Food for Thought with Suzanne Dunaway
Curried Fish and Vegetable Soup
Well, I happened to be scrounging around in the fridge to find things to add to my bourride, a fish soup I love from Provence and Languedoc, and feeling a bit bored with the same old incredibly tasty soup made with cabillaud, loup de mer, and salmon, among others I had at hand, I came upon the leftover shrimp curry we had had a couple of day before, just a cup or so left, and in it went, making that bourride jump right off the stove! If you have any broth from fish or leftover scallops or leftover anything that feels as if it might work in this soup, go for it.
I love it when these things happen and keep all my leftovers for just this sort of moment! I happened to have broth from morue, which helped enormously but almost any broth will work.
Curry and curcuma adds a kick to just about any soup you are making, short of vichyssoise, haha. But that sounds good to me, too! Have to try that one day…
And yes, after you toast the spices and take the edge off of the onion and garlic, you may put everything in a pot and simmer it until it drives you mad and you have to have a bowl! And of course, slice a baguette…
Get the absolute freshest fish for your soups and broths from the Poissonerie in Port Vendres!
Recipe
Ingredients
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon of curry powder
- 1 teaspoon curcuma
- 1 large sweet onion, chopped fine
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped fine
- 1 carrot sliced fine
- 1 stalk celery, sliced fine
- 1 ½ cups tomato sauce or 3 large fresh tomatoes, puréed
- 600 grams raw filets of 3 fish, any assortment – cabillaud, loup de mer, joue de lotte, all cut into fairly large pieces as they will not stay that way for long but must start fairly large
- 300 grams fresh or frozen shrimp, out of their shells
- 1 large potato, chopped medium
- ¼ cup basmati rice – this gives nice body and texture to the soup
- 1 small carton of lait de coco
- 1 cup white wine
- Splash of Cognac
- Vegetable or fish broth or chicken broth, or even a mix of the three, just to cover all ingredients
- Juice of a large lemon
- Pinch of cayenne
Method
Heat a large soup pot, add the olive oil, add the curry and curcuma to toast for a moment or two, then add the onion and garlic and cook for a few minutes, then add all the rest of the ingredients, and the broth, and bring the soup to a simmer. Cook over low heat for about 40 minutes until all ingredients are soft.
Add the lemon juice and cayenne (unless the curry powder is very hot) and serve with croutons, or not.
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