• Clean one monkfish, or thick white fish such as cod, by skinning, deboning and rinsing it in fresh water.
• Chop into chunky bite-sized pieces.
• Add the bones to a stock pot.
• Wash and clean 500 g of mussels, debearding them, scrubbing their shells clean and discarding any that don’t close when tapped.
• Wash and trim the coral from your scallops. You can add the coral to your stock pot.
• Add some lemon zest, some thyme, some parsley, a chunk of celery and half an onion to your stock pot and top up with cold water.
• Bring to the boil, skim off the scum and then simmer while you prep the rest of the soup.
• Soften a couple of finely diced shallots in a little olive oil, then add some finely chopped garlic and a sprig of thyme.
• Put the mussels into the pot and add a dash of dry white wine or some Marsala if you really want a rich taste.
• Put a lid on the pot and cook over a medium high heat shaking the pan sporadically until all the mussels have steamed open.
• Discard any mussels which have not opened.
• Take the mussels out with a slotted spoon leaving the cooking juices in the pan.
  
• Take most of the mussels out of the shells, leaving a few for garnish and reserving the rest.
• Add the mussel shells to the stock pot and bring to the boil once again.
• Skim off the scum and return to a simmer.
• Place your chunks of white fish in the mussel cooking juice, add a good pinch of saffron strands and poach gently for about ten minutes until the fish is opaque. It will have taken on a golden yellow hue from the saffron. Gorgeous.
• Take the fish out with a slotted spoon and divide, with your mussels between four bowls. Add a few mussels in their shells to each bowl.
• Drain the stock and discard the bones, shells etc.
• Skim off any scum and add the stock to your mussel/fish pot.
• Bring to the boil and let reduce slightly while you sear the scallops in a hot pan with a smidgen of olive oil. The scallops should be coloured, but cooked until just opaque in the middle. Don’t overcook them or their delicate flavour will be lost.
• Season the broth to taste with some Maldon salt and some freshly ground pepper.
• Ladle over the mussels and fish, cut the scallops in half if very large and add to the bowls.
• Finally chop with some fresh flat leaf parsley, or even a bit of coriander if you want more kick.

This is not really a long recipe, just a step by step. The whole thing should not take more than 20 minutes from fish cleaning to clean bowl.

Enjoy!

Good Friday in the Christian calendar is a day of mourning and reflection. Light eating and the traditional Friday fish is often the norm. When my mom had her restaurant (for over 20 years) we always worked Easter, and Good Friday was one of the 3 days a year we were closed. Consequently Good Friday became an amalgamation of all our Easter traditions. The egg hunt, the celebration of family, spring and hope all fell on this one day. And when our family gathers there is always food.

This generally means a festive table, laden with culinary offerings, everyone contributing a dish or two and the family feasting, talking, laughing, squabbling and reminiscing begins. It is not unusual to find a child or two (generally mine) sharing her Easter feast with cousins and or several dogs underneath the festive table. The rustling of chocolate egg wrappers and the occasional giggle the only giveaway.

Most years the Easter gathering starts with a late morning egg hunt at my mother’s house. A breakfast/brunch/lunch table is constantly replenished until tired parents finally start carting their over-sugared kids home around 4 or 5 pm. Clean-up then begins and a washing-up and drying production line is formed. My mom has also never had a dishwasher, and as she always used her vast collection of vintage and antique crockery and cutlery it is unlikely it would be used, even if it existed.

I won’t be there this year to help with the washing up Kassie, but if I were, at about washing up time I would be saying ‘you sit down and chat to me while I throw together a quick light supper. ‘

I’m calling it my Good Friday Seafood Saffron Soup because it really is quick and easy to prepare, light and delicious after a day’s feasting, yet full of warm sunshine and the promise of summer, and special enough to take pride of place as an Easter meal.

Some warm garlicky ciabatta would be the perfect accompaniment, as would your company. Maybe next year!

I have posted the recipe straight to the side bar under vkcb (vanielje kitchen cook book) so feel free to check it out, as well as other easter recipes like Hot Cross Buns.