I need a good recipe. With the runup to newyears and all that seafood in stores, I've had a craving for a good bisque.

Any recomendations for a good white wine for the bisque (to put in). Will this benefit from a sweet wine like a good riesling or am I better off with something else?

Edit: off to find some fish heads for the broth... ::yukky face::

I would imagine this would go with lobster as well, but I know its a near religious experience with crab as written.

Don't use fish heads, use the rest of the lobster for your stock...

wine rec coming later.

Scott

Here is a dynamite recipe for lobster bisque. This is a classical French bistro recipe - as close as it gets unless you want to travel to France. If you want to substitute wine for Cognac, a Ontario riesling (Cave Spring) would work wonderfully. If you have any questions I would be more than happy to help you through the process.

3 2lb lobsters
3 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, sliced
2 leeks, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
1 tbsp tomato paste
1/4 Cognac
6 cups of water
1 bouquet garni (bundle of parsley, thyme and a few bay leaves)
salt and pepper
2 cups heavy cream
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tbsp chopped chives

Damn you Fredk, now I am hungry. The closest thing I might have to seafood around here is a few cans of Escargot..lol. Actually a few different takes on Escargot would be a great app for New Years Eve.

So now we know Fake Street isn't on the shore!

LOL! Can't get fresh local Lobster thats for sure. Has to come from Eastern Canada, but when in season fresh local Perch.

So if I choose a giant bottle, everyone will get loaded, right?

And thats the point . Should be 1/4 cup Cognac. 3/4 cup for the cook.

Then I'll pile it on. I'm munching on fresh French bred and a very nice tripple cream brie as I read.

I can't believe I didn't think of this before. ::consults Joy of Cooking::

The fish stock will be replaced by fish fumet.

You can also just use the lobster shells to make the stock for the bisque. If you have a local fishmonger, that would be the best place to get the fish bones, fish heads, shells and other scraps that would make a wonderful fish stock.

Due to unforseen circumstances, no fishy bits. The only ones I could find were at a local Asian store and I had no idea what the fish was or how mild it was (recipies call for mild fish).

Traditional recipies call for both fishy bit stock and lobster shell/bit stock. I'll make due with the lobster bits.

For a wine I chose an Ontario Beamsville Bench (an area) 2006 Chardonnay from Cave Spring Vineyard. I don't have all the fancy words to describe it so I'll stick with very, very tasty!
OK, I'll try a little better. It has fruity overtones, a classical Chardonnay flavour and what I think is described as a smoothe buttery finish. Yummy. I was only planning on having a little before dinner, but am through my first glass already.

Make sure to roast the shells (lobster, shrimp or whatever you have) in a hot oven (400 degrees) or in a hot pan with a bit of olive until the shells turn bright red all over before you make the actual stock. Cave Spring makes some really nice whites. Enjoy!

I had never heard of Cave Spring. I'm impressed. And the bottle is almost empty...

Instead of cooked lobster, I think you'll end up with glazed Fred.

Here's an rather complex recipe straight from a tiny island where the population is only 140,000 but Lobster brings in an annual landed value of 105 million.

1. 1 large pot,
2. less than a 1/4 of a pot of freshly collected sea water.
3. as many lobster as will fit in the pot.
4. someone to go fetch a larger pot

OK, it's not a bisque but around here, bisque is for tourists. ...snicker...

Several years ago, I knew some people from out East(living in Ont though), once in a while they'd make some Lobster Chowder, OH-EM-GEE was it ever good.

Oh Yes, Chowder. That's an entirely different thing. heh heh heh.
Family chowder recipes are like a coat of arms around these parts. Probably comparable to the family feuds over barbecue recipes in the southern states.

And yes I realize it's almost the same thing. In fact, one seaside restaurant which I used to love had menu items that looked something like this.

Seafood Bisque:
A delightfully creamy seafood melody of lobster, clams, scallops, and two varieties of the freshest, white fish of the day.....................$850.00

Seafood Chowder:
A delightfully creamy seafood melody of lobster, clams, scallops, and two varieties of the freshest, white fish of the day.....................$8.50


My understanding that is with a bisque you puree the vegetables while with a chowder, they are left cut into chunks. Oh and lets not forget the most essential chowder ingredient of all (after seafood), "bacon". Still, it was always fun to hear somebody new read the menu out loud and get puzzled by the two items until the waitress would have to explain that it was a joke.

In my experience, a bisque is usually reddish and smooth (probably due to tomato), while a chowder is whitish and chunky.

Agreed. Although I had a green bisque once. I had to keep telling myself that it tasted better than it looked. Even more memorable was the first time my wife and I experienced a red bisque. It was enjoyable but lacked much flavor except the vegetable. but I'll never forget that after the dinner party, my wife asked me why anyone would go to all the trouble of heating up their V8.

I guess it is all of this that accumulated into an irresistible urge to cut into this post and make fun of bisques. No offense intended.

There are two types of traditional chowders, one is cream based (white) and the other tomato based(red/manhattan).

"New England clam chowder? Is that the red or the white?"
(its great obtaining culinary knowledge from Ace Ventura Pet Detective ).

Except if it's New England, it's Chowdah.

New England = White.
Red Chowder is against the 11 commandments.

Bisques are delicious, just need to know someone that knows how to make them properly. The goal to any soup/chowder/bisque is maximizing flavour/concentration through every step. With either reduction, deglazing the pot and pans to extract any "fond", caramelization/browning and proper seasoning.

No, there aren't. The former exists, the latter does not. Or, rather, should not.

I am not a fan of tomato based, "Manhattan" style chowders either.

I have only found one red chowdah I liked... It is available at The Crab Cooker in Newport or Irvine, CA. Otherwise I prefer the white variety, and usually home-made at that.

Scott

Wasn't it New England style clam chowdah that kept spitting at Curly?

With the weather being so bone chilling cold lately, a steaming hot bowl of clam chowder would really hit the spot.

For an obscure, yet yummy chowder, may I suggest a recipe from the city in which I was raised.

St. Augustine Florida, the oldest city in the states.

It's Minorcan!

http://pureflorida.blogspot.com/2005/08/st-augustine-minorcan-style-clam.html

Hmm, sounds dangerously red but since you hooked my curiosity with mention of Cayenne as an ingredient, I bookmarked it until the spring when I can grab my shovel and nab the main ingredient just below my bank.

I had a craving for clam chowder today

Now that's a Chowder !!

ummmm... Chowdah.

That looks fantastic!

The absolute best clam chowder I ever had was at the Hog Island Oyster Company bar in the Ferry Building on San Francisco's Embarcadero. It uses delicate manila clams still in the shell. It's a little extra work to eat because of the shells, but it's probably a good thing because I'd just have inhaled it otherwise.

It is well worth it if you can get fresh clams. The natural clam liquor from the fresh clams is much superior and can make a big difference from the liquid you get with the canned clams. For some getting fresh clams can be an inconvenience. .

I'm sure I could get some right now if I took a snow shovel along with a spade.