Fish & Mussel Soup

It was always my intention to fill my blog with recipes as well as having a cracking good ramble about food in general, so here you are my friends! Not the simplest, in that it does depend very much on you having the time to knock up a decent fish stock first, but given that the days are going to get drearier by the minute you may as well pass your time constructively.

It's just the best time of year here to be making the most of your mussels. For this fish soup choose a selection of fish such as monkfish – for sheer meatiness, sole for delicacy, hake, cod, and mackerel for its oily richness. You can use any combination you like but have a care to add them to the soup in order of the length of time they will take to cook. Save the delicate fish such as sole, and the mussels, to the last as they need to be cooked only briefly immediately before serving. Do not add salt until the end of cooking time - mussels bring salt with them and you may not require it at all. To serves 6 lay your paws on the following...

1.5 kg of mixed fish (monk, cod, hake, mackerel, sole, brill, conger eel - take your pick of what’s best at the fishmonger, whatever turns you on, 2-4 types plus the mussels I'd say)
1 litre fish stock made from heads & bones (see below if your a fish stock virgin)
30 mussels, cleaned
6 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 2cm dice
2 leeks, washed, trimmed, halved lengthways and sliced
2 onions, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
50g butter
284 ml carton of double cream
225g cooked & squeezed young spinach leaves
2 tablespoons of chopped parsley

for the croutons:
6 slices of white bread cut into generous squares
6 tablespoons light olive oil – to fry
1 large clove of garlic

And then...Cut the fish into meaty chunks and try to keep them all to a similar size – with the mackerel and such, leave skin on and bone in, this is a rustic soup. Take the fillets and skin off the sole, if using, and roll and pin them with cocktail sticks to make white fish rosettes. Set aside in the fridge. Make the croutons by frying the cut bread in the oil until golden on both sides, drain on kitchen paper and rub with the cut garlic clove. Set aside.

If your fish are not going to generate sufficient fish bones for your stock then ask your fishmonger for some more, you will need: 750g bones, roasted to golden brown (gives you more flavour and better colour); a chopped onion; parsley trimmings; 1 dried chilli; a couple of ripe tomatoes; 6 peppercorns; 250ml dry white wine; 1 litre of water and 25g butter - plus a good pinch of saffron if you have it. Sauté the onion in the butter until softened, add everything to the pan, simmer for 20-30 minutes and then strain off the stock – there should be around a litre.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan and add the onion, leek and garlic - cook until softened. Add the potatoes and the fish stock and simmer for a few minutes until the potatoes are partly cooked before adding the meatier fish types such as monk and mackerel. Simmer again for a few minutes and then add more tender fish types and simmer for a couple more minutes.

Finally, add the rosettes of sole deep into the soup, pour in the cream, add the spinach and distribute gently through the soup, and bring back to a simmer - now top with the mussels, and cover for a couple more minutes - or until the mussels have opened. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary, and I think you'll find that a squeeze of fresh lemon juice won't do it any harm either.

Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve in large, deep bowls (preferably previously warmed), with the croutons - and large glasses of chilled white wine.