The other night I had in mind that I wanted to coat some mahi mahi with some panko and rosemary and then fry it up. I wanted to lay that over some Israeli cous cous that was set in a Bouillabaisse like broth. In my mind it would be a soupy, rich, oily tomato based sauce. Something went wrong. Mind you, it did come out well… it really did. It just did not come out they way I had it in my mind. Perhaps I should have read some bouillabaisse recipes. Perhaps you can’t cheat 3 different kinds of fish, with some clam juice and fish bullions? The problem with the end product was that it really just tasted like a red sauce. It was a good red sauce, definitely Stromboli dipping worthy, but just a red sauce. Any suggestions are welcome.
3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
3 tbs of shallot or red onion finely chopped
2 tbs olive oil
2 tbs butter
1 can crushed tomato
1 bottle of clam juice
3tbs fish sauce (if you have, I use it to add richness and salt)
1 c. red wine
2 fish bullion
1 c. water
Pinch of sugar
2 tbs Italian seasoning
Heat oil and butter together. Add onion/shallot and garlic. Sautee for 2 minutes. Add Italian seasoning. Sautee for another 2 minutes. Add tomato, clam juice, fish sauce, wine, bullion, water and sugar. Let simmer for 20 minutes.
I then made the cous cous to the package instructions, cut the mahi mahi into small pieces and coated and fried. I put some sauce on the bottom of the dish, the cous cous went on top and the fish on top of the cous cous. I finished with just a bit more sauce. Again it was good, but it lacked richness and depth. I am open for help here.
