Whisk up some bisque

I look forward to the weekend because it's my time to try out recipes.  One such recipe is Ina Garten's shrimp bisque. After a quick look at her list of ingredients and realizing that I didn't have many of them, and being too lazy to make a grocery run, I decided to modify her recipe.

I hope you enjoy my take on Ms. Garten's recipe. I know Mike did. I was lucky to be able to take the below pictures before he devoured the entire pot of bisque!

Shrimp and crab bisque













Some things I've learned along the way:
1. Use a roux (fancy word for a cooked mixture of fat and flour) to help thicken up soups, chowder, bisque etc.
2. Be sure to cook the flour thoroughly to avoid the raw flour taste. It takes about five minutes to cook a couple of tablespoons of flour. Also, cook the flour and whatever fat you decide to use (butter, oil etc) on low heat.
3. Crab meat can be purchased as "lump crab meat" or "claw crab meat." Although the two grades are nutritionally similar, they vary in their taste. Lump crab meat has a more subtle taste whereas the claw meat is more robust.  <<To learn more about the various types of crab meat, visit: http://www.thenibble.com/REVIEWS/main/fish/seafood/crab-types2.asp>>

Ingredients:
1 lb of shrimp, cleaned and deveined
1/4 lb of lump crab meat (I used claw meat as it was cheaper)
2 tablespoons of butter or margarine, unsalted
2 tablespoons of butter or margarine, unsalted and softened
2 tablespoons of canned tomato paste
4 cups of canned stewed tomatoes
1/2 cup of seafood stock
1/2 onion, diced
4-5 garlic cloves, grated
1 garlic bulb, roasted (directions below)
1 cup of heavy cream
Salt & pepper, to taste
Parsley, handful, roughly chopped
1 french baguette, sliced and toasted

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut the top off the garlic bulb and discard. Lightly oil the remaining portion of the garlic bulb, place it on a cookie sheet and roast for 20-30 minutes. Your nose will tell you when the garlic is done.

<<side note: why roast the garlic? Unlike sauteing, roasting brings out the garlic's sweetness. Try it, the results are fabulous.>>

While the garlic is roasting, let's make the bisque.

Bisque:
In a large pot, add 2 tablespoons of butter and melt on low heat. Once the butter is melted, add garlic and onions and sautee till they are fragrant and translucent. Add the flour and cook thoroughly.

Add the tomato paste and evenly coat the flour mixture with the paste. Let it cook on low heat for 5 minutes. Add the stewed tomatoes and turn up the heat to medium high. Mix well and allow the sauce to boil for 10 minutes. Stir often. Add seafood stock. Boil for an additional 5 minutes.

Lower the heat to low. Slowly whisk in the heavy cream and let the flavors combine for 5-10 minutes. Transfer the sauce to a blender and puree for 5 minutes until the mixture is smooth. While it is pureeing, prepare and cook the shrimp. Once cooked, cut the shrimp into smaller pieces.

Transfer the pureed mixture back into the pot and add the shrimp and crab meat. Cook on low heat for 5 minutes.

Bread and butter:
Take the roasted garlic bulb out of the oven and squeeze out the deliciously roasted garlic cloves.  Combine the roasted garlic, chopped cilantro with 2 tablespoons of softened butter or margarine. Spread the garlic butter on sliced, toasted baguette.

Ladle the bisque into a soup bowl, top off with a drizzle of heavy cream and a couple of slices of the jazzed up baguette and enjoy!

 

Till next time, To Life!