Bouillabaisse

I refuse to write an actual recipe for a stew that's better improvised. FWIW, here's how I would make bouillabaisse in broad steps:

1) If you want rouille for the croutons, start with that, because the flavor improves as it sits around for awhile. Rouille is spicy aioli and aioli is garlicy mayonnaise made with olive oil, with or without egg yolk as an emulsifier. Some possible additions would be roasted red pepper, nuts, breadcrumbs, fish stock (maybe just the juice from your stew), lemon juice or vinegar, saffron, chili powder, etc. There is no one traditional recipe, so work with what you have and what you like. Just make a spicy, garlicy mayonanaise.

2) To start the stew, I'd cut up some form of onion, thin slice a fennel bulb (reserving the fronds for garnish), peel and chop some garlic and get all of that softening in a pan with olive oil. In the video I diced up an artichoke heart as well, but that probably wasn't worth it. Once soft, cover with fish stock if you have it or plain water if you don't.

3) If you don't have fish stock, you can just buy a cheap, whole white fish, cut off whatever good chunks of meat you can and reserve, stuff the bones and skin and head and everything into some cheese cloth along with some bay leaves and any vegetable trimmings you have, tie off the cloth and submerge it in your simmering pot. In a half hour, you'll have amazing seafood flavor and body in your stew, and you can just pull the cloth out and discard before you eat.

4) I'd do all of the above before prepping fresh tomatoes, because I think it's good to preserve their freshness and put them in halfway though. If you want to take their skins off, you can put them in the simmering stew until their skins split, pull them out and then the skins should peel off easily. Chop them roughly and get them simmering with everything else. Cook until they're pretty much broken down.

5) The stew is often flavored with dried orange peel, but I liked the result from using a fresh orange toward the end of cooking. Grate the zest into the stew and then squeeze in the juice. You can also add any last minute seasonings to taste at this point — I just did saffron and salt. Saffron is expensive so consider using paprika instead if you want a redder color.

6) Put your reserved fish chunks and any other seafood in the stew a few minutes before you plan to eat — most fish cooks very fast. This dish is traditionally made with a massive array of different kinds of fish, but I think it's cheaper and more sustainable to focus on making a great broth and then maybe just throw in some mussels at the end — cook them until they open up.

7) Slice up a baguette or some similar bread, toast the pieces under the boiler, top with rouille, and serve with the stew. Garnish with the fennel fronds.