Fish soup - Norwegian Style

It has been awhile since I posted a recipe, so without further ado here is a Norwegian fish soup recipe (compliments of Svein Erik) that I think you will enjoy...

Clear Broth Fish Soup

Ingredients:

- 1 Bottle of white wine (A Gewürztraminer or a Chardonnay that is not "oaky" in flavor)

- A good fish stock, 1/2 pint per person (if you don't want to make your own, then you local fish shop is definitely the easy route to go)

- Potatoes (coarsely chopped into bite size pieces, can be any variety that you like)

- Carrots (coarsely chopped into bite size pieces)

- Red onions (coarsely chopped)

- 1 small celery root (peeled & cut into medium to small cubes)

- Butter (a stick of butter will do nicely, more if you prefer)

- Salt (add to taste)

- Pepper (add to taste)

- Coriander (coarsely chopped)

- Seafood (cut up into bite size pieces... Your choice on the type of seafood, basically any type that you enjoy eating... we used Salmon, Monk fish and Mussels for the Norwegian soup)

Step 1: To begin with, grab a large pot, dump in the chopped red onions and 1/2 stick of butter. Begin to sweat the chopped onions in the butter. Sweat, what's that. Well, I am glad you asked...

Sweat: Sweating is the process of releasing flavors with moisture and low temperatures. Fat, in this case, is used just to hold the non-volatile flavors as they're released from the onion. No browning takes place. The pan is covered so the lid traps steam, which condenses and drips back on to the onions. Some cooks cover the onions directly with a piece of foil or parchment, than add a lid as well.

And just so you know....

Sauteing: Sauteing uses a small amount of fat, and it's done in an uncovered pan. As fat reaches higher temperatures than water, cooking usually occurs quickly, and you can easily see the onions become translucent as they move from raw to cooked.

Step 2: Add the bottle of wine and reduce the mixture until you have about 1/3 of the liquid left in the pot.

Step 3: Add the fish stock, potatoes, carrots, celery root, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes or more, until vegetables are fork-tender.

Step 4: Add Monk fish, simmer for about 3 minutes. Add the salmon, coriander and mussels, simmer until mussels open up (should only take a few minutes).

Last step: Serve in your favorite soup bowls with a nice bread suitable for dipping into the broth. Sit back and enjoy!