Homemade Crab Bisque with Saffron

I was out of town for a pharmacy conference in Anaheim for a few days and have not had time to blog.  It felt really nice to be back home and back to my daily routine.  For dinner, I decided to make crab bisque, inspired by a crab dish that I had at Joe’s Crab Shack near our hotel.  French in origin, bisque is a smooth and creamy soup based on a strained broth of crustaceans, usually lobster, crab, shrimp, and even crayfish.  I paired the bisque with toasted baguettes and a glass of white wine.  If you are entertaining guests this holiday, this bisque would be a perfect start to your dinner party.

Ingredients

2 (1 1/2-pound) crabs

1/2 cup coarsely chopped shallots or onions

1 cup coarsely chopped leeks

1 cup coarsely chopped carrots

1 cup of chopped tomatoes

1 clove of garlic

1/2 tsp saffron

1 tbsp of olive oil

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup white wine

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 tbsps cornstarch

1 tbsp sugar

chives for garnish

Directions

Fill a large stockpot with 3 cups of water and bring to a boil.  Place the crabs in the water and steam for 15 minutes.  Discard the water. (you can also save 1-2 cups of this original stock if you want a stronger crab taste)

Remove crab meats from the body and claws.  Save the shells.

Place 5 cups of water in a clean stockpot and turn on high heat.  Put the shells in the stockpot and cook for 30 minutes.  This should yield 4 cups of crab stock.

Add olive oil to a large sauté pan and turn on medium heat.  Add the garlic, shallots, leeks, carrots, tomatoes, and saffron and sauté for 20 minutes.

Add 4 cups of strained crab stock to the sautéed vegetables. Turn down heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Press entire contents of sautéed pan through sieve into a clean sauté pan.

To finish the bisque, add heavy cream slowly, using whisk to blend.  Add white wine. Simmer on low heat for 15 minutes; bisque will thicken slightly.

Mix cornstarch with 1/4 cup water and slowly add to bisque with whisk.  Simmer on low heat for another 15 minutes.  Add pepper and sugar (more if you like a sweeter taste).

Place pieces of previous cleaned crab meat in bowl and add 1 cup of bisque.