Hey guys :) First post for me.. friend directed me to the site after watching me struggle with being single for a while.

I accidentally clicked the "community" button, and this specific forum caught my eye! Let's just say if I could marry cooking and start a family, I would not be on this site ;) Actually on second thought that sounds pretty American Pie. I just mean that cooking is my first love.


Anyhow.. onto the recipe. The measurements are all rough. I like every bisque ending up a little differently.


(Serves 5)

Ingredients:
1/2 to 2/3 quart of milk.
1/2 cup heavy cream.
6 tablespoons of butter.
6 tablespoons of flour. (equal parts butter and flour)
1 medium-to-large onion chopped medium-rough.(yellow or white.. stay away from red).
2-4 tablespoons of a really good dry sherry (depending on your company.. maybe more ;) )
2 tablespoons paprika for color
Salt
Pepper
Lobster/Crab/Shrimp uncooked (or if canned, cook for less time) and chopped into bite sized pieces. Any of these will work - I've made each one at least once.



Cooking:
1. Melt all of the butter in a large pot on medium-high heat (like 7 or 8). Once the butter begins to bubble, add all of your onions and stir occasionally.

2. Once onions are tender and slightly translucent, plop in your flour and stir vigorously. It should look almost like macadamia nut cookie dough. Stir constantly until the mixture (known to the French and Cajun as a "Roux" - used to make gumbo, too!) turns a nice golden brown.

3. Once the roux is at the proper color, slowly add in your milk one cup at a time, stirring until completely constituted before adding the next cup. Add in your cream halfway through the milk.

4. Salt and pepper very well. The soup is pretty flavorless right now, and it's your job to give it some life. Taste it constantly, so you don't over-spice it.

5. Add sherry and paprika. Stir well and let heat up to thicken. If soup begins to over-thicken, just add more milk, and re-season.

6. Add in your lobster/crab/shrimp, and watch carefully. It's very easy for those to overheat and turn into rubber. Tasty rubber, but still rubber.


That's my bisque! Well.. most of it. I left out a couple of my personal ingredients, since they're my signature. The whole point is to give you a basic skeleton to work with.

A few warnings:

1. Try not to let it boil once you get the milk in, or that pan will take you years to clean.
2. I wouldn't recommend any other alcohols. If you are convinced you've found one that would work, try a little mixture in a measuring cup instead of gambling with the whole pot.
3. Make sure you have a can opener. Opening a can of crab with a screw driver is entertaining for your guests, but frustrating for you!
4. Bring help! This dish is tough to cook alone because of the mixing and measuring that needs to be done. Plus, it might make a fun date dish to cook!



I hope that I don't look like an idiot posting this. I have to admit I didn't actually look at any of the threads, and I hope this wasn't some kind of weird innuendo :-p

~Brendan

Also works with Potatoes if you par-boil them. Don't boil them to mush, but soften them up first or the soup will have to cook for days. (Had a bad experience with that one)

And if you add less milk, it'll end up like a chowder!