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Crab Bisque plus my Blog one-year anniversary!

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★★★★★

5 from 3 reviews

A rich, creamy crab soup – with a bit of ‘attitude’

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 medium-sized crabs – about 400 g each
  • 1 carrot
  • 1/2 onion
  • 1 celery stalk
  • 1/2 leek
  • 2 garlic cloves, diced
  • 2 cups (500 ml) fish or chicken stock
  • 2 cups (500 ml) water
  • 100 ml dry white wine
  • 50 ml cognac
  • 1 tbsp. tomato paste
  • 2 tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 bay leaf
  • sprig of fresh thyme
  • salt/pepper to taste
  • pinch of cayenne pepper
  • To finish
  • 1 – 2 tbsp. corn or rice flour combined with water, to thicken
  • 100 ml thickened cream for the ‘design’

Instructions

  1. Place the two crabs on a cutting board and crush the body and legs into small pieces, using the blunt end of a rolling pin (or other blunt instrument). Set aside several larger pieces of the crab meat for garnish later. Also, remove some of the ‘spongy’ lung pieces and discard (it’s not necessary to remove all these pieces).
  2. Dice the carrot, onion, celery, leek and garlic into smaller pieces.
  3. Heat several tablespoons of olive oil in a Dutch Oven or large pot. Lightly sauté the chopped crab pieces over medium high heat, then add the diced vegetables and stir for several minutes.
  4. Add the tomato paste and chopped tomatoes to the pan, followed by the stock, water, wine and cognac, bay leaf and thyme. Reduce heat and let simmer for several minutes.
  5. Now add the salt and pepper and pinch of cayenne. Cover the pot with a lid and let simmer on low heat for 20 minutes, until all flavors have been thoroughly infused into the soup.
  6. Strain all ingredients through a mesh strainer. Make a paste by combining 1 – 2 tbsp. of corn or rice flour with a little water. Return the soup to the stove, add the paste to the soup and stir until it thickens. Add more paste to thicken, if required. Adjust seasoning, if required (i.e. more salt, pepper or cayenne).
  7. Pour the soup into individual soup bowls, add a few pieces of crab meat to each bowl.
  8. To make the design on top of each soup serving, make a spiral pattern using the thickened cream. Place a knife in the center of the spiral and move the knife outward towards the edge of the bowl; you will see a ‘design’ start to form. Repeat this knife movement all the way around the spiral until the design is complete.
  9. Add small croutons on the side, if desired.

Find it online: https://gdaysouffle.com/crab-bisque-plus-my-blog-one-year-anniversary/