With cooler weather nipping around, my mood turned to needing something comforting to eat. Nothing like a good soup to take care of that. I have claw crab meat on hand since I just prepared my crab meat dip and stuffed mushrooms, so I'm using that last 1/2 pound of claw meat for a nice crab meat bisque/chowder. A bisque and a chowder are both rich, cream-based soups with seafood, but they differ in texture and presentation. Basically, a bisque has been puréed, so it's creamy and smooth, almost velvety. A chowder is creamy, rich, and thick too, but tends to be on the more rustic side, with a few chunks of fish or crustacean swimming around in the soup. Mine's a combination of both. I'm going for the velvety purée but I also want something that I can occasionally bite on in here for a happy little surprise of crab meat. I believe I have the right balance.
I'm making my own shrimp stock for the bisque, and I'll be enriching it all with cream. The texture will be velvety smooth but pocked with chunks of crab meat. Intense seafood flavor will come from the homemade shrimp stock and will be highlighted by the crab. Then I'll spike it with some dry sherry and it'll all be like a nice big cozy hug for the stomach.
Oh, and make some toasts from homemade bread for dipping and dunking.
Make the shrimp stock:
My freezer is always stocked with shrimp. I buy it heads-on in bulk, then twist off the heads and pack into individual quart freezer bags anywhere from 12-16 oz. per bag. That way I always have enough shrimp for a meal for two at any time.
Shrimp Stock:
shells from 12-16 oz. shrimp
2 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
1 large onion, skin on, coarsely chopped
You could throw in some carrots too, but for some odd reason, I was out of carrots.
1 TB dried thyme
about 1 tsp kosher salt
about 2 TB whole peppercorns
2 cups water, or a little more than enough to cover
Melt 2 TB butter in a medium pan and sauté the shrimp shells over medium heat until they turn a nice pink - just a few minutes. Add in the celery and onion (and chopped carrot if you like) and continue sautéing for another minute or two.
Add the water, thyme, salt, and peppercorns. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer. Simmer about 5 minutes, then strain through cheesecloth to remove the solids. Press on solids with a rubber spatula to extract as much liquid (and flavor) as possible. Discard solids.
I know that most stocks, say beef, veal, or chicken, require a long simmer time, as in HOURS which allows more flavor to be extracted out of the bones and scraps. However shrimp stock is ready in 5 minutes and simmering any longer does not improve the flavor of the stock. It can, in fact, make it less shrimpy, since the compounds associated with shrimp flavor are highly volatile. Shrimp stock is more potent, more aromatic, more intense, and more "shrimpy" after 5 minutes of simmering. It becomes less so after any longer.
For you culinary chemists out there: "Shrimp
shells contain polyunsaturated fatty acids that quickly oxidize during
cooking into low-molecular-weight aldehydes, alcohols, and ketones.
These low-molecular-weight molecules rapidly release into the air,
providing a pleasant aroma during cooking but leaving behind a bland
broth."
Rosie Note: Whenever you shell shrimp, save the shells and freeze them. That way, you can whup up a seafood stock in practically no time and enhance the flavor of any number of dishes.
Crab Bisque
2 TB unsalted butter
1/2 large shallot, minced
1 stalk celery, thinly sliced
1/4 tsp Old Bay seasoning
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp thyme
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2 TB flour
about 2 cups cups shrimp stock (However much you ended up with when you made the shrimp stock. )
1/4 cup 2% milk
3/4 cup cream
1/2 lb. crab meat
dry sherry, roundabout 1/4 cup
Rosie Note: About that 2% milk and cream. You want that heavy cream in there, but I like to fill with another milk - either whole milk, 2%, 1%, or skim. I just use whatever's in the fridge.
Rosie Note: About that crab meat. I use claw. It's the cheapest ($15/lb at Billy's Seafood back when they were open) and I think it's sweeter than the other parts of the crab. Plus you have those nice chunks of meat which is what I want in a crab bisque/chowder.
Melt butter until foamy and bubbly in medium-sized pot, reduce heat, and stir in shallot and celery. Cook, stirring, over medium low for about 2 minutes. Add in Old Bay, paprika, thyme, salt, and pepper, and stir for another minute, until it's nice and fragrant.
Sprinkle in the flour and cook, stirring for 2 minutes, enough to get the raw taste out of the flour, but not to brown the flour.
While stirring, slowly pour in the shrimp stock and continue cooking until thickened. You can control the thickness by the cooking time.
Taste test and add whatever you find addable.
Gently, so as not to break up any chunks, drop in the crab meat. Heat through, then I like to give it a healthy shot of dry sherry. Say 1/4 cup. Taste test and add more if you like.
Serve with toppings of:
chopped sweet red pepper, chopped parsley, dash of cayenne, and ground pepper
You could use any bell pepper, I just like the red because it's festive.
Now for the step-by-steps, from making shrimp stock to making crab bisque:
First the stock:
Here are my stock ingredients:
shrimp shells
chopped celery
chopped onion
If you have carrots, throw 'em in
and I leave on the onion peel.
Melt the butter and add in the shells, cooking and stirring about 3 minutes.
Add in the onion and celery. Carrot if you have it.
Salt and peppercorns in.
Thyme in.
About 2 cups water.
Bring just to a boil, then reduce heat and let it bare-simmer for FIVE minutes.
Simmer 5 minutes. At 5 minutes, you have reached the potential flavor-wise of this stock. Any more cooking, and the flavor dissipates.
Pour into cheesecloth-lined colander.
Press against the solids to release as much liquid as you can and extract the flavors into the stock.
Finish your crossword puzzle.
And there's your shrimp stock.
Little bit short of 2 cups.
Now that we have our shrimp stock,
let's make the crab bisque, which will utilize the shrimp stock.
Those toast points are delightful.
Step-by-step how-to for the crab bisque:
Ingredients for bisque:
2-3 TB unsalted butter
one celery stalk, sliced
one shallot, finely chopped
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp Old Bay seasoning
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2-3 TB flour
about 2 cups shrimp stock
1/4 cup milk (fat percentage doesn't matter)
3/4 cup heavy cream (matters) You could throw caution to the wind and simply use 1 cup cream and not worry about it.
8- oz. or more claw crab meat. (I use claw cause it's big chunks, sweeter than the backfin, and much cheaper)
splash dry sherry (Taste test. I like to splash delicately and let the sherry lie where it hits. I don't want to stir it all in into one homogeneous soup. I prefer "pockets of flavors."
Toppings:
toasted bread cubes, torn (Looks and tastes better than uniform croutons.)
chopped red bell pepper
chopped parsley
cayenne pepper, dusting
freshly ground pepper
All to taste
Melt butter over medium low heat until it sizzles. Add in vegetables and herbs, stirring for about 4-5 minutes.
Add in 2-3 TB flour and cook, stirring for 2 minutes to get the raw taste out of the flour.
Slowly add in shrimp stock, cooking on low, stirring, until thickened.
Use up all the stock. Bring to a bare simmer. Keep it thick.
Add in 1/4 cup 2% milk and 3/4 cup heavy cream. Fat percent content of milk really doesn't matter. I'm just using what I have. You could use all cream if you want to and I won't stop you.
Heat through.
Taste test.
Adjust s & p if necessary.
Stir slowly. Let thicken.
I had 1/2 pound claw crab meat left
Into the pot. Try to keep whole and not break up.
Be gentle with that crab meat.
Pockets of sherry.
And serve.
Enjoy.
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