Recipe File: Shrimp Bisque

Lobster bisque is possibly my favorite item to order at a restaurant. I love to learn to re-create my favorite restaurant dishes, but lobster bisque is a bit prohibitive due to the whole buy-a-live-lobster-butcher-him-in-your-kitchen thing. So a few years ago I found a great Shrimp Bisque recipe instead, altered it slightly, and loved it. (And all without bringing a live lobster home!)

This is definitely a weekend dish for me-it takes almost two hours to make-so I always make a double batch and freeze the extras. It’s well worth the effort, and is always a hit with my seafood-loving family.

 Ingredients

Shrimp Stock:

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter


• 1/2 cup roughly chopped yellow onions


• 1/4 cup roughly chopped carrots


• 1/4 cup roughly chopped celery


• 1 large clove garlic, peeled and smashed


• 2 bay leaves


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper


• 1 pound medium shrimp, shelled and deveined, shells reserved, meat used for bisque 


• 8 cups water

Shrimp Bisque:

• 2 tablespoons butter


• 1 cup chopped yellow onions


• 1/2 cup chopped carrots


• 1/2 cup chopped celery


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne


• 1/2 teaspoon chopped garlic


• 2 tablespoons tomato paste


• 4 cups shrimp stock


• 1 tsp white wine vinegar


• 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh tarragon


• 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme


• 1/2 pound shrimp reserved from shrimp stock recipe


• 3/4 cup heavy cream


• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice


• Chopped chives, garnish

Directions

To make the stock, in a large heavy pot, melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium high heat. Add the onions, carrots, celery, garlic, bay leaves, salt, and peppercorns, and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Add the shrimp shells and cook, stirring, until golden, about 3 minutes. Add the water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes, skimming to remove any foam that forms on the surface. Remove from the heat and strain through a fine mesh strainer into a clean container, pressing on the shrimp shells to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard the shells.

In a clean large pot, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the onions, carrots, celery, salt, and cayenne, and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Add the garlic, tomato paste, and cook until starting to brown, about 2 minutes.

Add shrimp stock, 1 tsp vinegar, tarragon and thyme and simmer for 20 minutes.

Remove from the heat and puree with a hand-held immersion blender or in batches in a blender or food processor.

Return to the heat and add the shrimp, cream and lemon juice. Simmer gently until the shrimp are cooked through and the flavors marry, about 5 minutes. Adjust the seasoning, salt and pepper to taste.

Ladle the soup into bowls, garnish with chopped chives and serve immediately.

-Adapted from Emeril Lagasse