Shrimp Bisque

1 1/4 pound raw shrimp
2 tbsp. butter
1 onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
1 medium carrot, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
Pinch of cayenne pepper
2 tbsp. flour
1/2 cup dry sherry
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons tomato paste
3 cups water
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tsp. salt

Remove shells from the shrimp and place them in a saucepan. Add just enough water to cover and boil rapidly until the next step is completed.

Melt the butter in a large soup pot over low heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery and cayenne and sauté until soft, about 10 minutes. Add flour and cook over medium heat until flour browns lightly. Add sherry, stirring quickly so that it doesn’t become lumpy. Add water, bay leaf and tomato paste and bring to a boil.

Strain the shrimp shells from the water and discard. Add the reserved liquid to the soup base. Simmer for 10 minutes to reduce a little more. Roughly chop the shrimp and add to soup base. Simmer gently for a minute to cook shrimp. Remove soup from heat and using an immersion blender, puree the soup. Add heavy cream and salt. Serve immediately.

Potato & Leek Soup

What I Made: Potato and Leek Soup. I found Alton Brown's recipe on the Food Network website.Why: Leeks are in season and a rainy day like today calls for hot soup.

What I Did: I skipped the buttermilk originally called for because I never know what to do with the rest (tried buttermilk pancakes once, but nothing can beat my parents' pancake recipe). Also, I didn't have any vegetable broth so I substituted chicken broth and some water.

5 leeks, cleaned and dark green sections removed
2 tbsp. bacon fat
1 tsp. salt
3 small potatoes, peeled and diced small
1 can chicken broth
2 cups water
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon white pepper

Chop the leeks into small pieces.

In a 6-quart saucepan over medium heat, melt the bacon fat. Add the leeks and a heavy pinch of salt and sweat for 5 minutes. Decrease the heat to medium-low and cook until the leeks are tender, approximately 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the potatoes, chicken broth and water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and gently simmer until the potatoes are soft, approximately 25 minutes.

Turn off the heat and puree the mixture with an immersion blender until smooth. Stir in the heavy cream and white pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning if desired. Serves 4.

Review: Delicious and filling with a perfect smooth texture. The cream really makes it, well, creamy. Usually recipes for leeks call for a strict use of only the white part, but with the advent of immersion blenders, it doesn't matter anymore. Using some of the green lends a nice color. Maybe one day I'll try it with a lot of the green.

Lentil Soup

What I Made: On January 1, 2007 I made lentil soup based on an original recipe found on Epicurious which was from the book Memories of a Lost Egypt by Colette Rossant.

Why: I wanted to use up some ham that's been hanging around and the superstition calls for pork to be eaten on New Years' Day to give good luck. My mother sometimes makes Hoppin' John, but I just had to try something different. Lentils sounded more interesting than black-eyed peas (actually, the Black Eyed Peas sound better than lentils, ha, ha!) and the ham would go nicely so I searched online and found this recipe. It had very good reviews on Epicurious.

What I Did: I halved the original recipe and added the ham. Then I added some tasso ham that I discovered in the freezer while I was making it. The soup needed a little color so I added carrots. Here's what I ended up with:

1 medium onion
1 whole clove
1 1/4 cups of lentils (2/3rds of a 1-pound bag)
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp. dried marjoram
2 carrots, chopped
1 cup ham cut into 1/4" cubes
1/4 cup tasso ham cut into 1/4" cubes
3 - 14 ounce cans of chicken stock
2 cups water
4 cloves garlic, minced

Peel the onion, stick the clove in it and place it in a saucepan with all of the other ingredients except the garlic. Bring to a boil over high heat then reduce the heat and simmer, skimming occasionally, until the lentils are tender, about 30 minutes. Discard the onion and bay leaf and stir in the minced garlic. Reduce the heat to low and simmer slowly for 10 minutes.

Review: It was unexpectedly good. Very flavorful due to the clove (one is enough) and the use of chicken broth. I'm not sure what the tasso ham added. I didn't want to add a lot because I thought it was very spicy. It wasn't.

If you try it, let me know what you think!