Shrimp Bisque
Yield: 4 Servings
Recipe adapted from Joy of Cooking ‘97
I use shrimp in a lot of dishes and try to buy raw split and cleaned shrimp. I save all the raw shells and tails in the freezer. When you have a gallon bag full, it’s bisque time. Note: the original recipe says you only need the shells from 1 lb of shrimp. In my opinion that is nowhere near enough.
For the Stock
- 5cups water
- 2cups dry white wine
- 2cups fish stock (or 1 cup water and 1 cup clam juice)
- 2cups beef stock
- 1lb raw shell-on shrimp and shells from 1 to 2 lbs of shrimp
For the Mirepoix
- 4TBS unsalted butter
- 1cup finely chopped onion
- ⅓cup finely chopped carrots
- ⅓cup finely chopped celery
For the Bisque
- 1½cups, peeled, seeded, chopped tomatoes, fresh or canned.
- ⅓cup rice.
- 1-2bay leaves
- 1½tsp minced fresh tarragon, or ½ tsp dried
- 1tsp sweet or hot paprika
- ½tsp minced fresh garlic
- ½tsp salt
- ¼tsp dried thyme
- ⅛tsp ground red pepper
For the Shrimp
- 3TBS unsalted butter
- ¼cup Cognac or brandy
- ¼tsp salt
- ¼tsp pepper, preferably freshly ground white
- Reserved shrimp
For Final assembly
- ½-1cup heavy cream
For Garnish
- fresh lemon juice
- salt
- freshly ground white pepper
- ground red pepper
- tarragon or parsley
To make the Stock
Bring liquids to boil in a large stock pot. Add shrimp, boil 2 minutes and remove. Set aside until cool enough to handle and shell. Refrigerate shrimp meat, return shells to broth. Reduce heat, simmer shells for 30 minutes. Remove and discard shells. Reduce liquid over medium high heat until reduced to 6 cups.
While the stock is reducing, in a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add chopped onion, celery and carrots, and cook, stirring until tender but not browned, 5-10 minutes.
Add the mirepoix and other bisque ingredients into the reduced stock and return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer partly covered for 40 minutes.
To prepare the Shrimp
Meanwhile, cut all but 8-12 of the refrigerated shrimp into ¼ inch dice. Melt the butter over medium heat, add and sauté shrimp until heated through. Add remaining ingredients.
Cook stirring until almost all the liquid is evaporated. Set the 8-12 whole shrimp aside. Add the diced shrimp and any leftover juice to the simmering soup. Remove the bay leaves and discard.
Final assembly
In a blender, puree the soup in small batches until smooth. Return to the saucepan and stir in cream and reserved whole shrimp. Heat over low heat. Thin, if necessary, with clam broth or milk.
To garnish and serve
Remove from the heat and season with drops of lemon juice to taste, salt and freshly ground white pepper and/or ground red pepper. Serve and garnish with fresh tarragon or parsley.
Note: Leftover soup will keep for a few days in the refrigerator, or it can be stored frozen in quart freezer bags or other freezer containers.
