So it snowed…yesterday…again. So we made soup…yesterday…again. It was so worth this snow for the soup let me just tell you. Every time I here “bisque” I think of that episode from Seinfeld when Elaine…oh you know the one. I don’t need to get down to the nitty gritty. We were just hankering for some seafood this past week and because of the white stuff falling from the sky we decided to make it a seafood bisque. It’s kind of like a transition soup that has you going from Winter into Spring don’t you think? You still get that hearty, soup feeling that you want with those cold winter months, but then you get that fresh seafood taste that you yearn for in the summer time. It’s a win win in my book! Which is why I thought it was totally ok to make soup in May. I just hope I didn’t jinx us for all eternity. If it snows next week, then we all know why.
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We’re calling this dish a seafood bisque/chowder/soup because Zach and I had a discussion last night on whether this was a chowder or a bisque. To be honest with you, I can’t tell the difference. As I was wikipediaing this dilemma, I found that the two of them are both much of the same except that chowders tend to be chunky and bisques tend to be creamy (pureed in a blender, if that makes sense). So if we are going on definition terms then this is a chowder, yet I’m still calling it a bisque because I really just like the word.
Anyway, let’s talk good beer. We are on a Great Divide kick. Zach brought home a glorious 12 pack one day and we’ve been hooked ever since. We still have yet to travel to this brewery, even though it’s 10 miles down the road. I know we are slackers. One of these days, but they still brew superb beer…even in bottle form. We chose to pair this with Great Divide’s Rye Lager: Hoss. We were stumped with this beer pairing. We had no idea what to pair it with. When I think of seafood, I think of white wine so the most logical route would have been to go with something aged in white wine barrels. Unfortunately for us we didn’t have any bottles of beer that have been aged in white wine barrels laying around which is strange because we usually do. This beer was a great substitute though and a great beer just all together. It’s a very rich, malty beer and was perfect on a cold night. It was a great addition to this meal.
There are a lot of steps to this bisque/chowder/soup. Keep close attention!
You will start with your mushroom base (or as I like to call it: homemade condensed cream of mushroom soup)
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Cut your veggies.
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Saute your veggies in olive oil over medium heat.
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Aren’t they just adorable once they are all tender and juicy.
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In another cooking vessel (aka your saucepan), melt the butter. Ohhhhh…Buttteeeerrrrr.
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Whisk in the flour to form a roux.
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Allow the flour to “disappear” and add the half and half, broth and mushroom mixture. Season with salt and pepper, and stir to combine!
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Bring the sauce to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cook for 3/4 minutes. Once thickened…remove remove remove from the heat! This bad boy can go from thin to a clump of goo in a matter of seconds!
Ta-da!
You will literally do the same…exact…thing for the celery base EXCEPT you will use celery instead of the mushrooms, but I didn’t need to tell you that did I?
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This is how your celery base will look when all is said and done.
Ta-da!
So onto the seafood bisque/chowder/soup. This soup would be super easy if there weren’t so many steps involved, but I promise it’s so worth it.
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Cut some more veggies…seems like the story of our lives today.
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Anyway, melt the butter over medium heat in a dutch oven. I used a cast iron, because they’re the best. I don’t think I need any more reason than that.
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Add the celery and onion and season with salt and pepper. Don’t forget the garlic! (sounds a bit repetitive … I’m sorry)
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Add your liquids…all of them, and don’t skimp. Season with salt and pepper. This soup loves it’s salt and pepper! Add the tomato paste and stir to get rid of the “clumps.”
Bring the soup to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
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This stuff brings meaning into my life.
Now you will prepare your seafood, less the crab.
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Heat the olive oil in a saute pan and add the bay scallops and shrimp (this may be done in batches depending on how large your pan is…and if you don’t have a pan the size of North America, then you will DEFINITELY need to do this in two batches). Cook for 3/4 minutes or until fully cooked. Doesn’t take long!
Remove from the heat and transfer immediately to the soup using a serrated spoon. Add the crab meat and stir to combine. Season some more if you love salt…like I do.
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Let it thicken then serve!
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Top with all the deliciousness that comes with bacon, parsley and oyster cracker! Yum Yum!
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If you would like to make your life a heck of a lot easier then just print the recipe below =)
Happy Thursday!
Ingredients
- FOR THE MUSHROOM BASE
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 cup white button mushrooms, sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 3/4 cups half and half
- 1 3/4 cups vegetable broth
- FOR THE CELERY BASE
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 yellow onion, diced
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter (1/2 stick)
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup half and half
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- FOR THE SEAFOOD BISQUE
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 4 cloves of garlic, finely minced
- 20 ounces mushroom base
- 10 ounces celery base
- 2 cups milk
- 1/2 cup vegetable broth
- 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon sriracha
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 pound shrimp, deveined and cleaned
- 1/2 pound bay scallops
- 1/2 pound crab meat
- 4 strips thick cut bacon, fully cooked and chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
Instructions
- For the mushroom base, in a saute pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and the mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper and cook until tender, about 6-8 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for another minute. Remove from heat and set aside. In a saucepan, melt the butter. Once melted, whisk in the flour to form a roux. Cook for 3-4 minutes, or until all of the flour has "disappeared." Add the half and half, broth and your mushroom mixture to the saucepan. Season with a dash more salt and pepper and stir to combine. Bring the sauce to a boil then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 3-4 more minutes or until the sauce has thickened and reached your desired consistency. Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl to cool.
- You will follow the same steps for the celery base, but substituting in the diced celery for mushrooms. In a saute pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and the celery. Season with salt and pepper and cook until tender, about 6-8 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for another minute. Remove from heat and set aside. In a saucepan, melt the butter. Once melted, whisk in the flour to form a roux. Cook for 3-4 minutes, or until all of the flour has "disappeared." Add the half and half, broth and your celery mixture to the saucepan. Season with a dash more salt and pepper and stir to combine. Bring the sauce to a boil then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 3-4 more minutes or until the sauce has thickened and reached your desired consistency. Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl to cool.
- For the seafood bisque, in a dutch oven over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the onion and celery. Season with salt and pepper and cook until tender, about 6-8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
- Now add your liquid ingredients: mushroom base, celery base, milk, vegetable broth, worcestershire sauce, and sriracha. Season again with salt and pepper and stir to combine. Add the tomato paste and stir to combine until there are no clumps left. Bring the soup to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare your seafood. In a saute pan, heat the olive oil. Add the bay scallops and shrimp (this may need to be done in batches depending on how large your pan is). Cook for 3-4 minutes or until fully cooked. Remove from heat and transfer immediately to the soup using a serrated spoon. At this point, also add the crab meat. Stir to combine and add more salt and pepper if needed. Simmer for 20-25 minutes or until the soup has thickened slightly and the flavors have melded.
- Top with the chopped bacon and parsley and serve with oyster crackers. Enjoy!
Notes
Hardware: * Saute Pans * Sauce Pans * Dutch Oven * Wooden Spoons * Sharp Knife * Cutting Board * Whisk * Bowls *
