T Pittaris Crab Bisque Recipe 455

Steps:

• Remove the claws from the crabs and quarter the bodies. Heat a 6-quart stockpot. Add the oil and saute the crab pieces until they are red. Remove the pieces as they are cooked. Add the carrot, celery, tomatoes, garlic, shallots, and tarragon and continue to saute for 10 minutes. Pour in the cognac and ignite. When the flame has subsided, deglaze with white wine, and add the tomato paste, crab, and enough fish stock to cover. Season with salt, pepper, cayenne, thyme, and bay leaf and boil gently for 15 minutes.
• In a small saucepan, reduce the cream by half. Remove the crab bodies from the pot and set aside. Add the reduced cream to the soup. Puree the soup, in batches, in a food processor. Strain the pureed soup and keep warm.
• Remove the meat from the claws and cut into bite-size pieces and add to the soup. Season with lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Serve in heated soup bowls and garnish with minced chives or parsley.

Steps:

• Put shells into food processor and grind 10 seconds. Scrape into a saucepan with bay leaf and water. Bring to a boil, then lower to simmer. After 45 minutes, strain into a clean large saucepan. Reserve 1/2 cup for boulettes. Bring remaining stock to a simmer. In a saucepan, make a roux, stirring constantly, with flour and vegetable oil. When it's a medium-dark, old-penny color, remove pan from heat and add onions, bell pepper, garlic and parsley. Cook, stirring until vegetables soften. Stir in tomato sauce, salt, cayenne and about 1/2 cup crab stock. Stir until crab stock disappears. Add roux mixture to the simmering crab stock. Whisk until blended. Cover pan and keep on lowest heat setting. Make boulettes: In a large skillet over medium heat, heat 3 tablespoons butter until bubbling. Add onions, celery, bell pepper and garlic; cook until vegetables soften. Stir in Worcestershire, peppers, salt, thyme and lemon juice. Cook, stirring, until ingredients are combined. Wet bread cubes with reserved crab stock. Add them and half reserved crabmeat to the pan. Stir until well-mixed and the mixture looks noticeably drier. Lower heat and cool 5 minutes. Stir green onions and parsley into crabmeat mixture. With a round soup spoon, scoop balls of the crabmeat mixture about 1 inch in diameter. Roll gently with hands to make them uniform. Heat 3 tablespoons butter in a skillet over medium heat until it bubbles. Add crab balls, a few at a time, and roll them around until browned all over. (Or bake about 15 minutes in a 375-degree oven.) Check seasoning of the crab bisque and add salt, pepper or Tabasco to taste. Add reserved crabmeat. Let it simmer 1 or 2 more minutes, then ladle bisque into bowls or cups. Drop 1 or 2 crab boulettes into each bowl at the table. Email Add Your Comment Sign in with your NOLA.com or Facebook account Sort By: Most RecentPopular NowMost LikesOldest First 0 comments so far Pause Live Updates » There are no comments on this story yet. Sponsored By: Most Comments Most Read 518 "People died, Hillary lied," after hearings?: James Varney/Wednesday chat 487 Benghazi probe stokes political controversy 182 Healthy Mark Ingram is poised to have best season yet with New Orleans Saints 104 Live updates from Jefferson Parish Council emergency meeting on utility taxes 95 In Briana Allen killing, prosecutors unleash major racketeering indictment See more comments »

Steps:

• Crabs: Preheat oven to 425 F. Place crabs on a roasting pan and bake in the oven about 30 minutes, until deep red and slightly browned. In a stockpot set over medium heat, add olive oil and roasted crabs, breaking them up with a wooden spoon as they cook, 5 minutes. Add onion, bell pepper, and celery (the "holy trinity" of Cajun cooking) and stir, cooking just till the vegetables soften, 5 minutes.
• Stock: Add wine and stir to deglaze the pan. Turn heat to high and cook 6-8 minutes, until the wine has nearly evaporated. Add tomato paste and water. Stir, bring to a boil, then reduce to low heat. Cover and simmer, 45 minutes.
• Bisque: Remove the crab shells from the stock and discard. (If you miss a couple small pieces of shell, don't worry: they'll get strained out later.) Ladle the stock into the blender, then add the juice of half a lemon and ¾ cup bread cubes. Season with a big pinch of salt and a small pinch of pepper. Cover and let sit so the bread can absorb some of the liquid, 30-60 seconds. Blend on low speed (to avoid splattering hot liquid) for 30 seconds. As the soup blends, turn to high to emulsify, 1 more minute. Taste to adjust for seasoning and texture-the soup should coat the back of a spoon. Add remaining bread, small pinches of salt and pepper, and blend on high to further thicken and emulsify, 1½ more minutes. Taste again for seasoning, then strain through a chinois to remove any small shell pieces, using the back of a ladle to push the soup through into a bowl.
• Assembly: Ladle bisque into individual serving bowls. Chop chives into ½-inch lengths (you should have about a ½ cup total). Garnish each bowl with crab meat and chives. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• In a large saucepan over medium heat, saute celery and onion in butter until tender. Stir in flour until blended; gradually add milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. , Stir in the bouillon, cream, crab, mushrooms, basil, garlic powder, 1/4 teaspoon Creole seasoning and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring frequently. Season to taste with remaining Creole seasoning and pepper if desired.

Steps:

• If using live crabs, add to pot of boiling water using tongs. Cover pot and cook over high heat until crab shells are red, 5 to 6 minutes. Drain crabs in a colander.
• Put crabs (cooked or frozen uncooked) into a large metal roasting pan. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and pound shells with meat pounder to crush (including claws).
• Heat butter and oil in same pot over medium-high heat until foam subsides, then cook onion, carrot, celery, and garlic with bay leaf, thyme, clove, peppercorns, and 1/2 teaspoon salt, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add Cognac, wine, and crushed crabs and bring to a boil. Add broth and water and return to a boil. Skim foam, then simmer, covered, stirring and skimming occasionally, 1 hour.
• Put colander in a large bowl, then drain crab broth, reserving solids for crab butter (if making). Transfer broth to a medium saucepan.
• Ladle out 2 cups broth and transfer to a 1-quart saucepan. Add rice and simmer, covered, until very tender, 15 to 20 minutes (not all of liquid will be absorbed).
• Blend together rice with cooking liquid and 1 cup more crab broth in a blender until smooth (use caution when blending hot liquids), then add to remaining broth in medium saucepan.
• Just before serving, reheat bisque over medium heat until hot, then stir in tarragon, lemon juice, cayenne, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.
• Ladle bisque into bowls and spoon a little crabmeat into center, then drizzle with some of crab butter (if making).

Steps:

• Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium-high heat.
• Add vegetables and saute until soft, about 8 minutes; do not brown.
• Reduce heat to medium and add flour, whisking constantly until smooth.
• Cook 5 minutes, whisking frequently.
• Stir in parsley and seasonings.
• Gradually add milk, stirring constantly.
• Add Mareira, crab and salt to taste and simmer 15 to 20 minutes; do not boil.
• If bisque is thicker than desired, stir in a little milk to thin; serve hot.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375°F. Spray 12 regular-size muffin cups with cooking spray.
• In small bowl, mix crabmeat and 1/2 teaspoon seafood seasoning; set aside. In 10-inch skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat until hot. Cook onion and bell peppers in oil 4 minutes, stirring frequently. Add crabmeat mixture, stirring until mixture is heated through. Cool 5 minutes; stir in cheese.
• In medium bowl, stir baking mixture ingredients with whisk or fork until blended. Spoon 1 scant tablespoon baking mixture into each muffin cup. Top with about 1/4 cup crab mixture. Spoon 1 tablespoon baking mixture onto crab mixture in each muffin cup.
• Bake about 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean and tops are golden brown. Cool 5 minutes. With thin knife, loosen sides of pies from pan; remove from pan and place top sides up on cooling rack. Cool 10 minutes longer.
• While crab cake pies are cooling, in medium bowl, mix aioli ingredients. Serve each mini pie topped with generous tablespoonful of aioli.