Marmite Ecossaise – Luxury Scottish Seafood Stew
Print recipe
| Serves | 4 |
| Prep time | 10 minutes |
| Cook time | 20 minutes |
| Total time | 30 minutes |
| Allergy | Fish, Shellfish |
| Meal type | Appetizer, Lunch, Main Dish, Side Dish, Snack, Soup |
| Misc | Gourmet, Serve Hot |
| Occasion | Casual Party, Formal Party |
| Region | British |
| By author | Karen S Burns-Booth |
LA MARMITE DIEPPOISE is a fish dish invented in the 1960's by the lady who owned the Restaurant of the same name.
When she retired, she sold the restaurant to her head chef and gave him the rights to her recipe, although not the secret of the ingredients. However, he had watched carefully over the years and knew exactly what went into it!
This is my take on that classic stew/soup, but using prime fresh Scottish fish and seafood.
Ingredients
- 50g salted butter
- 1 leek, cleaned and thinly sliced into thin rings
- 1 fennel bulb, trimmed and sliced thinly
- 1 onion, peeled and sliced thinly
- 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 teaspoon Madras curry powder
- 100ml dry white wine
- 2 tomatoes, finely diced
- 25g plain flour
- 600ml fish stock
- 450g fresh mussels
- 150g fresh monkfish fillets, cut into small chunks
- 250g fresh cod fillets, cut into strips
- 150g lemon sole fillets, cut into strips
- 12 large fresh scallops and corals
- 16 large fresh king prawns, peeled
- 75ml crème fraîche
- Juice of 1 lemon
- cayenne pepper or paprika
- salt and pepper, to season
Note
LA MARMITE DIEPPOISE is a fish dish invented in the 1960's by the lady who owned the Restaurant of the same name.
When she retired, she sold the restaurant to her head chef and gave him the rights to her recipe, although not the secret of the ingredients. However, he had watched carefully over the years and knew exactly what went into it!
This is my take on that classic stew/soup, but using prime fresh Scottish fish and seafood.
Directions
| Step 1 | Heat the butter in a large saucepan, and then add the chopped leeks, chopped fennel bulb, diced onion, fennel seeds and curry powder. Sauté over a low to medium heat for 10 minutes until the vegetables are soft. |
| Step 2 | Add 50ml of the wine along with the chopped tomatoes, heat for 2 to 3 minutes before adding the flour, then gradually add the fish stock mixing in to the vegetable sauce until smooth. Simmer gently for 5 minutes. |
| Step 3 | Meanwhile, steam the mussels in the remaining 50ml white wine for 3 to 4 minutes or until the shells open. Drain the mussels in a colander, catching the cooking liquor into a bowl before straining through a sieve and adding the wine mussel cooking liquor to the vegetable and wine sauce. Shell the mussels and set to one side; you can keep a few in their shells for decoration if you like. |
| Step 4 | Place all the fish pieces into a grill pan and dot with butter, then grill for 4 to 5 minutes under hot grill; add the scallops for the last 2 minutes, turning them half way through the cooking time. |
| Step 5 | Add the lemon juice to the stew base and then add the cream; stir well, add the king prawns, before heating up the stew and cooking for a further 2 minutes over a medium heat until the prawns are just cooked, then add the cooked mussels. Season to taste and then arrange the fish and scallops in pre-heated bowls, and spoon the stew with the mussels and prawns over the cooked fish. Sprinkle with cayenne pepper or paprika and serve with crusty bread and a chilled white wine. |
