- 4 cloves garlic, unpeeled
- 3 lemons, thinly sliced
- 1 cup chopped celery leaves
- 4 sprigs fresh parsley
- 3 medium yellow onions, sliced
- 1 package (3 ounces) shrimp or crab boil
- 7 pounds live crawfish
- ¼ pounds unsalted butter
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1 celery heart, finely chopped
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 quarts heavy cream
- Salt
- Food processor
- For the crawfish:
- Fill a large stockpot one-third full of cold water. Add all of the ingredients except the crawfish and boil for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, soak the crawfish in salted cold water for about 15 minutes; rinse.
- Strain the stock and discard the vegetables. Place the crawfish in the liquid and add water to cover, if necessary. Bring to a rolling boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Drain and serve .
- For the bisque:
- Break the cooked crawfish in half and remove the tail meat and fat. Reserve the shells and meat separately.
- In a stockpot, melt the butter and sauté the onion and celery until wilted. Add the cayenne, heavy cream, and reserved crawfish shells, heads, and fat.
- Simmer over low heat for 45 minutes.
- In a food processor, blend the shells with the cream. Pass the soup through a fine sieve; discard the solids.
- Add the reserved tail meat and chill until ready to serve.