One of my favorite dishes ever! The tender, lump crab meat in a beautiful bisque is definitely the way to go especially with the holidays coming up! The first time I tried this was at Hyman’s Seafood in Charleston! Fabulous selection of fresh seafood and even better service!

This stuck out to me the most because of all the flavors that were made up in this one dish. Have this at your next gathering and I’m sure everyone that loves crab meat and soup will love this!

You can always double or triple the recipe depending on your party!

Ingredients:

• 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 shallots diced
• 1 small carrot diced
• 2 stalks celery diced
• 1/4 cup red bell pepper diced
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/4 cup white rice un-cooked
• 2 Tablespoons Tomato paste
• 2 teaspoons Old Bay
• 3/4 teaspoon Worcestershire
• Pinch of nutmeg
• Kosher salt and white pepper to taste
• 2 cups clam juice (bottled)
• 2 1/2 cups chicken stock
• 1 lb. fresh crab meat
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup dry sherry (not cooking wine)
• Fresh chopped parsley and paprika for garnish

[WHY NO COOKING WINE: In the kitchen we never use cooking wines, they are usually loaded with salt and do not taste very good]

Directions:

• Melt butter over medium low heat, add shallots, celery, carrots and bell pepper, and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes.
• Deglaze pan with 1/2 white wine, scrapping up any browned bits.
• Whisk in clam juice and chicken broth (or fish stock), rice, tomato paste, Worcestershire, Old Bay seasoning, nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a simmer, cooking until vegetables are tender and rice is very soft, about 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat.
• In batches to avoid burning yourself, puree crab soup in a blender until smooth. Once soup is pureed, bring it back to a simmer over a medium low heat
• Add in crab meat, and whisk in 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Cook just until hot, adding 1/2 cup sherry the last 2-3 minutes for additional flavor. If necessary, thin soup with additional broth to desired thickness. 
• Ladle into soup bowls, garnish with fresh chopped parsley and a dash of paprika and an additional shot of sherry if desired.

Notes:

Instead of 5 cups clam juice and chicken stock, you can substitute fish stock.