Easy Crawfish Bisque

I Love Crawfish, Mudbuds, Crayfish...what ever you call them, there's nothing like hosting a crawfish boil (or going to one), hot, spicey, succulent crawfish...Mmmmm!  We are approaching the latter couple of months of "Live Crawfish Season", which usually ends about June.  
But...coming up is the 30th Annual Mudbug Madness, a four-day festival held here in Shreveport each Memorial Day weekend at Festival Plaza.  Mudbug Madness is nationally recognized as one of the Southeast Tourism Society’s Top 20 Events, drawing as many as 56,000 people in one day and has helped in creating a renewed interest in Louisiana’s rich cultural heritage.  Here's a link to the schedule including Entertainment and Crawfish Eating Contests.  See what it's all about...come join us here in about 3 weeks and you'll be so glad you did.
If you can't be here or don't have access to "Live Crawfish"... look for "Louisiana"
crawfish at your local market.

Also, with this post I have included a video recipe tutorial that was filmed for a recipe contest.  I didn't win, but this recipe is a winner.

Easy Crawfish Bisque

Ingredients

-12 ounces Cooked Frozen Crawfish Tail Meat (Defrosted, Rinsed and Drained)
    or 5 pounds Cooked "Live Crawfish" peeled and deveined

-4 teaspoons Seafood Seasoning

-4 tablespoons Butter (Divided)

-4 tablespoons Olive Oil (Divided)

-2 cups Green Bell Pepper (Chopped)

-2 cups Onion (Chopped)

-2 cups Celery (Chopped)

-1 teaspoon Salt

-1/2 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper

-1/2 teaspoon Dried Thyme

-3 ounces Tomato Paste

-1 Savory Garlic Philadelphia Cooking Creme

-32 ounces Seafood Stock

-1/2 cup Cream Sherry (Optional)

Directions

• Mix Crawfish and Seafood Seasoning in a bowl
• Heat half of the Butter and Olive Oil in a large pot until melted
• Add Crawfish mixture, sauté until heated through (about 5 minutes) remove from pot
• Add remaining half of Butter and Olive Oil and heat until melted
• Add chopped Green Bell Pepper, Onion and Celery, sauté until wilted (about 10 minutes)
• Add Salt, Ground Black Pepper and Dried Thyme, stir
• Add Tomato Paste, Savory Garlic Philadelphia Cooking Creme and Seafood Stock, whisk until combined
• Puree with an immersion blender until smooth while coming up to temperature (about 10 minutes), (May use a regular blender and process in small batches, keep pressure on lid with a towel, return to pot - CAUTION, will be HOT)
• Add Crawfish back in, continue to heat until back up to temperature (about 5 minutes)
• Add Cream Sherry (1/4 -1/2 cup to taste), stir, serve and enjoy
• (Optional) Have Pepper Sauce available for your family or guests to add to their individual servings to their taste preference, if desired

Enjoy!

~CGJ