Day Tripping: Chincoteague Island, Va
A delicious seafood bisque which gets its gorgeous color from the addition of tomato paste. I'm not a fan of overwhelming crab with a lot of seasonings, but feel free to adjust to your personal taste.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup onion diced
- 2 tablespoons sherry
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups cream or half and half
- up to 4 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/2 pound back fin crab meat picked through for shells. Reserve some crab to serve as a garnish.
- 1/2 teaspoon Old Bay more or less
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce more or less
- 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a 5 quart dutch oven.
- Saute the onions until translucent.
- Stir in the sherry.
- Sprinkle the flour over the onions and stir well to combine.
- Cook for a few minutes until the flour starts to darken.
- Add the chicken broth a half cup at a time, stirring well after each addition.
- Allow the bisque to thicken before adding more broth.
- Stir in the tomato paste, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, celery seed and Old Bay.
- Stir in the cream and reduce the heat to a low simmer.
- Allow the bisque to continue to thicken and for the flavors to meld.
- Add the crab and adjust the seasonings.
- The bisque is ready when the crab is heated through.
- To serve, ladle into shallow bowls and mound some of the reserved crab meat in the center. Garnish with a little parsley. Serve more sherry on the side to add to the soup if desired.