Late saturday morning, post slice of bread and jam I realized I would either have to shop or invent. Luckily I had quite a few items from Trader Joes set aside in fear just such a situation woudl rise. I made an amazing delicious boullabaise from-- gasp-- frozen fish.

this is exactly what I did, and it all turned out rather well. I'm afraid I'm not much for measuring.

slice two onions very thinly. take five garlic cloves (biggest from teh outside). slice three smash two. put all in a deep soup pot wiht a couple soup spoons of olive oil, and sautee until onion is translucent. as the sauting is beginning add a few lardoons (smoked bacon sliced into match sticks). i doubt this is necessary, but smoked bacon makes things good. as the onions get soft, add a handful of herb de provence, several strands of saffron and then a cup and half of cheap white wine. I had a package of frozen cod, so I placed the cod fillets in the white wine. when they defrosted, i pulled them out and cut them into cubes and put them back in to melt. I drained the juice from a can of crab into the pot, but kept the crab for later. I added half a box of good veggie stock (at TJ's, it comes in a box like milk). I then poured a big can of good pureed tomatoes in, and tossed in a bit more herb de provence, and a big dash of salt. I got lucky in that in the fridge was leftover shaved fennel- it went in the pot, as did the rest of the stock. the sauce started to smell like boullabaise. Finally I put in a bag of frozen mixed seafood (mussel, scallop, shrimp, clam) and the can of crab, mixed it in and set the burner as low as possible. and left it for about an hour. About halfway, i covered it. When the consistency seemed right.

I toasted some bread, and whipped up an aioli (mayo plus garlic-- take a couple egg yolks, four clove garlic, and blend in a food processor adding ollve oil on and off steadily until it looks like mayo.)

it was great.