I’m looking for a recipe for crab bisque?

coronationcats

I’ll be using large king crab legs and am prepared to boil the shells to make the stock. I’m thinking i’d like to use cream, brandy, fresh dill and perhaps a bit of tomato paste (little bit of tomato paste!) for colour. Please help me with recipes or links.

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6 Responses to “I’m looking for a recipe for crab bisque?”

baltiboy Says:
October 24th, 2008 at 7:51 am
No problem!

Crab Bisque

Serves 4

Preparation time 30 mins to 1 hour

Cooking time 30 mins to 1 hour

Ingredients
900g/2lb shore crabs or other shellfish
50g/2oz butter
50g/2oz onion,chopped
50g/2oz carrot, chopped
50g/2oz celery, chopped
1 fresh or dried bay leaf
2 tbsp cognac
4 tomatoes
1 tsp tomato purée
85ml/3fl oz dry white wine
1 good-sized sprig of fresh tarragon
1.75l/3pt fish stock
50ml/2fl oz double cream
a pinch of cayenne pepper
juice of ¼ lemon
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method
1. Bring a large pan of well-salted water to the boil, drop in the crabs then bring them back to the boil and cook for 2 minutes. Strain and let the crabs cool a little, then chop with a large knife.
2. Melt the butter in a heavy-based pan and add the chopped onion, carrot, celery and the bay leaf. Cook without browning. Stir once or twice then add the crab. Stir, then add the cognac. Allow to boil off then add the tomatoes, tomato purée, wine, tarragon and stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes.
3. Remove the tough claw shells from the soup before liquidizing in a liquidizer or food processor in two or three batches. Process in short bursts until the shell is broken into small pieces about the size of your finger nail. Avoid producing puréed shell, the aim is to extract all possible flavour from any meat left sticking to the shell, particularly in the body section, rather than to extract flavour from the shell itself. Strain the soup through a conical strainer pushing as much liquid through as you can with the back of a ladle to extract all the juices. Then, pass the soup through a fine strainer before returning to the heat. Bring to the boil, add the cream then season with cayenne pepper, lemon juice, salt and black pepper. Reduce the volume by simmering if you think the flavour needs

Enjoy

Pete
Zoe Says:
October 24th, 2008 at 9:17 am
Elise.com

During the winter months, our local Whole Foods gets one or two shipments in a week of freshly cooked Dungeness crab. Like all seafood, crab tastes best when it is as fresh as possible. When buying crab, ask the guy or gal behind the counter when they got the shipment in. The answer you want to hear is this morning. If the crab came in that morning, or even the day before, it should be good. If it is 3 or 4 days, I would wait until the next shipment. Make sure that you get a crab that is at least 2 lbs. If they don’t have any that big displayed, ask if they have any more in the back. Have them clean the crabs and crack them.

To make this creamy, flavorful crab bisque, you will need to make some homemade shellfish stock, so it pays to keep your leftover shells and freeze them until you have the occasion to make the stock. Making stock isn’t hard, like making chicken stock, it just takes time. You can freeze it in advance of using it.

Stock ingredients:
4-6 cups crab shells
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 large yellow onion, sliced or chopped
1 carrot, roughly sliced or chopped
1 celery stalk, roughly sliced or chopped
2 Tbsp tomato paste
2 sprigs of thyme
Several sprigs parsley
1 bay leaf
10-15 whole peppercorns
2 teaspoons salt

Soup ingredients:
2 Tbsp butter, unsalted
1/3 cup shallots, chopped
3/4 cup dry white wine
4 cups of shellfish stock
¼ cup white rice
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 ¼ lb or more of cooked crabmeat
1 ¼ cup heavy cream
½ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Making the stock
Before making the bisque, you’ll need to make the shellfish stock (see these instructions for details and photos).

1 Break crab shells into smaller pieces by putting in a sealed, thick plastic bag and either rolling with a rolling pin or hitting with a meat hammer to crush. Don’t crush too small. You can even skip this step if you want, if your shell pieces are already well broken up. Put in a large stock pot and cover with an inch (but no more than an inch) of water.

2 Put the stove temperature on medium high and slowly heat the shells in the water. As soon as you see that little bubbles are starting to come up to the surface, reduce the heat to medium. Do not let it boil. You want to maintain the temperature at just below a simmer, where the bubbles just occasionally come up to the surface. Do not stir the shells. Stirring will muddy up the stock. As the bubbles come up to the surface a film of foam will develop on the surface. Use a large slotted spoon to skim away this foam. Let the shells cook like this for about an hour; skim the foam every few minutes. The foam comes from shells releasing impurities as their temperature increases.

3 Put the thyme, bay leaves, and parsley in cheese cloth. Secure with kitchen string to make a bouquet garni.

4 Once the stock has stopped releasing foam, you can add the wine, onions, carrots, celery, tomato paste, herb bouquet garni, and peppercorns. Bring to a low simmer and reduce heat so that the stock continues to simmer, but not boil, for 30 minutes. If more foam comes to the surface, skim it off. Add salt and remove from heat.

5 Dampen a few layers of cheesecloth and place over a large, fine mesh strainer, over a large pot or bowl. Pour the stock into the strainer. Discard the solids. Either use the stock right away, or cool for future use. If you aren’t going to use in a couple of days, freeze (remember to leave some head room at the top of your freezer container for the liquid to expand as it freezes.)

Makes 2-3 quarts. Reserve 4 cups for the crab bisque, refrigerate or freeze the rest.

Making the bisque
Now on to the bisque…

6 In a large, 4 or 6 quart saucepan, melt butter on medium heat, add the shallots and cook gently until translucent, about 5 minutes.

7 Add the wine, stock, white rice, and tomato paste. Raise the heat and bring to a simmer; reduce heat to continue to simmer until rice is completely cooked, about 25 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for several minutes.

8 Add about two thirds of the crab meat to the soup. Working in batches, ladle the soup into a blender and purée until completely smooth. Return puréed soup back to soup pan.

9 Add cream and gently heat soup until it is hot enough for serving. Add the remaining one third of the crab meat. Add salt and cayenne pepper to taste (about ½ teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne).

Serves 4.
minoloblaniks Says:
October 26th, 2008 at 2:14 am
Crab Bisque Recipe
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can cream of asparagus soup
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup half-and-half
1/2 pound crab meat, picked free of shells
1/4 cup dry sherry

Using a heavy saucepan, combine all of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and allow to simmer for 5 minutes.
——–
Crab Bisque with Crab Toasts Recipe
Recipe Summary
Difficulty: Medium
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours 20 minutes
Yield: 8 servings

3/4 cup bleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onions
1/2 cup seeded and chopped green bell peppers
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped carrots
4 bay leaves
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
6 gumbo crabs, each cut in 1/2
1 cup peeled, seeded, and chopped fresh or canned tomatoes
1/2 cup brandy
8 cups water
1 teaspoon liquid crab boil (recommended: Zatarain’s Concentrated Liquid Shrimp and Crab Boil), optional
1/2 cup chopped green onions, green parts only
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 pound lump crabmeat, picked over for shells and cartilage
Crab Toasts, recipe follows

Combine the flour and oil in a large nonstick saucepan and whisk until smooth. Over medium heat, stir constantly until the mixture is the color of peanut butter, about 10 minutes. Add the onions, bell peppers, celery, carrots, bay leaves, salt, and cayenne. Cook, stirring often, until the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes.
Add the crabs and tomatoes and stir to mix. Cook for 10 minutes. Add the brandy, water, and crab boil. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour and 45 minutes.

Add the green onions and parsley. Remove the bay leaves. Remove from the heat and add the cream. Mix to blend. Ladle into individual serving bowls and sprinkle each with 1/4 cup crabmeat. Top each with a half crab and a crab toast.

Crab Toasts:
1/2 pound lump crabmeat, picked over for shells and cartilage
1 large egg
1 large egg white
2 tablespoons minced green onions
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley leaves
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
3 ounces cream cheese, cut into pieces
2 tablespoons heavy cream
8 slices brioche, or home-style white bread
3 tablespoons vegetable oil

Combine the crabmeat, egg, egg white, green onions, parsley, garlic, salt and white pepper in a food processor and pulse until blended but still chunky. Add the cream cheese and pulse until smooth and thick. Add the cream and pulse until just blended, being careful not to over process.
Spread 1/4 of the crabmeat mixture on each of 4 slices of bread, spreading it to the edges and smoothing the top. Place another slice of brioche on top and press down to make a sandwich.

Heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet.

Add the crab toasts to the hot oil, in batches if needed, and cook until golden on the first side, about 3 minutes. Turn and cook until golden on the second side, about 2 minutes. Drain on paper towels if needed.

To serve, cut each toast diagonally into halves or quarters. Serve alongside the Crab Bisque.
Yield: 8 servings
lou Says:
October 26th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
go to allrecipes.com!
chefgrille Says:
October 27th, 2008 at 1:24 am
I have an excellent recipe, but it doesn’t have brandy, dill, or any tomato products in it. I wish I could help, but that’s not even close to my recipe.
Bird Says:
October 30th, 2008 at 11:40 am
Maryland Crab Bisque recipe
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup minced celery
2 (10 ounce) packages white sauce mix
2 cups half-and-half
1/3 cup dry sherry
12 ounces crab meat (fresh, frozen or canned)
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 (13 3/4 ounce) can chicken broth

In a 3-quart saucepan melt butter and sauté celery for 5 minutes or until soft.

Stir in sauce mix. Gradually stir in half and half. Add sherry and broth. Stir over low heat until soup bubbles and thickens slightly.

Stir in crabmeat; simmer 15 minutes longer.

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I’m looking for a recipe for crab bisque?

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