Waterzooi

Ever since The Blog Tech was a little boy, he has loved seafood.  Since it was his birthday, I made him one of his favorite dishes.....waterzooi.   This is a Belgian dish which we fell in love with when we traveled there.  A funny name which means simmering water.

 These are the vegetables I used in mine.  Leeks, shallots, carrots, potatoes, fennel, thyme, chervil and celery.  That is not celery you are seeing because someone that ran to the store for me bought cardones, thinking they were celery.  What the heck, I used them anyway.

 I had some celery root so I julienned it and added it along with the thinly sliced vegetables. Quarter the potatoes.

 Melt some butter in a heavy pot and add the vegetables.  Stir them and let them cook for a bit.

 Add 4 cups of chicken or fish stock.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add about 1 tablespoon of thyme.

 Bring it to a boil and then turn it down to simmer.  You don't want to overcook the vegetables, they should still have a bit of a bite to them.

 I added hake, shrimp and scallops, which I sliced thin.  Hake was not the right fish to use because it fell apart.  Salmon would have been better.

 I also added clams and mussels.

 Some people make this with chicken and not seafood.  I had some chicken which I had just roasted so I added some of it too.

 Throw all of the seafood in the pot, cover and cook until the shells open and the shrimp are pink.  Just before serving whisk 3 egg yolks with 2 cups of whole milk or half and half, temper it with 1 cup of the broth and pour it into the pot.  Taste for seasonings and adjust.

 Chop the chervil and stir it in.

Serve it with crusty french bread and good butter.