B is for Bisque of Lobster

Creamy, savory bisque with chunks of lobster cooked in garlic butter is a beautiful and elegant first course for a dinner party.  Your guests will be stunned and will never know that this soup takes less than an hour to prepare.

 

We are cooking up recipes beginning with B for today's Alphabet Challenge......

Shrimp Bisque and a Sauvignon Blanc from Bordeaux #SoupSaturdaySwappers #Winophiles

 Life doesn't get much better than a creamy soup with chunks of shrimp paired with a French Blue Sauvignon Blanc from Bordeaux.

 

Perfect summertime living as Soup Swappers and Winophiles collide.....

Provencal Seafood Bisque #FishFridayFoodies

This delicious smooth, velvety soup is ready in minutes and the perfect start to your Holiday meal.

The Fish Friday Foodies are sharing Seafood Soup/Stews Around the World..........

Caramelized Carrot Bisque #SoupSaturdaySwappers

Tender carrots caramelized with onions, garlic and ginger, pureed to a flavorful soup that is perfect for your first course on Easter Sunday.

Welcome to Soup Saturday Swappers.......

Crab and Crimini Bisque #FishFridayFoodies

This month's Fish Friday Foodies is being hosted by Cam of Culinary Adventures with Camilla.

Cam invited us to create and share any kind of shellfish recipe.  She told us to think soups, breaded and fried, sautéed, steamed or even raw.  

We were making assignments for 2018 posts way back in October so I knew that this great theme was first up for the year.

I made this elegant, silky, delicious bisque as our first course on Thanksgiving, knowing that I would save the post for this month's Fish Friday Foodies.

This recipe comes from Bon Appetit.  I modified it very slightly and it was the perfect amount for a first course for 6 adults and 1 toddler.

I used the best quality canned crab that I could find.  The mushrooms are applied in two different styles, using the chopped stems to flavor the broth and then the sliced caps in the finished dish.

I'm excited about this year's first edition of Fish Friday Foodies.  My group has some great themes lined up all year long.  Next month, Sue of Palatable Pastime, has us sharing en papillote.  If you would like to join us please leave your blog name and email address in the comment section of this post or pop me an email at wendyklik1517@gmail.com.

Crab and Crimini Bisque

slightly adapted from Bon Appetit

1 lb crimini mushrooms

6 T. butter

1/2 of a lg. Vidalia onion

1 garlic clove, minced

2 T. flour

1 (32 oz) box chicken stock

1/3 c. dry sherry

1/2 c. heavy cream

2 egg yolks

1 t. lemon juice

1/2 lb. lump crabmeat, picked over, large pieces set aside

Remove and finely chop the mushroom stems.  Slice the mushroom caps and set aside.  Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat.  Add the mushroom stems, garlic and onion.  Season with salt and pepper and cook for about 10 minutes, until mushrooms release their liquid and it evaporates.  Add the flour, cook and stir for 2 minutes, until fragrant.  Stir in the broth and sherry.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, for 25 minutes. Strain the liquids into a soup pot.  Discard solids.

Melt the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet.  Add the sliced mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, and cook over med high heat until golden brown, about 10 minutes.  Add to the broth and simmer for a few minutes.  

While soup simmers, whisk together the egg yolks, cream and lemon juice.  Stir in the crabmeat, retaining the large pieces to use as garnish.  Add the cream mixture to the soup, stirring and cooking over low heat until slightly thickened, being careful not to boil.

Divide into bowls, adding large chunks of crabmeat in the center of the bowl. Print Recipe

More Out of the Shell and Into the Pan Recipes

An InLinkz Link-up

Whitefish Bisque #SoupSaturdaySwappers

Our friend, Ashley of Cheese Curd in Paradise, chose the fun theme of  Soups From Your State (Regional and Local Soups) for this month's Soup Saturday Swappers.  What a fantastic theme!!

Soup Saturday Swappers is a group of wonderful people that join together on the 3rd Saturday of each month to share recipes inspired by a theme chosen by one of our members.  

We would love to have you join our group.  If interested, please leave a comment along with the name of your blog in the comments below or email me at wendyklik1517@gmail.com.  

I live in Michigan.  Considered the Midwest but located more Midnorth.  We are about as far north as you can get unless you cross the river into Canada.  Our State was first explored by the French who came over via Canada.  Most of our cities were named by them, often using the names they had for the Native Americans who lived on our shores.  

We are surrounded by the Great Lakes that began as oceans until the ice age arrived and turned them into fresh lakes.  All those icebergs came up onto land creating the terrain that is our State.  Our State Stone is Petoskey, which was obviously ocean coral at one time.   

We have a huge conglomeration of second and third generation immigrants born here after their parents came to find work in the auto industry.  We had Polish, Greek, Irish, German, Italian and Mexican communities downstate while our Upper Peninsula attracted miners from Norway.  

We are known for our fresh fish, including perch, walleye and white fish.  Our crops include corn, sugar beets, apples, peaches, and soybeans. We hunt venison, ducks, geese, bear and wild mushrooms and berries.  We grow cattle, pork and chickens.  We have Jiffy, Kelloggs, Vernors, Faygo, Better Made and Sanders.  We have wineries, breweries, dairies and cider mills.

And I was stumped.  I mean, there are a lot of soups that I could (and have) shared from the fine State of Michigan. Corn Chowder, Venison Chili, Dill Pickle Soup, Morel Mushroom Bisque. The list goes on and on.  

My problem wasn't thinking of a soup from Michigan, it was finding one that I hadn't already shared. Luckily, for me, I love living in Michigan and I love eating and cooking locally. This means I have a slew of Michigan Cookbooks.  

The recipe that I'm sharing today is from Savor Michigan Cookbook.  This cookbook contains recipes from "Michigan's Finest Restaurants, Their Recipes & Their Histories".  It is an interesting read.  The book is divided by cities, and features recipes from the best restaurants in each one.  I loved reading the histories of restaurants that I have visited or that are on my list to visit.

I have had the privilege of staying and dining at The Grand Hotel, located on the pristine and unspoiled Mackinac Island.  One of the recipes being shared from them was Whitefish Bisque.  Our clear, cold, fresh northern lakes provide us with wonderful whitefish.

I served this as the soup course at a dinner party for some of our diving friends.  I adapted the recipe as the original used coconut milk and one of my guests is allergic to coconut.  I also deleted the lemongrass as I thought that flavor profile was more fitting with the coconut.

It was an elegant, beautiful and delicious first course, especially topped with the smoke trout and fennel ragout.  I was proud to serve it to my friends and pleased when more than one requested seconds.

Whitefish Bisque with Smoked Trout and Fennel Ragout

adapted from Savor Michigan Cookbook, submitted by The Grand Hotel

For the Bisque:

1 T. butter

1/2 an onion, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

2 carrots, scraped and diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 lbs whitefish, cubed

1 c. white wine

8 c. vegetable stock

2 t. dried thyme

5 baby red skin potatoes, scrubbed and diced

salt and pepper, to taste

2 c. heavy cream

For the Ragout:

1 T. olive oil

1/3 c. smoked trout

1 small fennel bulb, diced

1 tomato, diced

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 c. jagermeister liqueur 

1 T. chopped chives

Bisque:

Melt butter in large soup pot over low heat.  Add the onions, celery, carrots and garlic. Sauté until softened and fragrant, 4-5 minutes.  Add the whitefish and sauté a few minutes more.

Add the wine, vegetable stock, thyme, potatoes, salt and pepper and bring to a simmer.  Let cook until reduced by half, 30 minutes or so.  Pour into a heavy duty blender and puree until smooth. 

Return to pan and stir in cream.  Cook gently until heated through. Do not allow to boil.  Garnish individual bowls with Ragout before serving.

Ragout:

Heat olive oil in sauté pan over medium heat.  Add the fennel and cook for 1-2 minutes until softened.  Stir in the tomato, trout, and garlic. Cook for another minute or two then add the liqueur and chives.  Cook and stir for another minute.  Remove from heat and set aside.  Print Recipe

I am sharing this recipe and cookbook review over at Foodies Read.  Check out what the others are reading this month

More Regional/Local Soups

An InLinkz Link-up

Fennel Crab Bisque for #SoupSaturdaySwappers

Hello friends and welcome to Soup Saturday Swappers.  I love making soups and stews. In the winter, I make them for their warm comfort.  In the autumn, I look forward to using the fall harvest. In the spring, I can't wait to use all the fresh flavors popping up with the sunshine and warmer temps and in the summer you can use a slow cooker to keep from warming up the house or enjoy a refreshing, chilled soup.

I invited some of my friends to join me on the third Saturday of each month to share their favorite soup and/or stew recipes based on a theme chosen by one of the members.  So far, over 20 of my blogging friends have joined in the fun. Our friend, Colleen of Faith, Hope, Love & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice, created this image for us to use in our posts.   There is no requirement to post each month or to host if you don't want.  It is just a great place to get together and swap our favorite old and new recipes.  We would love to have you join us if you are a blogger that is interested in posting with us.  You can let me  know in the comments below or email me at wendyklik1517@gmail.com.

I chose to start this group's posts today because we celebrate National Soup Day on January 21st each year.  When January 21st was a Saturday, I decided that this would be the perfect day each month to get together.  The 3rd Saturday of the month is also when I join another group called The French Winophiles so occasionally I will be posting one post to cover both groups which is perfectly okay as well since this is a relaxed and accommodating atmosphere.

I chose the theme of Healthy Soup Options since I know many of us start off the year very conscious of our eating and physical activity.

I decided to share this lovely, elegant Fennel Bisque topped with Crab Meat and Fennel Fronds.  It is creamy, silky and luxurious yet it contains not one ounce of cream or butter and only 1 tablespoon of heart healthy olive oil divided between 8 servings.  I found this recipe at Food&Wine and knew it was perfect for today's challenge.

It is quick and easy to make, taking only as long as necessary for the vegetables to be tender.  A quick puree in a blender or with an immersion blender and it is ready to be plated.  Topped with tender, low fat but high protein crab meat and some fennel fronds, it makes a gorgeous presentation and a great start to your next dinner party.

Fennel Crab Bisque

adapted from  Food & Wine

1 T. olive oil

2 fennel bulbs, halved, cored and chopped with fronds reserved

1 med. sweet onion, coarsely chopped

1 (32 oz) box chicken broth

1 medium, Yukon Gold potato, scrubbed and cut into 1/2" dice

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 lb lump crabmeat, picked over

Heat oil in large sauce pan.  Add the onions and fennel bulb.  Cook and stir over moderate heat until crisp tender, about 5-7 minutes.  Add the chicken stock and potato.  Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until vegetables are very tender.

Using a heavy duty blender or immersion blender, puree the mixture until smooth and silky.  Taste for flavor and season with salt and pepper as needed.  Ladle into bowls and top with a mound of crab. Sprinkle with fennel fronds and serve.

Let's see more Healthy Soup Options

An InLinkz Link-up