You won't regret trying this yummy bisque I made for dinner tonight. It was quite yummy!


INGREDIENTS:

3 oz. bacon, coarsely chopped
1 c. celery, chopped
3/4 c. green bell pepper, chopped
3 oz. onion, chopped
½ c. parsley, chopped
6 oz. pork breakfast sausage
1 medium leaf kale, (about 3/4 c.), stemmed & chopped fine
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ tsp. Creole/Cajun Seafood Spice Blend
½ tsp. dried thyme leaves
¼ tsp. black pepper
Dash cayenne pepper
22 large shrimp, (shell removed), cut in halves (12 oz tail-on pkg)
2 c. chicken broth (preferably homemade, or seafood stock)
1 c. heavy cream
¼ c. white wine
Tiny dusting of xanthan gum or your favorite thickener
11 San Marzano mini tomatoes cut into 4 pieces (or 22 cherry tomatoes left whole)

VARIATION: Add 1 c. shelled/cleaned fresh crab meat + 1 c. extra chicken/seafood broth. Mmmm.

DIRECTIONS: In a large soup pot, over medium-high heat, brown the bacon. Add the Louisiana “Holy Trinity” (celery, bell pepper and onion) to the pot and saute until they begin to soften. Add sausage and break up as it cooks with the veggies. Add kale, garlic and the four spices. Lower heat to medium. Add shrimp and saute until opaque. If you prefer, you can use 12 oz. smaller shrimp and leave them whole. Add chicken (or seafood) stock, white wine, and cream. When returns to a simmer, lower heat to lowest setting. Add tomatoes and simmer about 10 minutes. Some like this stage of thickening from the cream. But if you like your cream soups a bit thicker, add the light sprinkle of xanthan gum. Alternately, if you like more broth in your soup, or ned to stretch this out for more servings (it was a bit thick with “solids”) you can always add 1-2 more cups of chicken stock to the pot. If you do add more broth, you will definitely want to use a thickener. Simmer a few minutes longer for the thickener to go to work. Pour into a soup tureen and serve at once.

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes 6 servings (as written), each containing:

382 cals, 31g fat, 7.01g carbs, 1.53g fiber, 5.48g NET CARBS, 16.3g protein, 410mg sodium