Breton Fish Stew,Mussels Prawns White Wine and Creme Fraiche

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This Breton Fish Stew dish has all the flavours and the ingredients in abundance, brought by the Atlantic Sea to the coasts of France.

Brittany coastline is awash ( pardon the pun) with many small fishing ports bringing a in vast variety fresh fish daily.

There are many fish recipes but few that can top this classic it is so easy to prepare and as tasty as this Classic Breton fish dish.

A stew does not fully describe this meal in its truest sense,it is a mixture of shell fish,crab and even lobster as well as biggish pieces of fish, most any other fresh and readily available fish can be used.

It is all cooked in the same pot to then produce a dish with various and different tastes and flavours.The cooking liquid extracts all the wonderful mixed flavours blending into a soup/a broth of exotic eating experience.

It easy to prepare and simple to cook, and all you need to eat your meal is a napkin and a finger bowl because you do get sticky fingers to get at some of the ingredients and of course chunks of fresh crusty bread for the dip so as not to waste a drop of this wonderful liquid food.

A fresh green herb based salad with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and if its special dinner,but remember to save a glass or two of the not to expensive cooking dry white wine it will help you enjoy a great breton fish stew.

300ml dry white wine.

3 tbsp butter.

3 leeks , cleaned and sliced thick.

100g mushrooms cut in half.

4 fillets any white fish.

200g of prawns.

40 to 60 fresh clean Mussels and or other shellfish to add extra flavor 3 jointed crabs(optional)again will add more flavour

Small bunch flat-leaf parsley,chopped fine.

Directions for this Classic French Breton Fish Stew.

Place mussels in a wide, shallow pan,cover the pan and put on a high heat for 3-4 mins, shaking pan a few times until mussels have opened.

Empty the mussels into a colander over a bowl to catch any of the water contained in the mussels (you need about ½” of water in the pan after the washing to steam open the mussels during cooking) and these cooking juices will contain all the concentrated flavours of the mussels.

Discard and throw away any that have not opened.

Place the pan back on the heat with 2tbsp of butter and add the leaks to cook for about 8 mins or until the leaks are soft, add in the mushrooms to cook for a further 2 minutes.

Turn down the heat and add the fish fillets, cover and gently poach in the juices for 10 mins until cooked, then carefully lift them out, place on a warm plate cover and set aside.

Add in the mussels and parsley to the cooking liquid/juices,then the white wine and simmer for 2 minutes.

Add the,crème fraiche slowly then let it simmer and reduce down by 25% (thereabouts) for about 5 or 6 minutes.

Then place the fish back in the pan to serve from the table.

Serve one piece of fish first and spoon everything around the fish.

This meal is ideal with just fresh crusty bread rolls, or you can really push out the boat and garnish it with a few small new potatoes par boiled and finished in a frying pan to just crispy golden brown with last tbsp of butter.

Absolutely Delicious

Muscadet is a very dry white wine from Brittany try a small glass first it has an uhh!shock to the system effect at first taste, but it gets much better with another glass and is perfect for this meal,of you can get any dry white wins but make sure it is chilled.

To Start this Easy but great dish from the Brittainy area you could compliment it with one of our Mussel Ideas

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