I had the pleasure of meeting Chef Jeremy Charles in 2007. He was Executive Chef at Atlantica at the time, having just returned home from developing his culinary skills in places like Montreal and Chicago. Jeremy quickly developed a following in St. John’s. We filmed segments of One Chef One Critic at Atlantica in our first year, and he was, as usual, a very gracious host. Today this much-lauded chef is one of the owners of Raymonds, voted Canada’s best new restaurant in 2011 by enRoute magazine. Jeremy gave me this soup recipe and another for cod with sherry lentils, bacon, and tomatoes – also in this book – when we met on a sunny afternoon in a dining room overlooking the tickle in Portugal Cove, Newfoundland.
Ingredients
- ½ cup (125 mL) extra virgin olive oil
- 1 red onion, finely diced
- 1 leek, finely diced
- 1 fennel bulb, finely diced
- 3 tsp (15 mL) garlic, chopped
- ¼ tbsp (4 mL) red pepper flakes
- ¼ tbsp (4 mL) anise seed
- ½ bottle (375 mL) Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc
- 1 tin (28 oz/796 mL) whole plum tomatoes, drained
- 4 cups (1 L) fish stock or bottled clam juice
- 1 lb (454 g) cod fillets, cubed few saffron threads
- 6 jumbo shrimp
- 6 tbsp (90 mL) vegetable mixture (carrot, onion, celery), finely diced
- 6 brioche croutons
- 6 tsp (30 mL) aioli (garlic mayonnaise)
- 1 tsp (5 mL) tarragon, finely chopped
How to Make It
- Heat 1 tbsp (15 mL) of olive oil in cooking pot on medium. Place onion, leek, fennel, and 2 tsp (10 mL) garlic in pot, and cook for 4 to 5 minutes or until softened. Add red pepper flakes and anise seed. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue cooking for 3 to 4 minutes. Add wine and stir. Let wine reduce by half. Add tomatoes and fish stock and simmer 15 minutes. Add cod and saffron. Simmer another 10 to 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile heat 1 tbsp (15 mL) olive oil in frying pan on medium. Add 1 tsp (5 mL) garlic and the shrimp. Cook shrimp until they turn pink. Set shrimp aside. Add mixture of diced carrot, onion, and celery to pan, and cook until softened.
- Toast croutons using a toaster oven or regular oven. Spoon soup into bowls and float 1 shrimp in each bowl, to the side. Sprinkle the mixed vegetable dice into each bowl. Drizzle 1 tbsp (15 mL) olive oil into each bowl. Spread a teaspoonful (5 mL) of aioli on each crouton. (You can easily make a quick aioli by stirring together good commercial mayonnaise, minced garlic, white pepper, and a dash of lemon juice.) Float a crouton in centre of each bowl. Finally, sprinkle fresh tarragon over top of each bowl of soup.
