Kyle's Spanish Seafood Bisque
Fast, easy, elegant, and delicious. Truly the only seafood stew recipe you will need.
by Erin Henderson
If you've come to any of our Wine School workshops, you know an integral part to these classes are the food. Wine rarely exists on it's own, and generally food makes wine taste better, and the overall experience so much more enjoyable.
For a number of years I worked with Chef Kyle McClure; he showed me "why didn't I think of that?" tricks such as brûlée-ing goat cheese for added flavour, to more tacticle skills like how to trim and butterfly a porkloin for porchetta.
One summer, a company hired us to create a Spanish evening of tapas and Sangria.
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Kyle made this stunning Spanish seafood stew, which, without exaggeration, is probably the best I’ve ever eaten. And even more surprising – he did it in less than 40 minutes!
I've sampled some sort of rendition of cioppino or bouillabaisse in France, Spain, Italy, San Francisco, Vancouver... and I’ve long believed a fancy pants stew such as this requires hours of long-simmered broths and fanatical attention and care. Of course, Kyle reminded the class that cooking seafood forever just leads to rubbery, tough meat, and he proved how fabulous fast cooking a simple borth can be with this deeply flavoured, elegant, one-pot wonder.
Kyle's Spanish Seafood Bisque
This Spanish seafood bisque of Kyle’s proves you can get dinner on the table in under and hour without sacrificing flavour or quality.
Serves: about 8
Chef level: easy (!!!)
Ingredients:
- 1lb clams
- 1lb mussels
- 1lb squid
- 1lb firm white fish (ie Sea bass), chopped into 1 inch cubes
- ½ lb shrimp, peeled and de-veined
- ½ lb bay scallops
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 medium onions, chopped
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 5 plum tomatoes, guts scooped out and chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 green pepper, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 6 oz dry white wine
- 1 tsp Espelette pepper (alternatively hot paprika)
- 1 Tbsp sweet paprika
- 1 tsp saffron
- 1 quart fish/chicken stock or water
- 1 Tbsp fresh rosemary, minced
- 2 Tbsp fresh parsley, minced
- 1 Tbsp basil, sliced
- Salt, to taste
- Pepper, to taste
- Juice and zest from 1 lemon
How to Make It:
- Wash and debeard the mussels and clams, inspecting and discarding those with broken shells and opened ones that do not close when touched, keep aside.
- Keep fish, shrimp, scallops, and squid in their own bowls and toss each with salt. Set aside.
- Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven or large stew pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, celery and tomatoes to the warm oil.
- Sauté quickly until soft, about 3-4 minutes, then add mussels and clams.
- When they are fully opened, take them out and put aside, discarding the unopened ones.
- Add the green & red peppers to the hot pot, and cook until just softened about a minute or two. Add the garlic and cook for an additional minute, stirring occasionally.
- Turn the heat up to high and add the white wine.
- Add the paprika/Espelette pepper to the pot and stir to combine.
- Let the mixture boil fiercely until ½ of the wine is cooked away, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add the saffron, rosemary, fish stock, white fish, shrimp & bay scallops. Stir and return to a boil.
- Turn the heat down to a simmer and let this cook for 20-25 minutes.
- Return the reserved clams & mussels to the pot, stirring to combine.
- Add the parsley, basil, lemon juice and zest, plus more salt if needed.
- Ladle into bowls and serve with crusty bread and a light salad.
Wine Pairing
We need a wine with enough acidity to match that of the tomato base, complexity to stand up to the intensity of flavour, and low – or even no – tannin to keep the balance of the bisque without overwhelming it. I do like Sangiovese, the Italian red grape that most famously makes Chianti, as it hits all the notes we are looking for: the wine is medium bodied with bright acid and moderate tannin, with flavours of both dark fruit and savoury brush notes to match and compliment the rich meat and the flavourful broth.