Crawfish Bisque, Birdeye

November 14, 2009

Crawfish Bisque is a soup I made one year ago when I had a Saturday afternoon to myself, which is very rare, and I was in the middle of finishing the Twilight Series. I actually spent that Saturday and then that Sunday (after church) reading Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. They were amazing books. I didn't do laundry or a thing that weekend but I did make this soup, it was hard to make it but I had the cream, crawfish and vegetables ready to go...I literally put the book down, made the base of the soup, read another chapter, then strained it, then read another chapter, it took me forever. And with the release of New Moon this Friday, I felt for some reason, a drive to make this soup again. And it was good.

In the pictures I have the crawfish I am forced to buy from China instead of here in East Arkansas, the FABULOUS Asian Chile Sauce that is a must in chili, soups, dips et all, and then the soup. This is an easy, flavorful soup that is great heated up later in the week. I serve it with cornbread, delish!

This recipe is from Fresh, the cookbook from Lake Austin (TX) Spa.

Crawfish Bisque

2 C. Chicken Stock, I used broth
4 C. Clam Juice, in the tuna isle
1/2 C. each carrot and onion, chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
1 bay leaf, only one
3 parsley stems, I didn't have
2 fresh thyme leaves, I used a teaspoon of dried
1/2 C. each onion and celery, minced, I grated because of my broken hand
1/2 C. sherry, I used Cabernet
3/4 C. flour
3 T. tomato puree, it's near the sauce and paste
2 C. 2% milk
1-1/2 C. evaporated milk, I used cream
1 T. butter
1 lb. frozen crawfish, thawed, and chopped with juices retained
Tabasco and salt to taste
1 T. Asian Chile Paste, I add this on my own

Combine the chicken stock, clam juice, celery, onion, carrot, bay leaf, thyme and parsley sprigs in a large soup pot over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook until the vegetables are softened, about 20-30 minutes. Strain, reserving the liquid, discarding the solids. Sweat over low heat, the minced onion and celery in a soup pot sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Add all but 1 cup of the reserved liquid and bring to a simmer. Combine the remaining stock, sherry and flour in a bowl, whisk until it forms a slurry. Pour into the simmering soup, cook until the mixture thickens, stirring constantly. Add the tomato puree, whisk to mix. Simmer, stirring frequently for 15 minutes. Strain the soup into a clean soup pot over medium heat. Add the 2% mile and evaporated milk, butter, crawfish, salt and Tabasco, mix well. Cook until heated through, but do not boil. Serve hot with cornbread, garnish with parsley.

Ooohh la, la...I'm ready to make it again and re-read New Moon....