Chilled Green Pea Bisque with Dungeness Crab

Chilled Green Pea Bisque with Dungeness Crab

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Ingredients

For the bisque:

  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1/4 cup sliced shallots
  • 1/4 cup dry sherry
  • 3 cups freshly shelled spring peas or use frozen baby peas
  • 3 cups vegetable or chicken broth
  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh tarragon
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice, or to taste
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1/2 pound Dungeness crabmeat
  • Cooked morels

For the morels:

  • 1/4 pound fresh morels (or substitute 1 ounce dried morels) (see note)
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1/4 cup dry white wine
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

To make the bisque:

In a soup pot, melt butter over medium heat and cook shallots for 5 to 6 minutes, or until tender but not browned. Add sherry to the pan and cook until most of the liquid is absorbed. Add peas and broth. Bring the liquid to a slow boil and cook peas until just tender, about 8 minutes for fresh peas. Stir in tarragon.

Puree soup in a blender or food processor or pass through a sieve or food mill.

Stir in cream and adjust the seasoning with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Chill slightly.

Serve in pretty bowls and garnish with crabmeat, cooked morels and thin slices of fresh lemon.

To make the morels:

Toss fresh morels in a bowl of cold water for a few brief seconds to release any sand or debris. Drain and immediately dry by tossing around in a dish towel. Cut in half lengthwise and cut each half into thin strips. Sauté gently in butter over medium heat until just tender, about 2 minutes. Add wine and cook until fully absorbed. Season with salt and pepper.

Special notes:

If using dried morels, hydrate mushrooms in very hot water for about 30 minutes. Remove from the liquid with your fingers so you don’t disturb the sediment that has settled to the bottom. Save the hydrating liquid for other recipes that call for mushroom stock. Once the morels are hydrated, cut them into strips lengthwise and cook as directed above for fresh morels.

I love to eat this bisque accompanied by slices of baguette spread with butter and topped with super thin radish slices and coarse sea salt!

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