Bouillabaisse

Ingredients

• 12 slices baguette ()
• 0.5 teaspoon pepper black
• 0.5 pound hard-shelled clams scrubbed
• 1.5 tablespoons sea salt 
• 0.3 cup fennel fronds finely chopped (sometimes called anise)
• 3 pounds fish fillets white red cut into 2-inch pieces (such as monkfish, turbot, snapper, striped bass, porgy, grouper, and/or cod)
• 9 cups fish stock white store-bought (or )
• 1  garlic clove halved
• 4  garlic cloves chopped
• 1 lb live lobster 
• 0.5 pound cultivated mussels scrubbed
• 0.5 cup olive oil extra-virgin
• 1 large onion chopped
• 1 lb potatoes boiling
• 0.3 teaspoon saffron threads crumbled
• 0.5 pound shrimp in shells 
• 2 large tomatoes peeled coarsely chopped
• 1  turkish or 
• 8 servings rouille 
• 8 servings rouille 

Equipment

• bowl
• ladle
• oven
• pot
• baking pan
• rolling pin
• slotted spoon
• tongs
• colander

Directions

1. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 250°F.
2. Arrange bread slices in 1 layer in a shallow baking pan and brush both sides with oil.
3. Bake until crisp, about 30 minutes. Rub 1 side of each toast with a cut side of garlic.
4. Plunge lobster headfirst into a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling water, then cook, covered, 2 minutes from time lobster enters water.
5. Transfer lobster with tongs to a colander and let stand until cool enough to handle. Discard hot water in pot. Put lobster in a shallow baking pan. Twist off claws with knuckles from body, then crack claws with a mallet or rolling pin and separate claws from knuckles. Halve body and tail lengthwise through shell with kitchen shears, then cut crosswise through shell into 2-inch pieces. Reserve lobster juices that accumulate in baking pan.
6. Cook tomatoes, onion, and garlic in oil in cleaned 6- to 8-quart pot over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Meanwhile, peel potatoes and cut into 1/2-inch cubes. Stir potatoes into tomatoes with fennel fronds, bay leaf, saffron, sea salt, and pepper.
7. Add stock and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, until potatoes are almost tender, 8 to 10 minutes.
8. Add thicker pieces of fish and cockles to soup and simmer, covered, 2 minutes. Stir in mussels, shrimp, lobster, including juices, and remaining fish and simmer, covered, until they are just cooked through and mussels open wide, about 5 minutes.
9. Stir 3 tablespoons broth from soup into rouille until blended.
10. Arrange 2 croutons in each of 6 to 8 deep soup bowls. Carefully transfer fish and shellfish from soup to croutons with a slotted spoon, then ladle some broth with vegetables over seafood.
11. Top each serving with 1 teaspoon rouille and serve remainder on the side.