Sunday, November 1, 2009

Shrimp Bisque




A while back, my friend Gordy sent me his recipe for this seafood bisque. He wrote:
___________________________________________________________________________________

Krista,
I found this recipe in a Nestle/Carnation cookbook and have made it 3 or 4 times. I thought it would be perfect for your blog. It is simply the best seafood bisque I have ever had. It is easy to make as long as you have all the ingredients at the ready, and re-heats great for leftovers. I recommend this for any elegant dinner party where you want to impress.

Gordy

This recipe makes 6 servings. I double it for the Poker Gang!!
____________________________________________________________________________________

He was right! It is delicious, my Halloween dinner guests were impressed, and it does re-heat nicely. Some of you may remember Gordy from my post about Cajun Seafood Bread. If you have't tried it yet...click the link! This is still one of my favorite foods of all time!


When I put this soup together, my house was chaotic! I was trying to get ready for Halloween night. I had cut out around 200 pumpkin spice donuts and apple cider fritters to fry up for my trick or treaters. I had my husband heating the frying oil in the driveway and I was carrying cider and supplies to the garage while also trying to make dinner and get my lil' trick or treaters into costume. Oh, and I was trying to keep the house reasonably clean before our guests arrived. I ended up pouring the bisque into the crock pot to keep it hot and wrapping pigs in a blanket for the kiddos. By the time I got around to snapping a picture of the finished product, it had been in the crock pot for hours! I'd completely forgotten about it. Trick or treaters had come and gone and I was very hungry! I figured that it would be fried to my crock pot when I set out to ladle up a bowl and take a pic. However, this bisque was remarkably resilient. Miraculously, the butter had only slightly separated from the soup and it still tasted amazing...especially when I sopped it with slice of French bread.

You begin by melting 2 tablespoons of butter in a large saucepan or stockpot and sauteeing 1/2 cup each of diced onion and celery.




Then throw in a pound of medium shrimp, peeled and deveined.



Cook and stir until shrimp are pink. Then remove the shrimp, onion, and celery and keep warm. I put mine in the crock pot.



In the same pot, melt the remaining 6 tablespoons of butter. Stir in 1/2 cup of flour until smooth.





Gradually stir in 3 cups of water.



Stir in chicken boullion, cayenne pepper, seasoning salt, a bay leaf, and ketchup.



Bring it to a boil, then reduce heat to low and stir for 5 minutes.



Add to shrimp mixture. I kept this warm until just before my guests arrived, then...



I stirred in the evaporated milk and dry white wine. Heat through, without boiling.



Serve it up.



Mmmm. Three shrimp smothered in the savory bisque, nestled on a spoon. The perfect way to end my Halloween night. Well, this...and a glass of Chardonnay (left over from the soup preparation). Serving fresh fried donuts and cider to the neighborhood and coaxing two small children off of a sugar high into bed can leave one a bit frazzled. : )




Shrimp Bisque

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 lb. medium shrimp, peeled, deveined and chopped
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups water
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 Chicken Flavor Bouillon Cube
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon seasoned salt (Lawry’s)
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
1 can (12 fl. oz.) Evaporated Milk
2 tablespoons dry white wine
Directions:
MELT 2 tablespoons butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and celery; cook, stirring occasionally, for 2-3 minutes. Add shrimp, cook until shrimp turn pink. Remove from saucepan; set aside.

MELT remaining butter in same saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour. Gradually stir in water, ketchup, bouillon, bay leaf, seasoned salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally; reduce heat to low. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add shrimp mixture; cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes. Discard bay leaf. Stir in evaporated milk and wine. Heat through; do not boil.

11 comments:

Coleens Recipes said...

I would LOVE a bowl of this bisque AND a hunk of the shrimp bread...wow, what a combo. Your description of frying donuts for trick or treaters was awesome. I wish kids around here trick or treated, but they don't any more...they all go to school carnivals.

Ginger said...

That looks like the perfect way to start the week which is shaping up to be a cold one in Cincinnati, Ohio!! YUMMY :-)

Inspired by eRecipeCards said...

that looks great, in my VERY limited experience, I was surprised to see the water in the recipe, but it sure thickened up nicely. Wonderful recipe!

Palidor said...

Yum! That looks fantastic. I love evaporated milk and I bet it adds such wonderful flavor to the bisque.

Chicago Mom said...

I, too, was surprised to see water and not broth in the soup. Wow, it looks SO delicious! I had lobster bisque at a downtown cafe at 3am once that I STILL remember and drool over. I have to try this!

Katy ~ said...

Oh, this does look luscious and elegant. Would be perfect for a New Year's celebration with a little champagne and ??

Reeni said...

I'm trick or treating at your house next year! You rock! I love this bisque! Thick and rich and creamy! Divine.

Elizabeth said...

Yum, I love shrimp bisque and yours looks amazing!

Alycia Freimund said...

This was super YUMMY! No one else eats shrimp, so I invited my MIL over for lunch and served everyone else potato soup. My MIL loves shrimp and I told her that I saw a recipe for shrimp bread that I will have to make for her! Again, another hit and it was not complicated! I also kept it warm in the crockpot while we were at church.

Summer said...

This is honestly the best soup I have ever eaten! I just made it for dinner for my husband and he asked if it was from a restaurant! This could be my favorite new recipe! Thanks so much! I can't praise it enough!

Debbie Brinkmann said...

Thanks for the interesting article. Thank you for your time and effort. Please provide similar information. The topic of this profile is also something I have been writing about recently. To learn more, click here Kohi Click Test.

Related Posts with Thumbnails