Always wanted to have this rich Fisherman's stew from France on our menu, but wanted to use fish that is the freshest here. Having done a lot of research and having thought it over (recipes differ quite a bit depending on the author), I decided to use locally sourced rainbow trout in addition to other seafood. And.. Voila! We have a winner! We can sure get very good live mussels (Zehrs). The gentleman at the fish counter was so nice - packed them on ice for us. Every one of them opened (a miracle, right? :) A good size bag of mussels is perfect to make a big pot of this delicious stew seasoned with garlic and saffron (those little crocus petals).
Making this for lunch today also allowed me to free up some much needed freezer space and use up our frozen tomatoes from last year. We have Thyme growing in a pot... The only thing I am going to change: I am not going to get a Seafood mix for this, but instead will get squid, shrimp and some white fish separately. Because... the seafood mix already has mussels in it that had been frozen. If you are already using live mussels, the frozen ones not only taste inferior, they also take up space in the stew. Since you got a whole bag of live mussels, you definitely want to use them all up. And... this is the only adjustment I am making... and now Bouillabaisse is Going on our summer menu for lunch or lighter dinner. It also goes so well with a glass of chilled dry white wine and will be a perfect dish for a hot summer day.
