Creamy Tiger Prawn Bisque with Cumin-Coriander Foam

Last night we had some friends over (Suzanna and Ian - Suzanna is Vanessa's Spanish teacher) and we made a Mexican meal eerily similar to one we had toward the end of March. You can check that out by looking it up in our March blog entries.

In any case, I got this new cream whipper which helps one make, well, whipped creams. And foams and other cool stuff. This was my first try with it and it's fun. We made a starter of Tequila Lime Tiger Prawns with Cilantro and Avocado and I had all of this prawn shells and bodies left over and decided to make this little amuse bouche (which means sort of 'to wake up the mouth' or 'amuse the palate'). It is typically a very small, well flavored course served first to get people ramped up about eating dinner.

This little soup packed a punch and the foam worked out very nicely too. The chile de arbol (available through a lot of spice purveyors) provided a nice heat in the back of the throat and the bisque was rich, while still managing to stay light.

olive oil
12 tiger prawns, shells only, bodies and heads
1 shallot
½ lemon , sliced
1 clementine, or half an orange, sliced
2 bay leaf
10 peppercorns
3 sprigs parsley
284 milliliters double cream
¼ teaspoon chile de arbol, ground
salt and pepper
284 milliliters single cream
¼ teaspoon cumin
¼ teaspoon coriander
5 sprigs fresh coriander
2 dashes cinnamon
In a large saucepan, heat some olive oil over medium-high heat. When hot, put the prawn shells in the pan and stir around. Let them cook until the shells get a nice, rich red and you can smell the aromas they are giving off, about 6-8 minutes. Add the tomato paste and stir around to coat as best you can, letting it cook for another 20 seconds or so.

Add the shallot, lemon, clementine, bay leaves, peppercorns, parsley and enough water to cover everything, about 2 liters (2 quarts). Bring this to a boil over high heat, skim the scum off of the top quickly and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 30 minutes or so, skimming scum off of the top the best you can.

Strain everything into a large bowl. Push down on the shells and everything in the sieve to extract as much juice as possible. Discard the solids. Pour the strained liquid back into a clean saucepan. Bring this to a boil and reduce the liquid down to about 1 cup of reduced stock. Pour in the cream and bring this mixture just to a boil then reduce immediately to a simmer and reduce the whole mixture down to 2 cups of total liquid. Season the bisque with chile de arbol powder and some salt and pepper to taste. Set aside or chill if using later.

In a small saucepan, place the cream, cumin, coriander, fresh coriander and cinnamon just to a boil, then turn off the heat. Let the herbs and spices infuse the cream for 30 minutes. Strain the solids out. Take the cream and put into a cream whipper according to manufacturer directions. Chill. (NOTE: If you don't have a cream whipper, you can simply whip the cream up to a topping consistency using a whisk or electric beaters).

When ready to finish, bring the bisque up to eating temperature over medium heat. Fill four small glasses (tall, narrow shotglasses that are a few inches tall work best) and fill each about 3/4 of the way up with bisque. Top the rest of the way with the foam.

Serves 4 as an amuse bouche.