Crab Bisque
Crab Bisque is rated
out of
5 by
4.
Prep Time:
15 minutes
Cook Time:
15 minutes
Servings:
8
Serves 8.
The best-tasting crabmeat comes from crabs you cook yourself. If you have access to live crabs, use them to make this bisque. Two 2-lb. Dungeness crabs or eight to ten hard-shelled blue crabs will yield about 1 lb. of crabmeat. You can also buy cooked crabs and extract the meat. Fresh lump crabmeat is the next-best option, especially if you are short on time; look for it at fish markets. Otherwise, use frozen or canned crabmeat, drained and quickly rinsed.
Ingredients:
- 1 Tbs. unsalted butter
- 1 Tbs. canola or grapeseed oil
- 3 large shallots, minced
- 5 cups fish or chicken stock
- 2 cups heavy cream
- Kosher salt and freshly ground white pepper,
to taste - 3⁄4 to 1 lb. fresh or thawed frozen lump
crabmeat, picked over for shell fragments
(3 to 4 cups) - 1⁄2 cup dry sherry, dry Marsala or Madeira
- Minced fresh tarragon or flat-leaf parsley
for garnish
Directions:
In a large soup pot over medium heat, melt the butter with the oil. Add the shallots and sauté until translucent, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the stock and cream, and season with kosher salt and white pepper. Bring to a simmer.
Reduce the heat to low and stir in the crabmeat. Cook until heated through, about 5 minutes. Stir in the sherry and heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Ladle the soup into warmed shallow bowls and garnish with tarragon. Serve immediately.
Reduce the heat to low and stir in the crabmeat. Cook until heated through, about 5 minutes. Stir in the sherry and heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Ladle the soup into warmed shallow bowls and garnish with tarragon. Serve immediately.
Serves 8.
Adapted from
Williams-Sonoma Collection Series,
Christmas,
by Carolyn Miller
(Simon & Schuster, 2003).
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(98)
Rated 4 out of
5
by
LaineyJ from
Nice and simple recipe for a very yummy soup!
My husband and I went a little nuts this past New Years Eve and bought enough crab for 10 people when it was just the two of us! We had 3 king crab legs and a claw with about half a leg, plus two whole Dungeness crabs. Then my husband got two whole live lobsters!! It was fabulous and we ate quite a bit of it, but ended up with over a pound of crab meat that couldn’t be frozen as it was cooked and previously frozen to begin with. I saved the shells of all the king crab and lobster and made stock, which I used in place of the chicken broth. I fried up a few slices of bacon and sautéed the shallots in the bacon grease with the 1T butter, added 3 cloves of garlic, minced, then deglazed the pan with white wine instead of the sherry (I’m not a big fan of sherry and didn’t have any on hand). Since I wasn’t planning on eating the soup until the following day, I cooked the base up to the point of when the crab would be added and then refrigerated it. Upon reheating the next day, I added the crab, topped the bowl with the bacon, parsley and some shredded parmigiana. Delicious! I think an addition I would make (along with the previous ones I made) would be to make a roux to thicken the base a bit.
Date published: 2019-01-05
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Saram from
Loved it
This is one of my family’s favorites, we return to it time after time. I leave out the sherry completely - I didn’t have any the first time I made it and it’s great without it. my family
prefers the parsley to tarragon, and we serve it with buttered crostini. Being in the Midwest I don’t always have access to Dungeness crab, but this recipe is best with it, other types of crab are bland in it.
Date published: 2018-08-15
Rated 1 out of
5
by
YaddaYadda from
This Was Not Good
The sherry overpowered the soup. The broth and cream combined to make an aesthetically unappealing and texturally-challenging bisque. I’ve never written a bad review of a W-S recipe before. I guess there is a first time for everything. Tossed the whole pot.
Date published: 2018-01-22
Rated 4 out of
5
by
Karensmax from
Tried this recipe with some leftover crabmeat
This was great. My house liked it, but next time I will use less shallots, and less sherry. Although I couldn't find dry sherry. They had sherry, creme sherry and very dry sherry. So I got regular sherry. Also, I only had salted butter, and it was a little salty, but still, it was very good. And very easy to make.
Date published: 2013-06-11