Drunken Crab Bisque Food

DUNGENESS CRAB BISQUE

Steps:

• Remove the claws from the crabs and quarter the bodies. Heat a 6-quart stockpot. Add the oil and saute the crab pieces until they are red. Remove the pieces as they are cooked. Add the carrot, celery, tomatoes, garlic, shallots, and tarragon and continue to saute for 10 minutes. Pour in the cognac and ignite. When the flame has subsided, deglaze with white wine, and add the tomato paste, crab, and enough fish stock to cover. Season with salt, pepper, cayenne, thyme, and bay leaf and boil gently for 15 minutes.
• In a small saucepan, reduce the cream by half. Remove the crab bodies from the pot and set aside. Add the reduced cream to the soup. Puree the soup, in batches, in a food processor. Strain the pureed soup and keep warm.
• Remove the meat from the claws and cut into bite-size pieces and add to the soup. Season with lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Serve in heated soup bowls and garnish with minced chives or parsley.

BLUE CRAB BISQUE

Steps:

• Crabs: Preheat oven to 425 F. Place crabs on a roasting pan and bake in the oven about 30 minutes, until deep red and slightly browned. In a stockpot set over medium heat, add olive oil and roasted crabs, breaking them up with a wooden spoon as they cook, 5 minutes. Add onion, bell pepper, and celery (the "holy trinity" of Cajun cooking) and stir, cooking just till the vegetables soften, 5 minutes.
• Stock: Add wine and stir to deglaze the pan. Turn heat to high and cook 6-8 minutes, until the wine has nearly evaporated. Add tomato paste and water. Stir, bring to a boil, then reduce to low heat. Cover and simmer, 45 minutes.
• Bisque: Remove the crab shells from the stock and discard. (If you miss a couple small pieces of shell, don't worry: they'll get strained out later.) Ladle the stock into the blender, then add the juice of half a lemon and ¾ cup bread cubes. Season with a big pinch of salt and a small pinch of pepper. Cover and let sit so the bread can absorb some of the liquid, 30-60 seconds. Blend on low speed (to avoid splattering hot liquid) for 30 seconds. As the soup blends, turn to high to emulsify, 1 more minute. Taste to adjust for seasoning and texture-the soup should coat the back of a spoon. Add remaining bread, small pinches of salt and pepper, and blend on high to further thicken and emulsify, 1½ more minutes. Taste again for seasoning, then strain through a chinois to remove any small shell pieces, using the back of a ladle to push the soup through into a bowl.
• Assembly: Ladle bisque into individual serving bowls. Chop chives into ½-inch lengths (you should have about a ½ cup total). Garnish each bowl with crab meat and chives. Serve immediately.

DRUNKEN CRAB BISQUE

Steps:

• Flake crab meat, picking over to remove any cartilage; set the crab meat aside.
• Melt 1/4 cup butter in a large saucepan; stir in flaked crab meat, cream and whiskey.
• Over medium heat, stir until heated but do not boil.
• Stir in milk and season with salt and pepper; cook until very hot, but do not boil.
• Pour into a tureen or serve in individual bowls.
• Garnish with chopped parsley.

CRABBY BISQUE

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, combine bisque, 2 1/4 cups heavy cream, lemon juice, parsley, and crabmeat with juices and bring to a simmer over medium heat for 5 to 10 minutes. Season soup, to taste, with salt and cayenne pepper. Divide soup among 6 bowls. Add 1 tablespoon of cream to each bowl and swirl with butter knife to create a pretty design. Serve immediately.

DECADENT AND EASY CRAB BISQUE

Steps:

• Saute onion in the butter, over medium heat, until translucent.
• Add 2 T. of the flour to the onions, mixing well with a wooden spoon. Cook for about a minute.
• Add 3 cups of the half-and-half, heavy cream, salt and pepper. Whisk while bringing up to a boil (you can turn up the heat a bit here - just be careful not to scald the cream).
• Shake 2 T. of the flour and 1 cup of the half-and-half - using a jar with a lid. Shake until the flour is blended well.
• Add to the soup by whisking. Keep whisking until the soup thickens.
• Stir in the crab and cook for about 5 more minutes.
• Ladle the soup into the bowls and garnish with snipped chives, if desired.