Fish fillets on fennel vegetables à la bouillabaisse

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 2 bulbs of fennel
• 2 shallots
• Oil, neutral
• 1 tbsp flour
• 250 ml fish stock (recipes in the CK database, buy ready-made if necessary)
• 100 ml white wine or Noilly Prat
• 100 ml cream
• 50 ml orange juice, fresh
• 300 g fish fillet(s) (e.g. Hoki)
• Baguette(s)
• 1 pinch of saffron
• 3 star anise
• salt and pepper
• possibly sugar

Instructions

Working time approx. 20 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 20 minutes; Total time approx. 40 minutes

A quick, easy and very tasty fish dish

Finely chop the shallots. Remove the green parts from the fennel bulbs, reserving the green parts. Halve the bulbs lengthwise, remove the stalks, then halve again lengthwise and cut into slices about 4 mm thick. Sauté the shallots in oil in a pan, taking care not to brown, then add the fennel pieces and sauté briefly. Dust with a little flour and continue to roast briefly. Then deglaze with the wine or Noilly Prat, allowing the alcohol to evaporate. Pour in the fish stock, add the orange juice, saffron, and star anise, and bring to a boil. Reduce the sauce slightly. Add the cream and reduce again slightly. Season to taste with salt and pepper and, depending on the acidity of the white wine, a touch of sugar. Stir in the chopped fennel greens. Place the fish fillets in/on top of the vegetables and sauté over low heat until cooked through, turning over if necessary (for thicker pieces). Of course, you can also roast the fillets and then place them on top of the vegetables, depending on your taste. To serve, divide the vegetables between plates and place the fillets on top. I serve it with baguette. The flavor, especially the combination of fennel and saffron, is very reminiscent of bouillabaisse, hence the name. The dish is ready in no time if you have the stock. I served it with a partially barrique-aged Austrian Chardonnay, which actually went quite well with it.