• 24 manila clams, scrubbed
• 2 dungeness crabs, cleaned, quartered, lightly cracked
• 32 mussels, scrubbed, debearded
• 2 lbs squid, cleaned, cut into 1/2-inch rings
• salt

Directions

1. 1

   To prepare the croutons:

2. 2

   Preheat the oven to 350°F

3. 3

   To make the garlic oil, grind the whole head of garlic, including the skins, in a blender or food processor. Strain through a fine sieve and add to the oil.

4. 4

   Place the thin slices of baguette in a large mixing bowl and pour in enough garlic oil to coat thoroughly. Toss gently. Arrange on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool.

5. 5

   To prepare the rouille:

6. 6

   Mash the garlic in a mortar with the peppers and the cayenne until they form a paste. Transfer the mixture to a bowl. Add the egg yolk and whisk to combine. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil, drop by drop, whisking constantly until an emulsion begins to form. When all the oil is absorbed, taste and season with lemon juice and salt. Refrigerate until ready to use.

7. 7

   To prepare the cioppino:

8. 8

   Preheat oven to 400°F

9. 9

   Place well-drained tomatoes in a layer on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with black pepper. Roast for 30 minutes, or until lightly caramelized.

10. 10

    Combine the stock, tomatoes, saffron and orange zest in a large kettle over low heat. Set aside and keep warm.

11. 11

    Put enough olive oil to cover the bottom in a large skillet and place over medium heat. Add the fennel, leeks and carrots and cook about 2 minutes. Add the shallots and cook a minute more. Add the garlic, turn the heat to high, and add the Pernod and flame if possible. Add the fish stock combination, the clams and the crab. Cover tightly. After about 2 minutes add mussels and cover. As soon as the mussels and clams have opened, reduce heat to simmer.

12. 12

    Have 8 large soup bowls warmed and arrange all the shellfish, with a quarter crab, 4 mussels and 3 clams in each bowl.

13. 13

    Add the squid to the broth and let cook for 30 seconds. Taste the broth and season with salt. Arrange the squid in the bowls. Arrange 4 croutons upright in each bowl. Top a fifth with a tablespoon of rouille and place flat in the bowl. Carefully pour in broth and vegetables and serve immediately. Pass additional rouille at the table.