Deacon Bouillabaisse | Radd Cooking

In this latest of a 3-episode series featuring the seafood available at Missoula Fresh Market, the Deacon Bouillabaisse is beer-centric take on the classic French recipe. Bouillabaisse is a traditional fisherman’s stew that originated in and around Marseille, France.

We replaced the typical red wine as an ingredient with the wonderful Deacon Belgian Pale Ale from Selkirk Abbey, a craft brewery in Post Falls, Idaho. This brewery is somewhat than most of the regional craft breweries as they almost exclusively brewed Belgian-style and sour beers (by the way I love sour beers). This particular beer, the Deacon, is perfect for this recipe as the Belgian funkiness adds a wang to the stew. We use fresh cod, oysters, Manilla clams, octopus, and shrimp for the seafood in this bouillabaisse.

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes

Total Time: 3 hours

Hardware

• 2 cups Deacon Belgian Pale Ale
• 1 lbs. cod
• ½ lbs. shrimp, peeled and deveined
• ½ lbs. littleneck or manilla clams
• 5 oysters
• 1 octopus tentacle
• 1 TBSP olive oil
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• ½ cup celery, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 8 peppercorns
• 2 tsp thyme
• 1 cup leeks, sliced
• 3 cups whole stewed tomatoes
• Juice and zest of half an orange
• 1 cup fennel, julienned
• 2 TBSP garlic, chopped
• 2 TBSP parsley, chopped
• Water to cover
• Salt and pepper

Directions

1. Heat olive oil, and add onion, celery, and garlic, cook until soft
2. Add the fennels, thyme, Creole seasoning, salt, pepper, stewed tomatoes, octopus, and leeks
3. After 5 minutes add the Deacon Belgian Pale Ale and water, and bring to a simmer
4. Allow this mixture to cook on very low for 2 hours
5. Bring the soup back up to a simmer
6. Add the cod, and cook for 8 minutes
7. Add the shrimp and clams, and cook for 6 minutes, or until the clam shells have opened (discard any shells that do not open)
8. Add the shucked oysters, and cook for 2 minutes
9. For individual servings, ladle the bouillabaisse to a bowl and enjoy