Paleo Crab Bisque

Paleo Crab Bisque This morning I woke up to the most beautiful weather – after weeks of 90’s, it dropped to 65 overnight and feels like, dare I say it… FALL! I am no fool, I know we will have at least one more surge of sweltering, humid, sauna-fying heat, but I am soaking this up right now. I’ve been setting up a new home office and although it will be a couple months until the actual construction begins to transition our 3 seasons room (more like 2 if we’re honest) to a 4 seasons room, I have been painting brick, making DIY faux fur rugs, and setting up shop. Turns out the rug is a hit so far. If you could hear the windchimes right now in my backyard and feel the slight breeze that moved in overnight, you’d have one thing on your mind. Soup. Y’all know I am a year round soup eater, but when the chill in the air hits, I am full board addict style. My friend Michelle of Cavegirl Cuisine just released her book called Ladle, and said I could share her recipe for Crab Bisque. Now growing up on the Gulf Coast, I am a big fan of crab everything and bisque is just up my alley. So when I got permission to share this recipe I got extra excited! Alright enough about me and my faux fur rugs, let’s get to what really matters. And don’t forget to grab your copy of Ladle HERE! Ingredients:

• 1 pound lump crabmeat (or lobster)
• 3.5 tablespoons ghee or grassfed butter
• 2 cups leeks, chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and large diced
• 1/2 head cauliflower, roughly chopped
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 2 cups water
• 1 tablespoon Herbs de Provence
• Sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 bay leaf
• 4-6 garlic cloves, peeled and whole
• 2 tablespoons cooking sherry
• 6-ounce can tomato paste

1. In a soup pot or Dutch oven, place 2 tablespoons ghee, leeks, celery, and carrots
2. Heat and cook until leeks are tender.  Add broth, water, cauliflower, Herbs de Provence, salt, pepper, bay leaf, and garlic cloves.
3. Bring to a boil, reduce and simmer covered for 30 minutes.
4. Using a slotted spoon, remove bay leaf. Discard
5. Using an immersion blender, blend ingredients until smooth. (You can use a stand mixer as an alternative)
6. Add approximately 3/4 of crab meat into the pot along with cooking Sherry and tomato paste. Stir until combined and simmer
7. In a small pan over medium heat, melt remaining ghee and add remaining crab meat. Cook for 2 minutes until lobster meat is coated. Pour bisque into two bowls. Add a portion of the buttered crab to the center of the bowls and garnish with fresh thyme.