Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Food, Cooking, and Game Preparation Thoughts on Seafood Chowder and Bisques?

Most recipes are fairly much the same but where they vary widely are on how much flower (if any) is used and whether to add it up front as a Roux or as a thickener at the last step? The amounts varied from none to two cups, other recipes were thickened with potatoes or corn starch.

The other thing that varies widely is how much milk or cream to use? One recipe had a brick of cream cheese, half & half and milk, that sounds like way too much.

Oyster Bisque I like fairly light, a full blown chowder I like it fairly thick but not like runny mashed potatoes.

The wife and I went to a fairly upscale local restaurant on Christmas Eve and as one of their specials, they had a Tomato Crab Bisque. I'm not a big fan of tomato soup, but took a chance. It was basically like a red She Crab Soup, but not overboard on the tomato flavor. Man was it good. Easily one of the best soups/chowders I've ever tasted.

This has worked well for me.

Fish Chowder #2

6 Tbsp. Unsalted Sweet Butter (2 Cups Dry White Wine or
2 Lbs. Fresh Fish 2 Cups Dry Sherry, NOT BOTH!)
1 Lbs. Other Seafood 4 Cups Heavy Cream
1 Large Onion, Chopped 1 Bottle (8.00 oz.) Clam Juice
4 Stalks Chopped Celery ½ Tbsp. Black Pepper
4 Chopped Carrots ½ Tbsp. White Pepper
4 Diced Potatoes 1 Tbsp. Parsley Flakes
2 (6.00 oz.) Cans Crab Meat 1 Tbsp. Thyme
2 (6.50 oz.) Cans Chopped Clams 3 Bay Leaves
1 (8.00 oz.) Can White Corn 1 tsp. salt

1. Heat 4 Tbsp. Butter in a large soup pot over medium to high heat.

2. Dice and sauté in Butter until soft:

1 Cup Chopped Onions
4 Stalks Celery, Chopped
4 Carrots, Chopped

3. Reduce Heat and add to cooked fresh vegetables:

4 Diced Potatoes
1 Cup Dry Sherry
1 Cup Dry White Wine
2 Cans (6.00 oz.) Crab Meat
2 Cans (6.50 oz.) Chopped Clams

4. Season with:

½ Tbsp. Black Pepper ½ Tbsp. White Pepper
1 Tbsp. Parsley Flakes 1 Tbsp. Thyme
2 Bay Leaves 1 tsp. Salt

5. Simmer over low heat for at least forty-five (45) minutes.

6. Add fish and scallops. Simmer just long enough for the fish and scallops to cook, usually between 5 and 10 minutes, but DO NOT BOIL! After 5 minutes, add the heavy cream and warm the chowder.

This recipe is better tasting if you cook it the day or evening prior to serving it and allow it to simmer on low heat for a couple of hours before cooling and refrigerating. We reheat it in a slow cooker/crock pot. These ingredients make 6 large or 8 medium bowls of soup.

SC: I would have liked that soup as I like Manhattan style chowder, Chiopino and other tomatoe based seafood dishes especially gumbos.

Thanks 260 guy: about what I think I will do but thinking on cutting the cream back and going for a white roux or bechamel base.

I also almost always add Old Bay Seasoning or Cajun spices to the mix.

I am surprised at the long cooking times, I have been going for more of a bisque with a shorter final cooking time, but due to slight reservations caused by the pandemic I think I will cook longer, I don't want to prove the CDC wrong and become a statistic.

Clipped this recipe from an In Fisherman mag several years ago and it became our favorite.

Chowda'

Cioppino !

North Beach

Casa Musetti...

I've made lobster bisque a few times. Delicious. When you have steamed lobster at a restaurant, you need to bring home all the shells and whatever meat you didn't eat, in order to make it.

I do that every year before thanksgiving. I make a huge pot of broth from Lobster and Artichoke left overs, then make bisque, gumbo, and chowder with the stock. Oyster and artichoke bisque is a favorite, I improvise off the Justin Wilson recipe.

Thanksgiving gumbo uses all the gravy for rue and turkey parts. I make a big pot of turkey stock and then mix it with any leftover lobster stock for the gumbo.

If I am making it specifically for bisque I par boil the fat off the shells and then roast the clean shells in the oven and then put them back in the stock to boil.

Best chowder I have had was Dukes in Seattle.

I started fish chowder tonight, old clam juice, cat food. .

I like them all - the white ones like New England clam "chowda", the red ones like cioppino, or the brown ones like bouillabaisse. I like fish of all kinds and methods. Had a bouillabaisse-like fish stew in the Drake Hotel in Chicago once called Bookbinder Soup. Fabulous. LINK