Homemade Crab Bisque with Saffron
I was out of town for a pharmacy conference in Anaheim for a few days and have not had time to blog. It felt really nice to be back home and back to my daily routine. For dinner, I decided to make crab bisque, inspired by a crab dish that I had at Joe’s Crab Shack near our hotel. French in origin, bisque is a smooth and creamy soup based on a strained broth of crustaceans, usually lobster, crab, shrimp, and even crayfish. I paired the bisque with toasted baguettes and a glass of white wine. If you are entertaining guests this holiday, this bisque would be a perfect start to your dinner party.
Ingredients
2 (1 1/2-pound) crabs 1/2 cup coarsely chopped shallots or onions 1 cup coarsely chopped leeks 1 cup coarsely chopped carrots 1 cup of chopped tomatoes 1 clove of garlic 1/2 tsp saffron 1 tbsp of olive oil 1 cup heavy cream 1/2 cup white wine 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper 2 tbsps cornstarch 1 tbsp sugar chives for garnishDirections
Fill a large stockpot with 3 cups of water and bring to a boil. Place the crabs in the water and steam for 15 minutes. Discard the water. (you can also save 1-2 cups of this original stock if you want a stronger crab taste)
Remove crab meats from the body and claws. Save the shells.
Place 5 cups of water in a clean stockpot and turn on high heat. Put the shells in the stockpot and cook for 30 minutes. This should yield 4 cups of crab stock.
Add olive oil to a large sauté pan and turn on medium heat. Add the garlic, shallots, leeks, carrots, tomatoes, and saffron and sauté for 20 minutes.
Add 4 cups of strained crab stock to the sautéed vegetables. Turn down heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
Press entire contents of sautéed pan through sieve into a clean sauté pan.
To finish the bisque, add heavy cream slowly, using whisk to blend. Add white wine. Simmer on low heat for 15 minutes; bisque will thicken slightly.
Mix cornstarch with 1/4 cup water and slowly add to bisque with whisk. Simmer on low heat for another 15 minutes. Add pepper and sugar (more if you like a sweeter taste).
Place pieces of previous cleaned crab meat in bowl and add 1 cup of bisque.
