Wash in several waters four dozen crawfish after removing the fins, the same as for bisque Persigny (No. 204); put the crawfish into a saucepan, pouring over half a bottleful of white wine, four ounces of minced onions, the same quantity of finely minced carrots, a few sprigs of parsley, one bay leaf, as much thyme, salt, mignonette, a little red pepper and half a pint of broth; cook all together for ten minutes with the cover on, tossing them several times in the meanwhile, then take them from off the fire and leave them standing for ten minutes longer in their broth; pour them into acolander to drain, and afterward select half of the finest, medium and equal sized ones; remove the tail ends from these, and the shells, and keep the meats aside for the garnishing, also half of the finest, but smallest shells from the head; stuff these with a red pike forcemeat finished with crawfish butter (for this see crawfish butter, No. 573), and with the remainder of the crawfish and the fragments make a bisque, pounding them with their equal quantity of rice; when all is well pounded, moisten with the broth they were cooked in and more plain broth, then strain through a sieve and a tammy.

Warm it well without boiling, and incorporate into it when ready to serve, a piece of crawfish butter; pour the soup into the tureen and garnish with the tails and bodies both cut lengthwise in two. Crawfish bisque should be colored slightly more than the shrimp bisque. Use for coloring bisques some orchanet warmed in clarified butter or any other greasy substance, or clear vegetal carmine. Breton makes an excellent coloring for bisques.

(202). Bisque Of Crawfish A La Batelieee (Bisque Decrevisses A La Bateliere)

After removing the fins from the middle of the tails as for a la Persigny (No. 204). wash forty eight crawfish in several waters, drain them, mince some carrots, leeks, onions and celery root, fry them in butter and just on the eve of browning, mix in a quarter of a pound of flour; cook the Hour for a few minutes, and then add the crawfish, some sprigs of parsley, two bay leaves, salt and mignonette, cover the saucepan and cook for fifteen minutes, tossing them several times. then drain. Pick out the meat from the tails, cut them in two and reserve them for the garnishing: pound the shells as well as the claws with twelve hard boiled egg-yolks, and when a good paste is Obtained, moisten it with the thick stock, strained first through a sieve not too fine, and afterward through a tammy; moisten again with fat or lean broth. Should the bisque be required for a lean dinner; warm it up without boiling and incorporate in half a pound of crawfish butter with cayenne and half a gill of Madeira wine.

Set the crawfish tails into a soup tureen and pour the bisque over, and when serving the soup put into each plate six pieces of bread a quarter of an inch square, fried in butter.

(203). Bisque Of Crawfish A La Humboldt (Bisque D'Ecrevisses A La Humboldt)

Wash thoroughly iu several waters, four dozen crawfish, after removing the fins from the middle of the tail (see bisque Persigny, No. 204), drain them, then fry in butter, some carrots, onions, leeks, celery and parsley roots all cut into small squares; moisten with half a bottleful of Rhine wine, the same quantity of broth, and season with salt, mignonette and cayenne, and a gill of tomato puree (No. 730), put this with the crawfish on the fire in a well covered saucepan and cook for fifteen minutes, tossing them frequently while cooking; then drain them, and pick out the meat from the tails. Pound the shells with double their quantity of rice and when all form- a paste, moisten with the broth strained through a fine sieve; season and warm up without boiling, and when ready to serve, mix in a quarter of a pound of crawfish butter. Place the crawfish tails with small pancakes, cut round, five-eighths of an inch in diameter, in the soup tureen and pour the bisque over.

(204). Bisque Of Crawfish A La Persig1ty (Bisque D'Ecrevisses A La Persigny)

Remove the small black vein found in the center of the tail from forty-eight crawfish, using for this purpose either the tip of a knife, or else by twisting it round to the right, and pulling the fin away from the middle of the tail, and the vein attached to this will come off at the same time; it is must necessary to abstract this as it is always filled with sand. Wash the crawfish well; put them into a saucepan with a pint of broth, and the same quantity of white wine, salt, black pepper, two ounces of butter, two minced shallots, parsley and bay-leaf; boil for fifteen minutes, then drain and empty the bodies of twelve of the finest among them; pound the others to a fine paste, adding one quart of veloute sauce (No. 415), and one quart of broth; let boil again for fifteen minutes. then add to the bisque, half a pound of sliced bread, buttered and browned in the oven; simmer for fifteen minutes longer; then strain first through a sieve, and then through a tammy. Heat it up once more, and just when ready to serve, incorporate into it a quarter of a pound of fine butter, with a little red pepper added; fill the empty bodies with chicken forcemeat ( No.62) and lobster or crawfish butter mixed; poach them in boiling water, and when done cut them lengthwise in two; have also a garnishing of crusts made with savarin. a quarter of an inch square, dried in the oven, and served separate.