CRAYFISH BISQUE

Serves 2

This is my crayfish bisque, the recipe i cooked in my audition to get on masterchef and also the same dish i cooked in episode 1. this is one of my all time favourite dishes, it fuses traditional french cooking with my style and fresh australian seafood.

Ingredients

  • 1 whole crayfish (rock lobster)

  • 1 celery

  • 3 carrot

  • 2 onions

  • 1 fennel

  • Brandy (if I can’t have brandy, white wine)

  • Italian tomato paste (Mutti if possible)

  • 2 tins diced Italian tomatoes (mutti if possible)

  • White pepper

  • Thickened cream

  • Butter

  • Salt

  • Parsley

  • Basil

  • 2 lemons

  • Garlic

  • Olive oil

  • Grape seed oil (or similar neutral oil)

  • Tarragon & purple watercress or similar micro herbs for playing

Equipment

  • Kitchen shears

  • Saucepan x 1

  • Frypan x 2

  • Metal bowl with ice water

  • Water bath

  • Dutch oven

  • Vacuum sealer

  • Fine sieve and something to strain into

  • Stick blender with processor

  • Squirt bottle

Method- Remove tail from crayfish and use antennae to devein

  1. Remove cray tail from the head/body

  2. Poach cray tail in boiling salted water for roughly 30 seconds and then shock in ice bath to separate the tail meat from the shell

  3. Deshell tail keeping it intact and cut/break up tail shell and head/body into small pieces

  4. Cryvac crayfish tail with butter, green fennel sprouts, salt and white pepper. sous vide for 45-55 mins at 56 degrees

  5. Add broken up shells to hot grape seed oil and stir. You want the oil to just start smoking, the heat is essential to get maximum flavour from the shells.

  6. Once you get a nice orange/red colour on shells and fond on the base of the pot, add your mirepoix of onion, carrot, celery and fennel

  7. Once vegetables are softened add tomato paste and stir, once lightly caramarlised add 1/2 cup of brandy and flambé

  8. Once flame dies down add your tinned tomato

  9. Simmer on low-medium for 30-40 mins or until a deep red oil appears on top. Take care to skim any scum.

  10. Strain stock and add back to pan with cream and reduce further

  11. To a food processor add grated garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice and herbs. Blend together and add oil until you get the consistency you want. If you are feeling fancy you can add pinkie nail worth of xanthan gum to bring it together.

  12. Remove your cray tail from the sous vide bag and sear in a hot pan with grape seed oil until you get a golden brown colour (roughly 30-40 seconds each side). Cook fennel slices in butter and the juices from Sous vide bag.

  13. Spoon a generous amount of bisque to your serving bowl, add your sliced cray tail, some salsa verde and your fennel. Garnish and enjoy!

Recipe E-Book & Fish Buying Guide by Harry Butterfield
$19.99

60 pages of all my fish expertise:

  • How to source quality, fresh ingredients (goodbye “fishy” fish)

  •  Easy weeknight recipes Lily and I swear by

  •  Impressive dishes to show off your newfound fish-lord skills

  •  My pro tips and stories from cooking hundreds (probably thousands) of fish recipes

  •  Go-to sauces that pair perfectly with, or without, seafood