Take thirty crawfish, from which remove the gut containing the gall in
the following manner: Take firm hold of the crawfish with the left hand
so as to avoid being pinched by its claws; with the thumb and forefinger
of the right hand pinch the extreme end of the central fin of the tail,
and, with a sudden jerk, the gut will be withdrawn.
Mince or cut into small dice a carrot, an onion, one head of celery and
a few parsley roots, and to these add a bay leaf, a sprig of thyme, a
little minionette pepper and two ounces of butter. Put these ingredients
into a stewpan and fry them ten minutes, then throw in the crawfish and
pour on them half a bottle of French white wine. Allow this to boil and
then add a quart of strong consomme and let all continue boiling for
half an hour. Pick out the crawfish and strain the broth through a
napkin by pressure into a basin in order to extract all the essence from
the vegetables.
Pick the shells off twenty-five of the crawfish tails, trim them neatly
and set them aside until wanted. Reserve some of the spawn, also half of
the body shells with which to make the crawfish butter to finish the
soup. This butter is made as follows: Place the shells on a baking sheet
in the oven to dry; let the shells cool and then pound them in a mortar
with a little lobster coral and four ounces of fresh butter, thoroughly
bruising the whole together so as to make a fine paste. Put this in a
stewpan and set it over a slow fire to simmer for about five minutes,
then rub it through a sieve with considerable pressure into a basin
containing ice water. As soon as the colored crawfish butter is become
firmly set, through the coldness of the water, take it out and put it
into a small basin and set in the refrigerator until wanted.
Reverting to the original recipe: Take the remainder of the crawfish and
add thereto three anchovies, washed for the purpose, and also the crusts
of French rolls, fried to a light brown color in butter. Pound all these
thoroughly together and then put them into a stewpan with the broth that
has been reserved in a basin, and having warmed the bisque thus prepared
rub it through a sieve into a fine puree. Put this puree into a soup pot
and finish by incorporating therewith the crawfish butter and season
with a little cayenne pepper and the juice of half a lemon. Pour the
bisque quite hot into the tureen in which have been placed the crawfish
tails, and send to the table.
This is not so difficult as it appears when you are reading it and if
you wish to have something extra fine take the necessary time and
patience and prepare it.