Dungeness Crab Bisque with Cognac

We're right in the middle of Dungeness Crab season here in the San Francisco Bay Area. Such a treat!  

Alex (my US Navy son) was here on Veterans Day Weekend and was invited to go crabbing with a bunch of his military fishing buddies. What a great time they all had! Chartering a boat out of Berkley Harbor, they dropped the crab nets out close to the Farallon Islands and managed to easily come home with 10 big Dungeness for each of them. (Lucky us!)

While Alex was here for the holiday weekend, we stuffed ourselves with fresh cracked crab with lemon-butter sauce, and pesto aioli. Of course, we had to have some famous San Francisco sour dough bread too.  

Tom and Alex even made a fabulous seafood Paella on our grill, but that's another story for a different day... 

But, I did manage to save two crabs in the freezer, and was just waiting until I had some extra time to make dinner an occasion.  This past weekend, while Tom watched the San Francisco 49rs play in the Wildcard Playoff Game, I found my Craving for Crab Cookbook, written by my friend Christine Quinn, and thought I would give her Dungeness Crab Bisque Recipe a whirl. It seemed like the ideal recipe to use with crab that had been frozen!

What can I say?  This elegant, classic soup is beyond delicious! 

Adapted from Craving for Crab - Here's what you will need:

• 4 Tablespoons of Butter (use unsalted so that you can add salt to taste)
• 1/2 Cup Chopped Shallots
• 2 Minced Garlic Clves
• 2 Tablespoons Flour
• 2 Cups Chicken Stock
• 1 Cup Heavy Cream
• 2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste (I like to keep the "tube" kind handy in my frig)
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 tsp. dried tarragon
• 1/8 ground cayenne pepper (or to taste if you like it a little "hotter")
• 1/4 tsp. smoky Spanish Paprika
• 1/4 cup Cognac
• 2 Cups Crabmeat

Garnish:

• Sour Cream
• Smoked Spanish Paprika

1.  Melt the butter in a large deep saucepan over medium-high heat until it foams, then add the shallots. Stir the sautéing shallots and then cover the pan. Reducing the heat to low, cook for three minutes. Then add garlic - cook for 2 more minutes. Then add your flour. Whisk it all in, continuing to cook for about 3 minutes with the shallots and garlic.

2. Slowly add the chicken stock and cream. Stir well, then add the tomato paste, bay leaf, tarragon, salt, cayenne pepper, and paprika.

3. Return the soup to medium-high heat and stir until it boils. Reduce the heat to simmer, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes. Add cognac (do not skip!) and crab meat. Make sure to reserve a little crab meat to use for garnishing too!

4. Cook for 10 more minutes on low-simmer

5. Serve in large bowls. I personally like using pasta bowls - they look a little more appropriate for a dinner meal! Garnish by adding a spoonful of sour cream in the center, pile on a few crab chunks then finish with a final dusting of smoky Spanish Paprika. 

Serve with a green salad, garlic toasts and a buttery Chardonnay and you will instantly impress your guests (or your significant other!) with your gourmet skills. 

Enjoy!  

BTW - Lots of new fabulous Blue Crab Bay Stoneware pieces are now available on our site! Come take a look! 

Weekend Crab and Artichoke Bisque

Last weekend we took my parents for a afternoon drive to  the Big Sur coastline (Stunning!). On our way back, my dad insisted that we make a quick pit stop at Pezzini's.  Pezzini's is a farm stand just off Hwy 101 between Monterey and Castroville, but it is not quite your average roadside farm stand.  Monterey County can claim fame to the artichoke, "The Official Vegetable of Monterey County - and believe me Pezzini's has every size and shape available!

So of course, we had to bring home a bag full of these beautiful spring beauties, and a new California Artichoke Recipe Book.  Now, what do make out of them?

Ah ha! Crab Bisque is on the menu for this weekend!

Step 1 - prepare the artichokes

Use large artichokes - pull off the lower outer leaves of the artichokes. Cut the stem to 1 inch or less.  I like to either steam or boil artichokes, and avoid the microwave as I am definitely not a great microwave chef.

For Boiling:

Use a deep saucepan or pot, stand the artichokes in 3 inches of water.  Cover and simmer 25-40 minutes depending on the size, or until the leaf near the center pulls out easily.

For Steaming:
Similar to boiling. Just use a rack over boiling water, cover and steam for 25-40 minutes.  This way your artichokes do not get waterlogged, and the taste is preserved better.

Now for the Crab Bisque*:

6 large prepared artichokes
6 cups of vegetable broth
2  cups cleaned crab (we like dungeness!)
1/3 cup chopped green onions
1/2 Yellow Onion - chopped and minced
2 cups heavy cream
2/3 cup flour
2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1 pound small whole carrots - chopped small
salt
pepper


Artichokes: Scrape meat from artichoke leaves, reserve the meat. Remove and discard fuzzy centers. Place  cooked artichoke bottoms and reserved meat from leaves in blender, process until smooth. Heat broth to boiling, then add green onions, onions, carrots, salt and pepper and cook until veggies are tender.  Add artichoke puree and crab meat. Cook five minutes.

Add cream to flour and blend; beat in egg yolks. Stir cream mixture into artichoke mixture and cook over low heat, stirring constantly until thickened.

Makes 10 to 12  servings.
*recipe adapted from the California Artichoke Recipe Book

Quite the feast!  Serve in pretty crab-themed dinnerware and now you have a party-

Abbiamo Tutto Crab Large Pasta or Soup Bowls (we love these!)

Blue Crab Soup Bowls -  hand painted in Italy

Don't forget the glasses for Wine!

New - Cast of Crabs

Have a wonderful weekend!  Not sure where we're headed for our next adventure - but here's a few glimpses from last weekend along the Big Sur Coast.

We simply love this stretch of the California coast - could go every single weekend....