Crawfish Bisque

[Harry]

Anybody have a good recipe? It's one of the few old-fashioned Gulf dishes I've never tried to cook and I might have to try it once crawfish come back into season. I think I'll skip the stuffed heads, though. Unfortunately I don't know anyone who cooks crawfish bisque so I'll have to learn from a cookbook rather than in person. Richard and Rima Collin's The New Orleans Cookbook has a recipe that suggests substituting one pound of tailmeat for 2-3 dozen stuffed heads so I'm thinking that might be a good place to start. If there are any cooks out there with opinions on this subject I'd love to hear from you. Does skipping the stuffed heads mean you've made crawfish stew instead of bisque? Should the roux be fairly light or dark like a good gumbo roux? Do tomatoes have any business in crawfish bisque?

[highchef]

Here's a good place to start, and no..if you do it right you can form 'meatballs' instead of stuffing the heads. It's the one dish I love, but have never tried to make..cause I have neighbors who do it for me. It's somewhat labor intensive but thats not what my problem is, it's saving the damn heads. I never have freezer room for them after a boil, so it's a dish I've always got to do 'next time'. Good luck.

[Harry]

Here's a good place to start, and no..if you do it right you can form 'meatballs' instead of stuffing the heads. It's the one dish I love, but have never tried to make..cause I have neighbors who do it for me. It's somewhat labor intensive but thats not what my problem is, it's saving the damn heads. I never have freezer room for them after a boil, so it's a dish I've always got to do 'next time'. Good luck.

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Thanks for the help, highchef. To form the "meatballs" do I just ball up the stuffing that would go in the heads and drop it in the bisque, or do I fry it first? Should I cook the crawfish balls in the bisque for a long time or add them at the end. I think the heads are a chore to eat anyway so I'd probably like it better with the crawfish balls.

[saturnbar]

My grandmother always made crawfish bisque like one would make a lobster bisque with cream and getting most of the flavor from the stock and fat, with only a few actual tails floating around. Not that it matters, but I have often wondered what came first, the soup or the stew?

The only place in New Orleans that I have ever seen stuffed heads served with the bisque is at Dunbar's, and that was once. It was heavenly. ch

[highchef]

Here's a good place to start, and no..if you do it right you can form 'meatballs' instead of stuffing the heads. It's the one dish I love, but have never tried to make..cause I have neighbors who do it for me. It's somewhat labor intensive but thats not what my problem is, it's saving the damn heads. I never have freezer room for them after a boil, so it's a dish I've always got to do 'next time'. Good luck.

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Thanks for the help, highchef. To form the "meatballs" do I just ball up the stuffing that would go in the heads and drop it in the bisque, or do I fry it first? Should I cook the crawfish balls in the bisque for a long time or add them at the end. I think the heads are a chore to eat anyway so I'd probably like it better with the crawfish balls.

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bake them @400 for 20 min. then put down into sauce. You may have a bit of trouble with folse's recipe, as it is the real deal....and makes for 20! It's the kind of thing that you do when you've got crawfish left over after a boil and you're sitting around cleaning the tails. Somebody will clean enough heads and then you freeze it all until the mother in law is in town and needing something to do to keep her out of your business!! Works every time..

[HungryC]

Those headless "meatballs" are called "boulettes" by people on Bayou Lafourche. Most people I know don't bother with the heads unless they want the dish to be "fancy". No tomatoes in my bisque, which isn't the cream-and-butter kind (like the more familiar creamy shrimp bisque). It's brown all the way, nice peanut-butter colored roux...and you don't call it stew if you go through the trouble of making the boulettes to put into it--it is still termed bisque, even if you don't stuff the boulettes into the cleaned heads.

[Ross.ucf]

There are so many different ways you can make a bisque or soup with crawfish so I will leave that up to your own inspiration for the day. Here however, are some helpfull hints I have noticed along the way. First, make sure you use all the crawfish. You MUST use the fat. There is so much flavor it would be a waste not to. Then, use the shells and boil and crush them to make a nice stock if you want to make a very rich and flavorfull soup. Also, On Cooking has a basic procedure:

Caramelize the mirepoix and main flavoring ingredient in fat.

Add a tomato product and deglaze with wine. (I also like non-tomato cream bisque so I skip the tomato part).

Add the cooking liquid.

Incorporate roux if needed.

Simmer and skim.

Stain, seperating the solids and liquids. Puree the solids and return to the liquid.

Strain the liquid.

Return the liquid and finish with hot cream.

Hope this helps!

[highchef]

oh, no...not the louisiana tomato wars again. maybe we could make a map, and figure it out once and for all

yes, roux I sayd! and also tomatos, but also file'...sorry, but It's necessary.

[Harry]

Those headless "meatballs" are called "boulettes" by people on Bayou Lafourche.  Most people I know don't bother with the heads unless they want the dish to be "fancy".  No tomatoes in my bisque, which isn't the cream-and-butter kind (like the more familiar creamy shrimp bisque).  It's brown all the way, nice peanut-butter colored roux...and you don't call it stew if you go through the trouble of making the boulettes to put into it--it is still termed bisque, even if you don't stuff the boulettes into the cleaned heads.

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Is it just roux, chopped vegetables, stock, seasoning and crawfish?

[Ross.ucf]

Those headless "meatballs" are called "boulettes" by people on Bayou Lafourche.  Most people I know don't bother with the heads unless they want the dish to be "fancy".  No tomatoes in my bisque, which isn't the cream-and-butter kind (like the more familiar creamy shrimp bisque).  It's brown all the way, nice peanut-butter colored roux...and you don't call it stew if you go through the trouble of making the boulettes to put into it--it is still termed bisque, even if you don't stuff the boulettes into the cleaned heads.

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Is it just roux, chopped vegetables, stock, seasoning and crawfish?

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This is from joiei, who sent me a message about the La version. I hope this helps you as well:

The version on Chef John Folse's web site (and in his book - I recommend his book for a good basic of dishes from south Louisiana) is the typical version. Chef Folse's version of Crawfish Bisque It tends to be dark and highly seasoned, something more akin to a gumbo than a classic french bisque. And when it is done right, the Louisiana version is a thing of joy with the stuffed crawfish heads and all served up in your bowl.

The link he mentioned is here: Chef Folse's Version of Crawfish Bisque

Good luck!

[HungryC]

Is it just roux, chopped vegetables, stock, seasoning and crawfish?

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[patti]

I adore the old fashioned stuffed head, brown version of crawfish bisque. My grandmother used to make it, but like everyone said, it's labor intensive. I only ever have the old fashioned kind in restaurants now. I do like the other style of crawfish bisque made with cream and lots of rich, buttery goodness. I'm willing to make that one, but not the old style.

[007bond-jb]

I always make crawfish bique with a med roux no tomatoes and making balls are so much easyer to deal with. Here is a link to The Creole & Cajun recipe site, the second link is direct to the bisque recipe.

http://www.gumbopages.com/recipe-page.html

http://www.gumbopages.com/food/soups/craw-bisque.html

This is but one of many good southern recipe sites