Need large dutch oven or pot with about 9 to 10 qt capacity
Ingredients:
3/4 lb red or white thin skin potatoes chopped roughly
3 celery stalks with tops chopped
2 bottles Clam juice
1/4 stick Butter or first press olive oil (EVVO)
3 lbs – Firm fish such as flounder, haddock, kingklip, cobia, wahoo, salmon, etc. Ocean fish preferred instead of freshwater variety
2 48 oz bottles V8 juice – original version
Salt to taste
1 tsp Red Pepper flakes
1 cup White wine for soup and a glass of wine for chef
2 large cans crushed tomatoes
2 Bay leaves
1 tsp Thyme
3 Carrots chopped fine
4 ears of fresh corn scrapped from cob
1 tsp File gumbo
1 tsp Fennel seeds
3 strips bacon
2 cans clams
1 or two cans of crab meat if desired
1 large Vidalia Onion chopped finely
2 lbs Mussels in shell
1+ tsp garlic
1 Bell pepper finely chopped
Parmesan cheese and/or parsley for garnish
Fresh Basil leaves finely chopped
1 Lemon juiced
To Do:
Brown bacon and remove pieces to crumble and add back to soup
Use bacon fat in pot to salute onions, carrots, green peppers, garlic, thyme, fennel seeds, file gumbo, basil leaves, and bay leaves until onions are soft. Add butter or you could use a quarter cup of quality olive oil instead.
Then add V8, canned tomatoes, corn kernels, potatoes, wine, clams and simmer on low heat for an hour.
Add fish and mussels and simmer for 15-2- minutes.
Add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice in each bowl when serving
This soup is often better the next day after cooling. what is not eaten the first serving as it makes quite a bit. The recipe is flexible by adding different vegetables or more or less of what you like. The fish is added towards the end as it cooks quickly and does not fall apart so much if it is only in the pot for a short amount of time.
Tabasco or other pepper sauces are a good addition.
Enjoy