Bachelorette Not-Quite-Bouillabaisse

At about 4:30 p.m., as my mind wandered away from the shenanigans of opposing counsel, I got an email from Mr. Rose.  Subject line: Boys Night Out.  "It's Tom's last day today.  Can I go play?"  I let him off the hook and sought out some gals, but they were all either on date night or going to a lousy Indian restaurant tonight.  I called up an old prison buddy of mine (we'll call him Golfie), but he wasn't up for dinner, only drinks.  I was left to my own devices for the next hour and a half.

I was in the mood for something hearty, but not heavy, maybe even... a bouillabaisse.  Gordon Ramsay once said "It takes two days to make a perfect bouillabaisse."  Undeterred, I decided to make a go of it.  I stopped in to see Bruce and picked out some seafood, like a kid at the penny candy shop: a few small sea scallops; a few large shrimp; and a few mussels.

Once home, I went to the garden and plucked out an heirloom tomato, abominable carrot, mini-Walla Walla onion, basil, parsley, and thyme.  I put a pot on to boil some linguine I made a couple of days ago and was drying out.

The vegetables all got cooked with a couple of splashes of white wine.  That is one splash for the skillet, one splash in a glass for drinking!

I threw the seafood on, then a lid, and a few minutes later, it was done.

No, it was not a bouillabaise.  But it was still mighty tasty, and done in under an hour and a half.

Not-Quite-Bouillabaisse for One
4 small sea scallops
5 mussels, cleaned
4 large shrimp
1 large heirloom tomato, coarsely chopped
1 small sweet onion, finely chopped
1 small abominable carrot, finely diced
3 sprigs basil, coarsely chopped
4 sprigs thyme
3 sprigs parsley, stems removed and leaves coarsely chopped
2-3 tbsp dry white wine
salt and pepper to taste

In a deep-sided skillet over medium-high heat, saute the onions and carrots till the onions are translucent and the carrots are tender.  Add the tomatoes and stew for 5 minutes with the lid on.  Add the herbs and stir.  Add the white wine and quickly place the seafood over the vegetables, then drop the lid on.  Let simmer for 5 minutes.  Transfer to a bowl and add salt and pepper to taste.  Enjoy!

(N.B. I stopped at Seafood Landing, came home, collected my harvest from the garden, made this meal, ate it, and wrote this blog entry in an hour and a half, with plenty of time to go meet Golfie. YES!  This recipe is THAT easy... I should have done this for my MasterChef audition... and cried like a baby.)