Om wrote:

>> As it happens, I'll be making crab bisque tonight. I don't follow any
>> particular recipe, but I use the method given in the _Les Halles_
>> cookbook
>> to make it, including the rather noisy one of putting the crab parts -
>> shells and all - into the food processor to extract as much flavor as
>> possible.
>
> I managed to miss the posted recipe. Guess I'll have to google it. I was
> wondering if it'd work with crawfish? It has a stronger flavor than
> crab.

Here's what I did for two diners:

Extract big lumps of meat from one or two crab claws (depending on how big
the claws are) and reserve. Cut up remainder of crabs (we had a big
Dungeness crab and a King crab leg) into chunks (including shells).

In a big wide pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add crab chunks and
cook, stirring occasionally, for about a minute. Add a roughly-chopped
onion, two cloves of roughly-chopped garlic, the greens from a large leek
cut up into three-inch lengths, and a roughly-chopped stem of celery. Stir
for about a minute, then shove things over to the side and add two
tablespoons of tomato paste into the bottom of the pan. Cook until tomato
paste turns a rusty color, then stir everything together and cook for
another two minutes or so. Remove from heat, add a couple shots of cognac,
then return pan to heat and stir everything around, scraping the bottom and
side of the pan. (The leek greens can be used as a kind of squeegee to
scrape off the fond.)

Add water to cover, then add a big pinch of thyme, a pinch of saffron, and a
good grinding of pepper. Taste and add salt if needed. Bring to boil, reduce
to simmer, and simmer 45 minutes.

Use tongs to pick out crab chunks and put into food processor. Process to a
kind of "crab sludge." If (like mine) your food processor does not have a
gasket at the top, you might want to wrap something like paper towels around
it to keep from splattering crab goo all over the kitchen. Return crab
sludge to pot. Add cream (I only used about a third of a cup) and more
water. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer, and cook for another 30 minutes.

Strain soup well, pressing down to extract as much liquid as possible. I had
to do the straining in two parts, once through a coarse strainer and once
through a fine strainer. Taste and adjust salt, pepper, or cream to suit
your palate.

Just before serving, bring to boil again. Place reserved crab meat into
bottom of bowls and add soup. Squeeze lemon juice into each bowl of soup and
serve. (We used Bearss limes, which are wondefully fragrant.)

The recipe should work fine for crawfish. Bourdain's recipe is for lobster,
and crawfish are more like lobsters than crabs are. With crawfish I might
use different seasoning than the tomato-thyme-saffron combination, though.

Bob