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shellfish biaque

Shellfish Bisque

  • Author: Colm
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
  • Total Time: 2 hours
  • Yield: serves 4
  • Category: shellfish
  • Cuisine: seafood

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 litre / 4 cups of shellfish or fish stock
  • 1 live lobsters, weighing around 700g / 1.5lbs
  • 12 shrimps / prawns
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 carrot, chopped
  • 2 celery sticks, chopped
  • 3 large banana shallots, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 2 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 1 bunch fresh tarragon
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 230g /1 cup medium brandy
  • 120g / ½ cup long-grain white rice
  • 230g / 1 cup cream
  • Pinch of cayenne pepper

Instructions

  1. Bring your shellfish stock to the boil, plunge in the lobster, and cook for 6 minutes. then remove from the stock to cool.
  2. Next add your shrimps or prawns into the boiling stock and cook for 30 seconds, remove from the stock and allow to cool
  3. Once the shellfish is cool enough to handle remove the meat from the claws and tails, chop up, and reserve till later.
  4. Next chop up the shells and heads, heat your olive oil in a pan, and saute over a high heat for 2 minutes.
  5. Turn the heat down and add your carrot, celery, shallots, and garlic. Cover the pot with a lid and sweat for 10 minutes.
  6. Next add the brandy and cook till its evaporated. Than in goes tomato puree, thyme and tarragon followed by the stock you cooked the shellfish in.
  7. Bring everything to the boil and simmer the soup for 40 minutes.
  8. Once cooked strain the bisque through a colander into a clean pot making sure to extract as much liquid as possible.
  9. Add the rice to the shellfish bisque and cook for a further half hour.
  10. Once the rice is tender whizz the soup in a food processor and pass it through a fine sieve. Than add in the reserved shellfish, cream, cayenne and a pinch of salt.
  11. Allow your busque to simmer gently for 2 minutes so the shellfish warms through before serving.