So far mainly successes or at least bases I can turn into something else. I have added seafood to my diet for health reasons, I prefer not to eat chicken and I don’t do well with much red meat. But the seafood has helped me so much in maintaining basic health needs that were being negatively affected by my disease and treatments. I have had really good B12 and iron levels for quite a while now 🙂 This means I have good cell production which means I heal better!
Today was a Prawn in Bisque with Fennel.
100ml Rice Bran Oil in a very large saucepan (mine was two handled)
about half a red onion pre-baked in stock
Heat on high and add 380grm prawns (I used pre-cooked but whole prawns as the only option right now)
Add a shot of Drambuie
Add cajun inspired seasoning
Split one chilli and add.
Add 1/4 tin of coconut milk
Pre-heat a smaller sauce pan
While the bique base is heating and infusing remove the prawns and fry a few at a time in the smaller saucepam. The bisque stuck to them will char in the pan. Only a short time but make them crispy. Once all prawns are cooked remove heads and add the heads back in to the bisque.
Deglaze the pan with Drambuie or Coconut milk after at least two batches.
After the final batch add slices of fennel bulb to the smaller saucepan. I did this too quickly, so cook slowly and make sure the fennel is well cooked. Should be barely al dente.
Reduce bisque.
Cut one lemon in quarters and add two quarters to the bisque.
Add another 1/4 of the coconut milk.
Reduce the bisque and replace liquids with the rest of the tin of coconut milk.
Reduce heat
Strain the bisque into a pot and then blend the remaining solids. Including the lemon but not the chilli! Remove the chilli and add back to the strained bisque.
If the solids do not blend use some water to remove the last of the cream and blend with the solids.
Strain the solid.
put the solids that do not reduce aside to turn in to a stock.
Lightly crush the remaining lemon halves and add to bisque.
Plate up with the prawns, a slice of fennel bulb, and fennel sprigs.
Always taste and adjust levels. This can go very easily too sweet. The lemon at different degrees of cooking helps balance that. And the lemon brings out the other flavours and is not just a flavour on its own!
If you have never tried Drambuie it has a strong whiskey flavour but is sweet and syrupy. I decide to try this combination as I hoped the prawns could have enough flavour. I was inspired by the flavours described in Red Eye Beef, and knowing how well seafood and beef work together.
Definitely needs a lot of reducing, and this multiple cooking process of the prawns shells. These prawns are small enough to not need deshelling but any bigger and definitely remove shells before serving! They do blend really beautifully.
I would like to have remembered some garlic in there, and also to have used lime- but it was so expensive I will save it for when I serve this again!