Twelve Apostles Hotel, Camps Bay / South Africa

Twelve Apostles Hotel, Cape Town

Recipe of the Month: February 2006

Spicy Crayfish and Fennel Bisque

Ingredients:

1 Medium sized Crayfish (or Lobster)about 500gm
30gm Butter
1 Onion
Finely chopped20gm
Fennel50ml D
ry white wine80ml
Medium cream sherry
1.5lt Fish stock
40gm Tomatoe paste
100ml Cream
5gm Cayenne pepper
5gm Black pepper
ground
10ml Lemon juice

MethodCut crayfish in half and wash out under cold running water.Remove the flesh from the shells and set aside. Place the shells on an oven pan and roast them in a moderate oven till they have a bright red colour.Place the shells in a pan and crush them into pieces with a wooden spoon. Pour the stock over the broken shells and bring it to the boil. As soon as the stock starts to boil, turn the heat down and allow the stock to simmer for 20 minutes.Remove the stock from the heat and strain it through a fine sieve. Discard the shells and set the stock aside.Heat butter in a large saucepan. Add carrots and Fennel and sauté for five minutes. Add the crayfish meat and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add wine, sherry and 250ml stock and simmer for five minutes.1. Strain the soup and put the onion, crayfish and fennel in a food processor and blend until smooth.2. place the stock and blended crayfish in the saucepan again, add the remaining stock and allow the soup to simmer until it has reduced by a third.3. Stir in the tomatoe paste, cream, pepper & lemon juice and simmer for 5 minutes before serving. Serves 4