Bisque Binge

the shrimp bisque was so good i made some more

sometimes when you try to duplicate perfection the attempt falls short

not this time !

it was just as good and tasty and loaded with tender shrimp as the first time

most of the shrimp bisque recipeez i looked up on the internets (sic) involved using bottled clam broth

the one i chose to follow made "fish" broth using the shrimp shells / in a TB of unsalted butter cook the shells from about 1 and 1/4 pound of shrimp until they are golden / then add 1/2 cup of Pernod (original recipe / i didnt have Pernod so i used some cheap brandy) and let it cook almost all gone then add 2 quarts of water / simmer uncovered for 20 minutes then strain and press on the shells / set aside for the rest of the recipe

concurrent with the shrimp bisque binge i was flirting madly with fresh little neck clams / isnt it a wonder to have fresh clams from Long Island, New York, in the middle of the south western desert wilderness ? i buy them without a second thought / smile / the first thought that comes to mind is a vision of a car on the side of the road on Topanga Canyon Boulevard with the trunk open and a vendor selling frozen lobsters / i could never bring myself to get one no matter how much i loved lobster

steaming the clams (about 18 of them) in 3/4 cup of water gives you a nice cup of clam "liquor" / this is used in making New England clam chowder but if you are making linguini with clam sauce you can put the clam liquor aside to use in your next go around with shrimp bisque / very tasty and so culinarily interdependent