A Tale Of Two Bisques.

I imagine a definition would be in order here in case you're not sure exactly what a bisque is.
A bisque is a French-based creamy soup with a shellfish base.   It should have a smooth and velvety texture and be slightly thick.  Originally, this thickness came from from grinding the shells of crustaceans into a fine paste, although nowadays, rice is used as a common thickener.  A bisque is not a chowder, although both are cream-based and both feature seafood.  The consistency is the characteristic that separates them.  A bisque is smooth whereas a chowder is chunky.  Also, bacon and potatoes are generally used in a chowder, and not in a bisque.

With that said, I'm taking liberties and making my own bisque-type soups here.  I have two basic bisques.  One is puréed.  And one is ... pure... but with chunks, so more of a chowder, but without the bacon and potatoes.  Technically, I guess these aren't even bisques after I got through with them, but they did start out that way.  Both use homemade shrimp stock as the base.  Both have cream and sherry.  I offer both and let you choose.  And remember - I offer only guidelines.  You don't have to follow step-by-step exactly.  Make it your own.  It's soup! 


Both my soups start out with shrimp stock.
It's simple to make and if you're peeling shrimp anyway, might as well put those shells to use.

For the shrimp stock, use all the shells from about a pound of shrimp, coarsely chop up a stalk of celery and an onion (use the skin, too), and use a few bay leaves.  Mine are fresh from my bay tree so I used about 5.  If you use dried, cut back - maybe 2.

Melt and little butter in a pot and when it gets foamy, add in the shrimp shells.

Be sure to poke it around while it cooks.

Cook over medium heat until the shells turn pink.

Then add in the onion and skins

and the celery.

Cover with about about 6 cups of water.

Bring to a simmer, cut heat to low, and let barely simmer for about 30 minutes.

Strain out all shells and stuff.

Discard the spent shells and vegetables.

You now have shrimp stock.

Now that you have the stock, you're ready to start on your soup/bisque.

Bisque #1

Chop up a carrot, a stalk of celery, and some onion.

Sauté for a minute or two in a tablespoon of butter.

Then add another tablespoon of butter and about 2 TB flour and cook over low heat, stirring.  For about 2 minutes.
The flour needs to be cooked to get out the raw taste.   This is called a roux.  It's a mixture of fat (butter, in this case) and flour and this is what will thicken your soups or sauces.  (It's how you make gravy, too.)  There are different types of roux - white, blond, and brown - depending on how long you cook the flour, and each type is used for a particular sauce, with the darker roux having a nuttier, deeper flavor (generally used for Cajun dishes like Gumbo).  For our purposes, we're going with the lighter roux.

Slowly pour in about 2 cups of the stock.

Stir, cooking over low heat, until thickened.

I had some thickened tomato sauce I'd made for a pizza and I stirred in about 2 tablespoons of that.  You could use tomato paste.  Stir until combined and smooth.

In another pan, over medium high heat, I sautéed the shrimp in a little oil and butter.

About a minute on each side.

 

Then I poured in some sherry.  Off heat and away from flame.

Pour the sherry and half the shrimp into the soup.

Pour the whole into a blender and purée it.

Pour in about 1/2 cup cream and heat through.

Salt and pepper to taste.

And that right there is your bisque.

 

And serve.

With additional shrimp on top along with some parsley and oyster crackers and/or toast.

I guess I can't go with a true bisque.
I like to see my shrimp.

Now, on to Shrimp Soup #2.
This is where I got distracted away from the bisque concept and decided I wanted chunks in my soup.
I think I liked this one better, if only for the ease of preparation.
No puréeing was involved and I already had the shrimp stock on hand.
And it was really quick.

I started out with chopped carrot, celery, onion, and mushrooms.

Sauté in a little butter.
For about 2 minutes.

Sprinkle in about 2 TB flour.
Cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes.

Slowly, stir in shrimp stock.  About 2 cups.

Cook over low heat, letting it thicken.

Add in about a cup of cream and heat through.

Now, I'm going to show you another thickening tip.
We've already made a roux to thicken.

But, if you want to thicken a soup even more, try beurre manié.
 "Kneaded butter" in English.

Mix an equal amount of butter and flour and rub together until well-combined.

Then pull off small chunks and add it to your soup.
This will thicken the soup without making doughy, lumpy clumps, which is what you'd have if you just added flour at this point.  As the butter melts in the hot liquid, the flour particles are evenly distributed.  They swell and thicken the liquid without forming clumps.

Add in sherry.  About 1/4 cup.
Taste test.

Add in cooked shrimp to heat through.
Season with salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste.

Serve with some parsley sprinkled on top.
I had red peppers in the garden, so I chopped a bit and added that on top too.
And some slices of toast.

Give it a few grinds of pepper.

Enjoy!