Slow Food—Healthy Food: Crawfish and Shrimp Bisque

Chop this group of vegetables then sauté until translucent.

2 onions

3 big ribs of celery

1/2 orange bell pepper

1 stick of butter

Next add these vegetables, stir and sauté until everything begins to brown, then add the chicken stock.

4 big cloves minced garlic

finely chopped garlic chives

chopped celery tops

a shake of cayenne pepper

1.2t finely ground black pepper

1/2-1t garlic salt

1 quart chicken broth or stock Simmer everything together for 15 minutes. Stir in 2oz. of golden or light brown roux, then blend with an immersion blender*

Bring this to a simmer for just a few minutes. It should thicken a little. Stir in:

12oz. rough chopped crawfish meat
6oz. cut up cooked shrimp
*If you want the crawfish and shrimp blended, add them now. I decided to keep the seafood a little more chunky this time, but it's good both ways.

Simmer just a few minutes to warm everything up and bring all the flavors together. Stir in:

1/3c sherry cooking wine

Cool to room temperature then whisk in:

1c sour cream

Check the flavors, then bring it back to a quick simmer before serving. This goes well with some crusty bread or oyster crackers. . .Lin

I love making crawfish bisque!

And. . .as with most of my original recipes, each is quite different from the previous one. For instance, this is the first time I've added shrimp.

Start by sautéing the chopped vegetables in butter, until they're all snapping and becoming lightly browned.

6T butter

1 big carrot

2 stalks of celery

5 lg. cloves garlic

1/3 red bell pepper

1/2 lg. purple onion

5 sm. Yukon Gold potatoes

Add 4c chicken bone broth, Cajun seasoning, black pepper and chicken Better Than Bouillon to taste.

Blend this with an immersion leaving it a little textured, or smooth if you'd rather.

Simmer this, covered 10-15 minutes on low heat.

Add 2 cans of corn, one drained and one undrained. Check the flavors and make any needed adjustments.

12oz. crawfish
8oz. shrimp—cut into small pieces
chopped celery tops

Add the crawfish, shrimp, celery tops, and simmer another few minutes. If you'd like this thicker, which I decided would be good, this would be the time to add a few tablespoons of browned roux. Bring this to a low simmer so the roux can thicken the bisque. Take this off the heat and let it cool 10 minutes.

Just before serving, stir in:

zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
2c half and half

Serve topped with crunchy garlic-parmesan croutons. . .Lin