Tuesday 22 November 2011

Prawn bisque anyone?

I don't know about you, but in my kitchen I have a folder.
A recipe folder into which I put those recipes from magazines, newspapers and dentist surgery copies of Readers Digest that I have torn out with the best intention of making. But never had.

But all this talk about http:///www.fishisthedish.co.uk made me re-evaluate and I dug out a recipe for prawn and fennel bisque.

I'm not quite sure where it came from but I think it was Delicious about 4 or 5 years ago but it looked yummy - a bit of a faff but sounded gorgeous. And given my desire to "de-carb" (*again*) I thought I would try it.

*Warning* this is not an authentic bisque - I never seem to remember to buy prawns with shells on. Oh well, this is my adaption.....






I generally take my prawns out of the freezer in the morning and leave them in the fridge to defrost. Please note the pink bear is optional.





Basically make a broth of onion, carrot and fennel as you would any soup. Then add brandy and white wine. Oh and some fish stock. Then a pinch of paprika and a tin of toms. Boil this for 20 mins, leave to cool a bit then give it a good blend.

The faffy bit is having to 'pass' the whole thing through a sieve. This is what leaves you with a really clear, clean bisque. I guess you are left with less if you have a better blender and possibly more if you have used the shells too.

Don't think about washing the blender - you'll need it again !




Then, warm the bisque, adding the prawns and cook them until they turn pink.

Oh, and then faff no 2. Reblend the bisque until smooth and creamy.

Add some cream and the fennel fronds (which you obviously kept) and there you go.



It might sound like a pain, but if you make the stock and blend but don't add the prawns, then freeze in batches, it becomes an easy freezer dinner.



And oh, I was wrong.... It wasn't Delicious. It was Good Food. And you can find the recipe here: Prawn and Fennel bisque

I hope that Fish is the dish agree that prawns can be easy too :p


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