Bisque of Crayfish and Rice

Ingredients

• thirty-five or forty live crayfish
• a handful of salt
• a pinch of pepper
• a bottle of dry white wine
• an onion
• a carrot
• half a head of celery
• a quarter of a pound of clean rice
• three pints of good broth
• two ounces of butter

Method

1. 1

   Wash the crayfish, put them in a saucepan with salt, pepper, dry white wine, and a bouquet garni, onion, carrot, and celery; moisten with cold water, cover, and boil for about twenty minutes.

2. 2

   Strain the broth into a stewpan, let it boil, and pour a quarter of a pound of clean rice into it, boiling for about an hour.

3. 3

   Take the tails of the crayfish out of their shells, pound the shells and residue in a mortar with two ounces of butter, put the purée in a stewpan with three pints of broth, salt, and pepper, and let it boil for fifteen minutes.

4. 4

   Strain through a fine sieve, return to the stewpan, and set aside to let the scum rise.

5. 5

   When the rice is cooked, strain and pour it into a mortar with half of the crayfish tails, pound nicely, and add to thicken the broth with the remainder of the crayfish; boil, stir, and mix well for about ten minutes; then pour into a soup-tureen with a few quenelles of chicken or croutons fried in butter, and serve.

As published

This recipe was extracted from Practical household cookery (1891) by E. Duret, page 31. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

a carrot ; add half an onion, the quarter of a celery- head, one leek, and two quarts of broth ; boil for an hour and a half, take the meat out, skim and strain the broth through a fine cloth; pour the half of it into a stewpan of medium size with half a pound of rice, washed in two or three different waters and blanched apart for a few minutes; let it boil for an hour, stir occasionally with a wooden spoon ; after which, pour in the remainder of the broth; mix well, and pass it through a wire sieve, then through a tammy and back into the stewpan on a good fire till nearly boiling. Meanwhile miz in a basin three spoon- fuls of chicken purde with the same quantity of rice cream ; add gradually to it half a pint more of the cream, stirring the while ; then pour it back to the stewpan with the other rice cream, stir and miz properly before serving with croQtons fried in butter. 117. CREAM RICE A LA FRANpAISE. Proceed for this as in No. 11 6, but add to the vegetables before named a little parsley, which must be taken out 68 PRACTICAL HOUSEHOLD COOKERY. when cooked ; and just before serving, add half a pint of good cream with an ounce of fresh butter; mix all well together, and when nearly boiling pour it into a soup- tureen in which a few small quenelles of chicken, properly poached, have already been put. Stir, and serve. 118. RICE CREAM A LA CHASSEUR. Roast a partridge, cut the meat in small dice, and pound it in a mortar; put the bones and carcass in a quart of chicken broth, boil for ten minutes, skdm, and pass it through a fine cloth ; then put it back into the stewpan on the fire. When boiling, pour half a pound of rice into it and boil for an hour and a quarter ; after which, pass it through a fine wire sieve and tammy. Return the cream to the stewpan on the fire, then mix gradually the puree of partridge with it, boil it, give it an occasional stir, and serve with croutons fried in butter. 119. RICE CREAM WITH PHEASANT. Pi-oceed for this as in the " Reale," and then add six quenelles of pheasant, well poached, and serve. 120. RICE AU ORATIN. Pour three pints of good broth into a stewpan, and set it on the fire. When boiling, throw in one pound of clean rice, and let it boil for twenty minutes, giving it an occa- sional stir; then season with salt and pepper, add a few allspice, sprinkle two ounces of grated cheese and a gill of good gravy, mix the contents well together, and pour it into a pie-dish, the inside of which must be well buttered. Sprinkle the top with a few bread-crumbs, making a hole in the centre with a spoon, fill it with chicken stuffing or PRACTICAL HOUSEHOLD COOKERY. 69 finand^re, place the pie-dish in a moderately heated oven till the top has taken a nice brown colour and become crisp, and then serve with a little grated cheese on a plate apart. 121. RISOTTO A LA HlSNAOiiRE OR HOUSEWIFE STYLE. Boil in a saucepan three pints of broth, throw in one pound of rice, boil for twenty minutes, stir occasionally, then add one ounce and a half of grated cheese, the same quantity of butter, season in the usual way, pour a gill of hot gravy, mix the contents well together, add a few slices of truffies or fresh mushrooms stewed in butter, pour it into a hot dish ; and serve with a little grated cheese on a plate apart. 122. RICE WITH MILK. Pour three pints of milk into a saucepan, let it boil, throw in one pound of rice, a small piece of sugar, and a bay- leaf; boil for twenty minutes, stir in the usual way to prevent burning, and just before serving mix the yoke of an egg and a little grated nutmeg with it. 128. BISQUE OF CRAYFISH AND RICE. This soup is as much recommended for its delicacy as for its excellence, and can be obtained in different ways ; but after long study, the following is, I believe, the best and easiest mode of all for its preparation : — Wash in several waters thirty-five or forty live cray- fish of medium size, put them in a saucepan with a handful of salt, a pinch of pepper, a bottle of dry white wine, a " bouquet garni," an onion, carrot, and half a head of celery all shred fine; moisten the lot with cold water, 70 PRACTICAL HOUSEHOLD COOKERY. cover the saucepan and boil on a good fire for about twenty minutes, then strain the broth into a stewpan, let it boil, and pour a quarter of a pound of clean rice into it, which must boil for about an hour. Meantime take the tails of the crayfish out of their shells with your fingers, put them apart on a plate, pound the shells and inside residue in a mortar with two ounces of butter, put the pur6e in a stewpan with three pints of good broth

Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.