Bisques

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •6-quart heavy saucepan
• •Digital kitchen scale
• •Potato masher
• •Countertop blender with removable center cap
• •Coarse strainer
• •Fine-mesh sieve or chinois
• •2-quart measuring jug
• •Small skillet

Instructions

1. 1

   Reserve the garnish

   Peel the shrimp over a bowl so every drop of their juices is saved, keeping all the heads and shells. Measure 6 ounces (170 g) of the peeled meat, cut it into small dice, cover, and refrigerate it for the garnish. Keep the remaining meat with the shells. Reserve this portion now, as the source directs; once the rest has been crushed into the soup, there is no garnish to recover.

2. 2

   Build the shell fond

   Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a heavy 6-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the remaining shrimp meat, heads, shells, and captured juices, then cook until their moisture evaporates and the shells turn deep coral. Add the Mirepoix (No. 228) and continue cooking for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring and pressing the shells against the pot, until a chestnut-colored fond, the browned film on the pot floor, forms beneath them. If that fond threatens to blacken, lower the heat and loosen the dark brown patches with a spoonful of the measured water. Brown is flavor; black is bitterness and cannot be disguised.

   The kitchen should smell of roasted shellfish before any water enters the pot. If it still smells merely boiled or briny, give the shells another minute.
3. 3

   Cook the rice

   Stir in the rice and coat every grain in the buttery shell mixture for 1 minute. Add the water gradually, scraping up every trace of fond, then bring the pot just to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 35 to 40 minutes, stirring across the bottom occasionally, until the rice crushes easily between two fingers and the liquid tastes intensely of shellfish. A hard boil drives away aroma and throws shell fragments against the sides; keep the surface at a steady tremble.

4. 4

   Crush, blend, strain

   Crush the shells and heads firmly with a potato masher while they remain in the liquid. Working in small batches, never filling the blender more than one-third full, blend the mixture with the center cap removed and a folded towel held over the opening so pressure can escape safely. Pass it first through a coarse strainer, then through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing the rice and liquid through with a ladle but leaving the dry shell chaff behind. If the soup feels gritty on the tongue, don’t serve it and hope nobody notices. Ça se rattrape: dampen a clean fine sieve and pass the soup once more without forcing through the last dry spoonful.

5. 5

   Set the cullis

   Return the cullis, the strained shellfish purée, to the clean saucepan and measure its volume. Simmer gently if you have more than 7 cups (1.65 L), or add enough hot water to reach that amount if you have less. Stir in 1½ teaspoons of the salt and all the white pepper, then simmer for 8 minutes, stirring often, until the bisque coats a spoon in a light, even layer. Rice continues tightening as it stands, so keep it flowing rather than pasty.

6. 6

   Cook the reserved dice

   Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the reserved diced shrimp with a pinch of the remaining salt and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, turning gently, just until the pieces become opaque and firm at their edges. Lift them out at once. They will warm again in the bowl, and cooking them hard now would turn the garnish rubbery.

7. 7

   Montez au beurre

   Stir the cream into the cullis and warm it to the barest tremble. Taste and use the remaining salt as needed, then take the pot completely off the heat. Montez au beurre (mount with butter) by whisking in the final 2 tablespoons of cold butter, a small piece at a time, until the surface gleams and the bisque feels silky on the tongue. Do not boil it after this point. If butter gathers in separate beads, the soup became too hot; take it off the stove and whisk in a tablespoon of cold cream until the emulsion returns.

8. 8

   Garnish and serve

   Warm the soup plates, divide the reserved shrimp dice among them, and ladle the bisque around the garnish so the pieces remain distinct. Serve small, generous bowls while the surface still carries its butter sheen. The soup needs no herb confetti and no decoration beyond the shellfish it was made from. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Head-on shrimp give the fullest bisque because the heads hold much of the sweet shellfish flavor. Good frozen shrimp are an honest choice; thaw them slowly in the refrigerator and keep every drop of their juices.
• •The six ounces of rice are not an estimate. They preserve the source ratio of three ounces for each pound of shellfish. Cream finishes the soup, but the rice and crushed shells give it body.
• •A countertop blender handles softened shrimp shells more evenly than an immersion blender. Work in small batches and vent the lid carefully because trapped pressure in a full jar is dangerous.
• •Serve about one cup per person as a first course. A dry, mineral white wine has enough freshness for the cream and enough restraint to leave the shellfish in command.
• •If the bisque thickens while waiting, loosen it with hot water a spoonful at a time. Never apologize for the adjustment; proper consistency matters more than pretending the pot has not changed.

Advance Preparation

• •The bisque can be prepared through the strained cullis a day ahead. Cool it promptly in a shallow container, cover, and refrigerate it; keep the reserved shrimp meat separately chilled.
• •For a dinner party, reheat the cullis gently, cook the garnish, and add the cream and final butter shortly before serving. The finished emulsion should not be held at a simmer.
• •The strained, cream-free cullis can be frozen for up to one month. Thaw it in the refrigerator, bring it back to a gentle simmer, correct the consistency, and finish with cream and butter.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 240g)