With the following changes, you'll never want for another seafood bisque recipe! I used just 8 oz chicken broth and for the remaining liquid I reserved the juice from the lobster and added clam juice to make up the difference. I then whisked in 3oz tomato paste and put it all in the soup. I used 1/4 c white wine (instead of 1/2c) and 1/4c sherry. It was ABSOLUTELY incredible! *Works well with crab as well or a lobster/crab combo.*
I've used this recipe with some modifications based on all of the reader reviews & it always comes out great. I use my hand blender to blend the vegetables & seafood because I found that transferring to the countertop blender was too messy. Also I add clam juice instead of broth as it gives it more of a seafood flavor and I skip the wine. I also use just celery & onions and not the carrots & mushrooms. I also use imitation crab & lobster meat sometimes or throw in scallops and/or shrimp. The base is excellent and the cayenne pepper gives it just enough kick! I forgot to mention that I also add a small can of tomato paste and blend it with the vegetables and broth/clam juice. It helps thicken the bisque a bit and also gives it more flavor and color.
ORIGINAL REVIEW 1/3/05---I didn't add all the veggies to mine. I doubled the amount of onions & celery & omitted the carrots & mushrooms. I decreased the butter by 1 tbp. to account for the lack of veggies. The wine sauce was a bit strong (I used a good chardonnay)...next time I will use just a bit less wine. All in all, very very good! UPDATE 7/24/06---Made this again using all the veggies & using leftover lobster tails (we purposely made extra for this recipe) & this time I simmered the lobster tails (I removed the meat) in the soup & then removed them before serving. WOW! It added such great flavor!!!! Also, this time I used a pinot grigio & even added a bit extra & the wine taste wasn't overpowering at all.
While this wasn't too bad, it just didn't measure up without additions. It didn't thicken up enough to please us! I added a tablespoon of tomato paste, and thickened it at the end with flour mixed with heavy cream. Also added additional lobster meat at the end.
This recipie was awesome. Thanks Laura. I used 12oz of crawfish meat in place of the Lobster and it turned out really good. I also used some corn startch to thicken it. We had high expectations and they were met!!!! Yummy!!! I will definatly make this again...and again..and again!!!!
I love this recipe! My husband said it's better than what he has had at restaurants. I have already made this several times and will pull out this recipe when I want to make it a very special dinner. I've even made it once without the mushrooms and it was still excellent.
Very good. Try Dry Sherry instead of wine! Dry Sherry was made to go with seafood dishes. will make this again!
This bisque is soooooo good. Just like at my favorite restaurant. Simple to prepare.
This is the best soup I've ever made. Very easy and wouldn't change a thing. It's not a very thick bisque but has incredible flavor. I used crab meat instead of lobster and it was great!!
