Loved this recipe! I changed a couple of things, used fresh basil instead of dried, added chopped onion and garlic, spooned in tomato paste to kick up the color and add a little thickener, bought canned roasted red peppers (way easier), and added a splash of sherry in the bowl before spooning in the soup. Superb!
I LOVE this soup! I like a little more texture, so I added sauteed onion and celery and left about 2 1/2 peppers unblended. I skipped the 1/2 & 1/2 and topped this with whipped cream and chopped flat-leaf. Soooo good. I can't wait for crab to be in season so I can use big chunks of Dungeness, instead of the flake white crab meat (which was lovely, but not the same...). Thanks for the recipe - a definite keeper!
I made this recipe for a mid-winter dinner party. It was exceptional! I prepared the soup (everything except the crab) the day before. Peeling the red peppers was easy enough, but it was still quite tedious and took about 40 minutes to do. I found that the places where the skin was blackened peeled very easily; the places where the pepper pieces didn't lie flat did not blacken and so did not peel as easily. I used only 1/2 tsp salt, deciding to let the guests add more if they wished. I used the full 1/4 tsp of cayenne knowing that our friends don't mind spicyness. When I tasted it, it was quite spicy, but not overly. I refrigerated the soup overnight. I added the crab when starting to reheat the soup about 30 minutes prior to serving. The cayenne had mellowed overnight. The soup's flavour was absolutely lovely. It was worth all the effort. Thanks.
This is an okay average tasting soup that on its face might be worthy of three stars. However when you consider the effort involved (I not only roasted the peppers but made my own chicken broth as well) and the expense (crab meat is not cheap particularly the jumbo lump crab I used) hubs and I both agree this is a mediocre soup boring bland and uninspired. Sherry might have been a nice addition as well as maybe starting this off by sauteeing the "holy trinity" of carrots onions and celery. Fish stock or clam juice could be used as well and would have complemented the crab. It definitely needs more depth and rounded out flavors. As is it basically tasted no more than what it was - pureed roasted peppers and half and half with some crab meat thrown in at the end.
This is a good substitute for the lobster bisque I crave from my favorite restaurant. I used imitation lobster since I didn't have any real crab or other seafood in my house and I was looking for a good dish to warm up for dinner after class tomorrow. I also used evaported skim milk instead of the cream and it was just as good (much less fat). Very tasty!
excellent-- used fresh garlic and basil and-whipping cream also added a few shrimp
Very good soup. This method of roasting the red peppers is so much easier/quicker than doing them whole. I will use this method from now on. I used 3 cans of evaporated milk in lieu of the half-n-half. It's a very rich soup and with the cost of crab a very expensive soup so I won't be making it often but it's a great recipe to file under "dinner party".
I used fresh garlic and basil but otherwise followed the recipe...It's even better the next day! Just the right amount of heat. I think I'll try it without the crab for a soup and sandwich night...
This was wonderful! My husband was skeptical when I first told him I was going to make it but he loved it so much that he told me he would never doubt my judegment again. I think next time I'm going to try it with bacon instead of crab since I'm not too crazy about crab. The presentation is beautiful especially with a little parsley on top and I can't wait to make it for my next dinner party. Thanks so much for the recipe!
