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Put the mussels in a large pan with the wine and the bouquet garni. Cover and steam until they open. Remove the meat from the shells and strain the broth.

Remove the oysters from the shells.

Reduce the court bouillon and add the broth from the mussels and any oyster liquor there may be. Strain the bouillon — you should have about 4 cups.

Prepare a velouté with the flour and 4 tablespoons of butter, gradually stirring in 2 cups of the bouillon until the sauce is thickened. Add the remaining bouillon, bit by bit, and taste for seasoning. Mix the cream and egg yolks and stir into the soup. Add the various seafoods. Heat until the oysters are heated through, but do not let it boil. Finally, stir in the lobster butter. Serve with croutons.

VARIATIONS

1. Add a healthy slug of either sherry or Madeira just before serving.

2. Make substitutions or additions to the list of seafood: clams, scallops, crabmeat, or others.

3. Make the soup with only one fish, if you prefer. Be sure, however, that you adjust the amounts of the other ingredients.

BISQUE

No matter what your seafood happens to be, the procedure for making bisques is the same. The recipe I suggest here is based on lobster.

Mirepoix (onion, carrot, celery, leek)

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 lobster, 11/2 to 2 pounds

1 cup white wine

1/4 cup cognac

1/2 cup rice

1 quart stock or fish bouillon

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 cup heavy cream

3 or 4 tablespoons butter

Cayenne pepper

Prepare a mirepoix by cutting the vegetables into very fine julienne and sautéing them for 2 or 3 minutes in 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the live lobster which has been cut in half. Toss it around with wooden spoons until its shell turns red. Add the wine and cognac and simmer for about 6 minutes. Remove the meat from the lobster shell and keep it warm. Pound the shells in a mortar, or break them up and put them through the grinder. Return them to the pot.

Meanwhile, cook the rice gently in broth or stock for about 45 minutes. Combine the cooked rice, the mirepoix, and the ground lobster shells and put all through a puree machine or fine sieve. Dilute the mixture with stock or bouillon until it is the consistency of a very thick soup. Season to taste. Reheat, adding the cream and 3 or 4 tablespoons butter. Add a few grains of cayenne and serve with the finely cut pieces of lobster meat and a little chopped parsley. This will serve 6 people.

Tiny quenelles (pages 325–327) are sometimes used for garnish with various bisques. This is a lot of work, but may be worth while for an extra special occasion.

VARIATIONS

Crayfish, Shrimp, or Clam Bisque. This same procedure may be followed for crayfish (use about 18), for shrimp (use about 15 to 18), and for clams (use about 24). In using clams, save the juice for the broth. Do not try to crush the shells. Instead, combine them whole with the rice, and then strain it. Add the clam broth to the stock in which the rice is cooked.

Oyster Bisque. Heat 1 pint of oysters with the mirepoix and when they are plumped, chop them very fine. Add the rice, which has been cooked in stock with the oyster liquor added. Force all through the puree machine or sieve and proceed as above. Serve several oysters in each dish as a garnish. (As with clams, do not try to crush the oyster shells.)

Suggestions for Using Leftover Fish

Aside from serving cold fish with mayonnaise or vinaigrette or making a fish loaf, there are many savory and attractive ways to use small quantities of fish for a second meal. These are some of my favorites.

QUICHE

Any of the quiche recipes in this book can be adapted to use with leftovers by substituting 11/2 cups flaked cooked fish — any variety, with skin and bones removed — for the fish called for in the recipe.

MARC PARSON’S FISH HASH

1/2 cup chopped onions

1/2 cup finely chopped potatoes

1/4 cup butter

1 cup cold, cooked fish, flaked and diced

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper