Shrimp or Lobster Bisque

[chicgail]

I make great soups, but haven't been able to master shrimp or lobster bisques. I find it hard to create something that is lobster-y enough. The brandy tends to mask the flavor -- maybe I'm using too much -- and I haven't succeeded in creating a bisque with the kind of rich, smooth, almost sensuous texture I'm looking for.

Any hints?

[lexpatti]

I will have to search for my Jasper White's Lobster/Scallop Chowder that I clipped from the Boston Globe - sooo fantastic everytime but I can't find it in any of his books or on-line!!!

[hae young]

how much brandy did you pour in and what was the ratio of lobster or lobster stock to your brandy?

[coll]

The post above says he sautes the lobster shells, pours in brandy and lets it flame off. So there's really no liquid left at that point. The only alcohol that would go in bisque is sherry (I like Amontillado) and that is added at the very end, or even at the table by the diner.

[hae young]

hey do you have french laundry cook book written by tk? he in there made creamy maine lobster broth which i think it is probably the same as lobster bisque.
tk mentioned in page 124 that he steep his lobster (pouring just boiled water into the inside of the pot which lobster sitting in ) for 2 or 3 mins and plus extra 3 mins for the claw with its own shells attached.
he said " do not discard the water" which i thought he was saying the cooking liquid)
but in another page of recipe of the creamy maine lobster broth, he just mentioned 3 lobster bodies left from "steep" ing process.
do you think this recip use its cooking liquid as a base or the cooking liquid is not really necessary leftover to be used in the bisque type of soup?

[hotoynoodle]

i haven't seen the book, but i suggest you use the cooking liquid, not just plain water. you need some kind of stock.

[gperls]

I just made Julia Child's recipe this weekend, and it was very lobster-y tasting. Of course, hers is a multi-step process. I think what contributed most to the flavor was pureeing actual lobster meat into the broth and making the lobster butter out of the shells and adding it to the broth. Also, where she called for clam juice I substituted lobster base.

[hsk]

It works better if you roast the (mostly empty) shrimp or lobster shells in the oven first before you add it to the stock.

[chicgail]

Do you think that any of these recipes would be stable enough to withstand sitting on a very low burner for 4 hours during an open house?

[Davwud]

Probably not. How about a crock pot on low???

DT

[bnemes3343]

Well, since I assume that restaurants don't make this from scratch every time it's ordered, there has to be some way to keep it warm for an extended period...

[chazzerking]

many places use a roux to stabilize the soup and thin it a little as it thickens

[bnemes3343]

Thanks, that's interesting. I've only worked in a 'home' kitchen, and imagine there are lots of interesting things going on in a commercial kitchen (some of which I probably don't want to know about...)

[hotoynoodle]

restaurants generally will use a bain marie to keep soups warm. but something like bisque can be kept cold and reheated to order with no ill effects and no need for roux.

i'm unfamiliar with crockpots and don't know that you can control the heat enough? the bisque can be sturdy but it's not indestructible.

[Paullett]

At restaurants where I have worked they have kept it in a pot or bane with very hot water underneath. Yes, we usually use a roux but mostly to thicken it and give it some body in the mouth feel that is reminiscent of rich cream.

Texture? you need to strain your product through a very fine mesh to get the silky feeling.

[Querencia]

Shrimp Bisque: In saucepan put 2 cups water, bring to boil, dump in 1 pound raw shrimp in shell, bring to boil, remove from burner, let sit covered for two hours. Remove shrimp. Save stock. Shell shrimp. Put through Cuisinart to grind coarsely. Make the bisque using 1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup flour, the shrimp water, and 2 cups milk and/or half-and-half, and the ground shrimp. Thin if necessary to get the consistency you want. Flavor to taste using salt and sherry. Color a faint pink using paprika or a glug of ketchup. Freezes well. I make this a lot. We like it. If I'm doing it wrong, don't tell me.

[bnemes3343]

I will probably give this a try. The recipe I had called for you to actually grind the shrimp shells, then cook them, then try to strain what you ended up with. Way too much work. This sounds fairly straightforward. I assume you make a light roux out of the flour.butter before you add the liquids? I would think it would be good to add a few small cut up shrimp to the finished product as well.

[coll]

I think you're not really supposed to add the meat to these bisques. Although some restaurants will drop a few tidbits on top.

[bnemes3343]

Yes, I was thinking more of a few tidbits at the end.

[starbucksbrew]

I don't care if you're supposed to or not. I would never leave the meat out of mine!

[Densible]

I saw Barefoot Contessa this week make Shrimp Bisque using a very similar method. Looked good to me.

[NYChristopher]

I have made it, it is good:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recip...

If the concern is "not shrimpy enough" you definitely want to cook the shells in the stock.

[bnemes3343]

I have learned over the years that there are some (many, actually) things that I make as good or better than a lot of the restaurants I frequent. (of course, that doesn't keep me away). But my one or two endeavors with seafood bisques have been hell. SOOO many steps, SOOO much time. I have thrown in the towel in favor of a comfortable table and a really great Lobster Bisque brought to me.

Anyway have a good quicke for this?

[Richard 16]

Whenever you cook shrimp, crab, or lobster save the shells and simmer them, then drain and reduce enough to freeze. Reuse that for the next tme you cook. Repeat. Fairly soon you'll have a strong broth with which to make a deep flavored bisque.

[chazzerking]

Sauteeing the shells in a little oil at high temp then adding the brandy, and flaming it off gives an intensity to the base that just cooking the shells in water doesn't come near to.I use quite a bit of cognac, but it doesn't tast of the brandy, just a richness that isn't easy to define. it also intensifies the lobster flavor. if you don't have enough lobster shells, you can augment with shrimp shells without much dropoff in taste

[hae young]

doess your conac have cinanmom and vanila flavour? i found the bsique that was w/o a good amount brandy or sherry wine into that very un-sweet and a bit bitter.
but after i read this OP, i am starting to re-consider whether i add too much brandy into it so masking natural taste of lobster flavour .

[hotoynoodle]

you shouldn't be using flavored cognacs. there is no cinnamon or vanilla in bisque. it's soup, not eggnog. besides reducing the stock, you also need to reduce the cream. i only add the sherry at the very end, and only to taste. add a bit, let it simmer, taste. i prefer sherry in bisques, it has a softer nutty quality that brandy does not.

[hae young]

isnt there already brandy in in sherry wine? once
i tasted dry sherry wine and pour it into the bisque before adding cream. although i cannot diffrentiate those two subtlety, they seemed very simmilar for me.
and in some other's recipe of bisque i have read until, there was incorporation of sherry wine or brandy into the lobster stock much earlier than finish ( at the very end) you mentioned.

[hae young]

and one more question is that even though my description of flavour of brandy types of alcohl is wrong such as cinnammon and vanilla as i said, doesnt it still have high sugary sweetness? dont you think so?

[hotoynoodle]

brandy is hard alcohol, fermented to about 80 proof from mostly neutral flavored grapes, like ugni blanc. sherry is wine, only made in jerez, spain, from grapes specific to sherry (palomino, etc.) and fermented only to about 12-18%. brandy is added to fortify sherry and keep it shelf stable.

my apologies if i misunderstood you. i thought you were using brandy with added flavorings, not that you could get a whiff of vanilla on the nose from the brandy.

the bisque is supposed to very mild in flavor. with the natural briny sweetness of the shellfish, the sweetness of the cream. it's at once a rich yet delicate dish, with a very generous mouthfeel.

alcohol is added only to "round it out". it shouldn't be an obvious part of the flavor profile of the finished dish.

i'm wondering if perhaps you do not normally consume alcohol as a beverage? if that's the case, perhaps make your bisque without.

[hae young]

hey! hotoynoodle.
most recipes of lobster bisque seem to suggest adding brandy in and evaporate all the alchole of it and its liquid in earli stage of making the stock that is before adding any preserved cooking liquid of lobster or heavy cream. so i guess the brandy or wine becomes like some sort of syrupy cosistency after that process.
in my case, i add two cups of dry withe wine in earlier stage just after sauteing or baking the lobster shells with cooking liquids of lobster which i preserved from steaming or lightly boiling it. i also do not evaporate dry wihte wine earlier by high heat. i just pour the 2 cups of wine in with the cooking liquid unlike those of many recips.
so my final lobster stock was made of lobster shells, veggis, canned tomato, tomato paste, and 2 cups of dry withe wine but not brandy or sherry wine yet.
i freezed the stock and re-melted it later when having any plan to make lobster bisque.
after i boiled the stock enough, i pour good amount of brandy or sherry wine.
so i evaporate probably "all" the alchole in the stock and redue it much in voulme and pour heavy cream into that.
it seems some others add littel brandy or cognac at the end , i mean just before serving his or her bisque.
so when it comes to the matter of timing of adding right ingredients i tend to think that it wasnt really a matter if ingredients is anyway the same.
does it really matter when it comes to taste, i guess even thogh the diffrence might be there but would be not much.
what do you think?

[coll]

There shouldn't be any wine at all in your bisque.

If you're going to evaporate the brandy, you do that in the pan BEFORE adding the stock. The sherry you can add at the end, but just a small dash. But one or the other, not both.

[hae young]

because it becomes diffrent taste if i add brandy at its liquid form and not seperately form shells before i evaporating it totally?

[coll]

Yes, brandy is way too strong, if you cook it down it might be OK. I wouldn't use it at all myself. Sherry is nice, but just a tiny bit, and no wine at all definitely. You want to taste the seafood, and not the alcohol.

[hae young]

but if i boil long enough the alchole in the stock, isnt the result same or simmilar?
when you said brandy is too strong, did you mean the alchole of brandy is too strong or sugary sweetness in brandy is too strong? or both ?could you clarify?

[coll]

No you will never get rid of the brandy completely once it's in the stock. You have to cook it first by itself, and hopefully set it on fire (flambe) so all the alchohol disappears. To me brandy has a strong heavy flavor, while sherry is light and sweet. I use sherry a lot in cooking, but brandy I save for eggnog.

[hae young]

hey! coll.
how about this.
i have frozen 1 quart of lobster stock in freezer.
and this time i only have spain made brandy. actually i am hesitataing whether i should add it or not.
but if have to add then, i think i should pour little amount of brandy in my pot and then evaporating its liquid completely and seperately w/o making any flame because i live in a apartment.i once tried it with cognac. i felt a little danger and embarasment. then i think should add the little amount of syrupy brandy into the re-boiled stock.

[hotoynoodle]

i would not use brandy in bisque. if you insist, i would not reduce it to syrup. 1 quart of stock is a very small amount, if you're adding any alcohol, do so in tiny increments. like spoonsful, not by the cup.

[hotoynoodle]

brandy is strong in alcohol and strong in flavor. it's not something i would use in bisque, and i certainly would not waste money putting cognac in there. most definitely there should not be wine and brandy in your bisque. no wine in bisque at all. i don't worry so much about evaporating the alcohol, but spirits all have different flavors. they're not interchangeable, and bisque isn't a boozy tasting dish.

i don't know what recipe you are using, but it's a dish of very few and simple ingredients. roasted shells, water or stock, some tomato products and aromatics, like carrots, thyme, leek, a few bay leaves. cook that. strain. add cream. cook and reduce. that's when i now add the sherry, salt and pepper. taste and add til it i like it. that's it.

[Densible]

Do you add the lobster or shrimp shells to the stock?
Assume you use heavy cream and lots of it?

[Davwud]

If so, have you tried reducing the stock to concentrate the flavour??

DT