Easy Crawfish Bisque

EASY CRAWFISH BISQUE

Crawfish bisque was originally created because of an over abundance of crawfish at harvest time.  Many families have a tradition of using their first “boil” of crawfish for the bisque.  The crawfish tails were pealed for the bisque and the heads reserved.  A traditional bisque is garnished with stuffed crawfish “heads.” The heads are cleaned and stuffed with a crawfish stuffing.  To make this dish easier, we use packaged cleaned crawfish tails and make crawfish balls or “boulettes” instead of stuffed heads.

Crawfish ball ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 pound cleaned crawfish tails

1/2 cup bread crumbs plus extra

1 finely chopped onion

1/2 bell pepper, finely chopped

2 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped

1 rib celery, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 teaspoon Creole seasoning

2 eggs

Bisque ingredients:

1/2 cup flour

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 pounds cleaned crawfish tails

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 bell pepper, chopped

2 ribs celery, chopped

5 garlic cloves, chopped

1 handfull curly parsley, chopped

1 bay leaf

1/2 cup chopped green onion

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon Creole seasoning

3 tablespoons tomato paste

3-4 cups seafood stock or water

1 can evaporated milk

garnish:  chopped parsley and green onion

To make the boulettes:

Coarsely chop the crawfish tails.  In a skillet, heat the oil and add the vegetables.  Saute’ for 3 minutes and remove from pan.  Mix crawfish with the breadcrumbs, vegetables, eggs and seasoning.  Shape into oval cocoon shaped balls and roll in breadcrumbs.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden and toasted.  Hide these from your family until the bisque is ready (or you can deep fry them for 2 minutes).

To make the bisque:

Preheat a soup pot.  Add oil and flour and cook until light brown in color.  Add the vegetables and cook for couple of minutes.  Add 2 cups of water or stock and stir. Add tomato paste and seasonings and another cup of water of stock.  In a food processor, grind 1/2 pound of crawfish tails and add to the pot.  Bring to a boil and then simmer for 10 minutes. Add remaining crawfish tails and cook for 5-10 minutes.  Add the evaporated milk.  

To Serve:

Add a scoop of rice to a soup or gumbo bowl.  Ladle bisque over rice. Float 2 or 3 boulettes (or balls) in the bowl and garnish with parsley and green onion.  Add a few dashes of hot sauce or pepper vinegar if desired.