Bistro Bouillabaisse

Ingredients

• 0.1 teaspoon pepper black freshly ground
• 0.3 cup celery thinly sliced
• 1 cup bottled clam juice 
• 0.1 teaspoon tarragon dried
• 0.3 teaspoon thyme leaves dried
• 0.5 cup cooking wine dry white
• 0.5 teaspoon fennel seeds 
• 2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley fresh chopped
• 1  garlic clove minced
• 4 ounces grouper fillets white firm cut into 1-inch pieces
• 0.3 cup julienne-cut leek 
• 8  littleneck clams 
• 5 ounce lobster tail split
• 6 medium mussels scrubbed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil 
• 0.5 cup onion vertically sliced
• 1 tablespoon pernod (licorice-flavored liqueur)
• 0.8 cup plum tomatoes diced
• 1 Dash saffron threads crushed
• 6 large shrimp deveined peeled
• 0.5 cup sacremento tomato juice 

Equipment

• sauce pan

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.
2. Add onion and next 3 ingredients (through garlic); cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
3. Add tomato, fennel seeds, thyme, tarragon, and saffron; cook 1 minute. Stir in wine and liqueur; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes.
4. Add juices and pepper; bring to a simmer. Cook 10 minutes.
5. Add clams and grouper; cook over medium heat 3 minutes or until clams begin to open.
6. Add mussels, shrimp, and lobster; cook 4 minutes or until mussels open. Discard any unopened clams or mussels.
7. Garnish with parsley.
8. Wine note: In the south of France, where it originated, bouillabaisse is enjoyed with a wine that's considered obligatory and the perfect match: ros. Ros will work throughout this entire menu, from the crab cocktail to the crepes. A still ros would be fine, but why not heighten the pleasure (and romance) and serve a California sparkling ros? Gloria Ferrer's nonvintage Brut Ros is smashing at $ -Karen MacNeil