What is a Bisque Soup?
A bisque soup, or bisque, is typically a soup made from shellfish. You would not present an imperfect lobster or crab as a centerpiece, but you can use such crustaceans to make the best bisque recipes. The shells can be ground to a fine paste and added to the soup, to make it thicker. Bisque soup can be thickened with rice or they can be pureed. Cognac or wine are often added to bisque recipes to intensify the flavor.
The word bisque can also apply to a cream-based soup without seafood, which has been processed or pureed in a food mill or food processor. Varieties of non-seafood bisque include squash, mushroom or tomato bisque. Traditionally, bisque is served in a two handled mug or cup.
Bisques originated in France and they are closely related to chowders. The difference between a bisque and a chowder is that a bisque is mostly or completely smooth but a chowder has chunks of ingredients in it.
How to Make Bisque
The first step in making a bisque recipe is sauteing seafood in a heavy pot. Leave the shells on if you are using crustaceans. Next, you need to combine soup stock, aromatic spices, and wine to make a broth, and simmer the seafood in this mixture until it is done.
Puree everything, including the shells. Add cream and cook the bisque more, so it can thicken, then serve it with freshly cracked black pepper and chopped fresh parsley. Bisque recipes do vary, of course, but this method is quite typical.
Recipe for Lobster Bisque with Pumpkin Recipe
The following recipe combines the gourmet flavor of lobster with sherry, pumpkin and more, for a really delicious soup. If you have some pumpkin to use and you would like to make a recipe for pumpkin soup, which is extra special, this recipe is heartily recommended.
The pumpkin used in the following recipe gives a special sweet flavor to the soup, which contrasts well with the seafood flavor and the savory taste of the onion and stock. You will have enough to serve twelve people but you can halve the recipe if you want to.
What you will need:
- 1 cup chopped lobster meat
- 8 cups lobster stock
- 1 white onion
- 2 tablespoons tomato puree
- 2 lb chopped, peeled pumpkin
- 1 cup dry sherry
- 1 tablespoon lobster base
- 4 cups heavy cream
- Salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
- Handful of chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
How to make it:
Saute the pumpkin and onions in a deep, heavy pan, until they are soft. Add the cream and lobster stock and bring the mixture to a simmer. Add the tomato puree and lobster base and cook for a few minutes. Puree the soup with a hand blender or in a regular blender. Add the lobster meat and sherry and whisk them in well. Season the lobster and pumpkin bisque and serve it hot with some chopped parsley sprinkled over it.
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Pumpkins have a wonderful flavor which go just as well in a gourmet bisque recipe as in a more traditional recipe for pumpkin soup. You can find plenty of wonderful pumpkin recipes at PumpkinSoup.org, whether you want to make a sweet pumpkin soup, a classic recipe for pumpkin soup, an exciting international recipe, or something else.
