Bisque of Oysters

Ingredients

• one quart of oysters
• one quart of cream
• one pint of chicken stock
• one scant pint of stale bread, free of crust
• one bay leaf
• one sprig of parsley
• one stalk of celery
• one small slice of onion
• a bit of mace
• two table-spoonfuls of butter
• one of flour
• the yolks of four eggs
• one-fourth of a teaspoonful of white pepper
• one-tenth of a teaspoonful of cayenne
• salt to suit the taste

Method

1. 1

   Chop the oysters, and put them in a stew-pan with the seasonings, one-half the stock, and their own liquor.

2. 2

   Cook slowly for twenty minutes.

3. 3

   Put the bread and the remaining half-pint of stock in another stew-pan, and cook slowly for twenty minutes.

4. 4

   Strain the liquor from the first stew-pan into the second pan, pressing all the liquid from the oysters.

5. 5

   Cook for ten minutes longer.

6. 6

   Reserve half a cupful of the cream, and put the rest on to heat in the double-boiler.

7. 7

   Now rub the butter and flour together until smooth and creamy.

8. 8

   When the contents of the stew-pan have been cooking for ten minutes, rub them through a fine sieve and return them to the stew-pan.

9. 9

   Add the flour and butter to them, and place on the fire.

10. 10

    Stir the mixture until it boils; then add the hot cream, and draw back to a cooler place.

11. 11

    Now beat the yolks of the eggs well, and add the cold cream to them.

12. 12

    Stir this mixture into the bisque, and cook for one minute, stirring all the while.

Nutrition per serving

Estimated from matched ingredients across 7 servings.

As published

This recipe was extracted from Miss Parloa's kitchen companion (1887) by Maria Parloa, page 83. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

two table-spoonfuls of butter, one of flour, one small slice of carrot, one large slice of onion, two bay leaves, one stalk of celery, a sprig of parsley, a bit of mace, a slight grating of nutmeg, one-fourth of a teaspoonful of white pepper, one-tenth of a teaspoonful of cayenne, and three tea- spoonfuls of salt. Put half of the meat of the crabs and all of the claws into a stew-pan. Add the spice, vegetables, herbs, and half the stock, and place the pan where its contents will simmer gently for forty minutes. Ten minutes later put the bread and the remaining stock into another stew-pan, and set the pan where its contents will simmer gently for thirty minutes. When the first mixture has cooked for the proper period, strain it over that in the second stew-pan. Mix 166 MISS PARLOA'S KITCHEN COMPANION. all these ingredients thoroughly, and rub through a tine sieve. Return to the fire, and add the butter and flour, rubbed together. Cook five minutes longer; then add the cream, heated in a double-boiler, the remainder of the crab meat, and the salt and pepper. Let the soup boil up once, and serve without delay. If one choose, a table-spoonful of brandy and three of sherry may be added to the bisque after it is taken from the stove. A table-spoonful of lobster coral and the shells of two crabs may be pounded with a table-spoonful of butter, and cooked with the crabs to give the bisque a fine color. Lobster Bisque. For this soup there will be required a lobster weigh- ing five pounds, one pint and a half of chicken stock, one quart of cream, one scant pint of stale bread, free of crust, one table-spoonful of salt, one-fourth of a tea- spoonful of white pepper, one-tenth of a teaspoonful of cayenne, one bay leaf, one sprig of parsley, one blade of celery, a large slice of onion, a small piece of whole mace, a slight grating of nutmeg, three table-spoonfuls of butter, and one of flour. Remove the meat of the lobster from the shell. Cut in cubes the tenderest part of the meat taken from the claws, — there should be about half a pint, — and put away until serving-time. Pound the remainder to paste. Now put one table-spoonful of butter, four of the small claws, and the coral from the lobster into the mortar, and pound until a smooth paste is formed. Hard pound- ing will be required to accomplish this. Put the pounded meat and the coral, shell, and butter in a stew-pan with the herbs, mace, vegetables, and half the stock, and cook for an hour, being careful that the mixture does not bub- ble after it has once been heated to the boiling-point, though it should still be kept on the stove, in a cooler place, and kept heated almost to the boiling-point. SOUPS. 167 At the end of half an hour put the bread and the re- maining stock in a stew-pan, and cook for twenty minutes, keeping at the boiling-point all the while; then strain the contents of the first stew-pan into the stew-pan re- maining on the stove, pressing every particle of moisture from the meat and seasoning. Eub this new mixture through a French fine sieve ; then return it to the fire, and add salt, pepper, and a slight grating of nutmeg. Hub the remaining two table-spoonfuls of butter with the flour until a smooth, light mixture is formed, and stir this into the soup. Simmer for ten minutes. When the butter and flour are added to the soup, put the cream on the stove in the double-boiler. It will be hot at the end of the ten minutes ; add it, with the cubes of lobster, to the soup. Let the soup boil up once, and serve it. When making this bisque, if there be no coral in the lobster, pound six of the small claws to powder, and mix with one table-spoonful of butter. Use this to give the soup a pink color. Or, in the absence of coral, the color may be imparted by adding to the bisque, just as it is to be. served, half a cupful of strained hot tomato. Bisque of Oysters. Use one quart of oysters, one quart of cream, one pint of chicken stock, one scant pint of stale bread, free of crust, one bay leaf, one sprig of parsley, one stalk of cel- ery, one small slice of onion, a bit of mace, two table- spoonfuls of butter, one of flour, the yolks of four eggs, one-fourth of a teaspoonful of white pepper, one-tenth of a teaspoonful of cayenne, and salt to suit the taste

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