| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 55 min |
| Prep: | 10 min |
| Cook: | 45 min |
| Yield: | 4 to 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds shrimp, shelled and deveined, shells reserved
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter
- 2 leeks, trimmed, halved lengthwise, and rinsed well
- 3 stalks celery, cut into big chunks
- 2 carrots, cut into big chunks
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 strips orange zest
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/4 cup brandy
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 4 cups heavy cream
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Finely grated orange zest, for garnish
- Finely chopped fresh chives, for garnish
Instructions
- Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large pot over medium heat and melt the butter into it. Then add the shrimp shells, the leeks, celery, carrots, 3 sprigs thyme, the bay leaf, orange zest, and tomato paste. Cook, stirring every now and then, until the shells are red and the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes.
- Take the pot off the heat and carefully pour in the brandy. Ignite the brandy with a long kitchen match and let burn until the flame subsides. Return the pot to the heat, sprinkle in the flour, give it a stir, and cook for another 2 minutes. Now add water to cover and deglaze, scraping up all the browned bits on the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon. Add the cream and bring to a boil. Immediately turn the heat down to low and gently simmer until the soup is reduced and thickened, 30 to 45 minutes. Strain into a clean pot and season with salt and pepper.
- Chop the shrimp. Return the bisque to a simmer, add the shrimp and cook 2 to 3 minutes just to cook the shrimp through. Give the bisque a final taste for seasoning, pour it into warmed soup bowls and serve garnished with the orange zest and chives.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 6 servings |
| Calories | 901 |
| Total Fat | 80 g |
| Saturated Fat | 47 g |
| Carbohydrates | 17 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Sugar | 7 g |
| Protein | 28 g |
| Cholesterol | 441 mg |
| Sodium | 903 mg |
Reviews
I make this as written but use lobster instead of shrimp. It’s great for dinner parties as it can be made ahead of time. I get lobsters from the tank at the grocery store and have them steam them without spices. I use the shells and legs and reserve the tail and claw meat to chop up and add….can’t keep up with the requests to make it!
I made this tonight. It was excellent! After reading the reviews, I did make some adjustments. I used chicken stock instead of water to deglaze. I used Grand Marnier instead of the brandy and orange zest. I added 1 tbsp of minced garlic and cayenne pepper, old bay and chicken bouillon powder to taste. It was the perfect consistency and very flavorful! Also, it DOES take a lot longer than the recipe says
Can this be made in advance, warming up the soup next day then adding the shrimp in?
This was my first time making any shrimp bisque. The recipe as is was way too bland for my liking. Just ok with no real flavor. I followed the recipe substituting clam juice and the juice from my thawed shrimp for part of the water. I did not cover my tender veggies and shrimp shells with all water but rather was fairly conservative with the liquid I added…approximately 6-8oz per recipe. I used a mid grade brandy per another review. I was making this for a large seafood potluck so was wanting it to be special and made 3 recipes of it. My cost for ingredients was about $30/per recipe, not excluding herbs I used from my garden and spices I had on hand. I ended up adding several dry spices and ground shrimp powder (found in my local store with the Mexican spice bags) to get it up to a flavor that I would be happy serving to guests. After all the additional spices I think it tastes very flavorful and just adds a very subtle hint of heat. I think the ground shrimp powder was quite helpful in bringing up the shrimp flavor. At $5-7.50 per cup I will consider making this again with the added spices, but in my opinion, as written, I would not make this recipe again.
The ads just keep playing over and over and over and over and over… Never got to watch the video.
I have made this several times in the past and follow the recipe exactly. I made it again today and it is still as good as ever. About my favorite dish. The only change I made today was adding 4 cloves of garlic, a half cup of brandy, and about 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper. My husband loves this recipe as much as I do.
where is wate and how much
I made it tonight. It was fantastic. However, I made two adjustments. I added 1/4 cup cream sherry. After straining, I added 3 tablespoons of tomato paste and one 1 table spoon of sugar. WOW!
I didn’t read all the reviews, but did no one notice the differences between the video and the printed recipe? Most notably, Tyler calls for 1 cup of brandy, the recipe calls for 1/4 cup. That is a big difference. The recipe calls for adding ALL aromatics, spices and tomato paste at once. Tyler adds his sequentially. Maybe makes no difference, but I like to follow a recipe exactly the first time, to decide if I want to tweak it later. I’m about to try it now.
must have misunderstood the “cover with water” instruction. end product was flavorless. pulled together though with chicken base, old bay and corn starch.