Thursday, September 1, 2011

Crab and Florence Fennel Soup

Its officially spring here today!
The days are getting warmer and warmer.
Its time to wave goodbye to soups.
But its still cold at night.
From our last fishing trip we still have many crabs in the freezer and Florence fennels in the garden are  ready for picking. So what to do with them? I was flicking through pages of "The Food & Cooking of Finland" recipe book by Anja Hill and came across a crayfish soup recipe. It gave me an idea to adapt this recipe to crab and florence fennel soup.
Florence Fennel with English Daisy as companion in our garden.
It is our first time growing Florence Fennel in our garden this year.
Happy that we have beginners luck on this vegetable grown from seeds.
Crab and Florence Fennel Soup
Ingredients:
50g unsalted butter
50g (1cup) plain (all-purpose) flour
700ml (3cups) fish or chicken stock
5ml (1tsp) paprika
1 egg yolk
120ml cup double (heavy) cream
250gram cooked crab/crayfish meat
15ml (1tbsp) lemon juice
salt and ground black pepper (seasoning)
15ml (1tbsp) chopped fresh dill (to garnish)
*Optional~ Florence Fennel (sliced)
1) Melt the butter in a pan, stir in the flour to make a roux and cook over a low heat for 30 seconds, without colouring. Remove from the heat and gradually stir in the fish or chicken stock to form a smooth sauce.
2) Return the pan to the heat and, stirring all the time, cook until the sauce boils and thickens. Add the paprika and season to taste with salt and pepper.
3) In a small bowl, mix the egg yolk and cream together, then stir into the soup and heat gently, taking care not to let the mixture boil or the soup will curdle.
4) Add the florence fennel, crab meat and lemon juice to the soup and heat gently. Pour the soup into individual serving bowls and serve hot, garnished with chopped dill.
During our fishing trip, there were bit of crab pieces on the jetty which Ilhan made many shape of it.
This is one of his imaginative product.
What do you think it is?
Ilhan's mama made a wrong guess!
Its a diplodocus.
Linking with Wendy's GTTC.

19 comments:

Jody said...

I love fennel. I love crab. What a delicious looking soup. Enjoy the new spring season. It's starting to get cold here.

Sunray Gardens said...

Looks really good. So nice to cook up a meal where you provide so much yourself.
Cher Sunray Gardens

lena said...

you will have all the beginners luck for all your crops seeing your amazing gardening skills! Thanks for sharing this recipe! Happy spring!!

cikmanggis said...

ingin mencuba sup seperti ini.kena cari crabs yg banyak isi:)..wah pandainya ilhan..dinosour?hehe..selamat hari raya...

Mark Willis said...

Happy Spring! I hate crab, and I hate fennel, but I respect the fact that it is me who is the odd one out here, since most people like them.

Patricia said...

Your fennel bulbs look wonderful. I have not had luck growing them...they never really bulb well for me. But I do buy them at the Farmers Market. I prepare them many ways. One summer salad we enjoy is Italian in origin. It is made with chopped fennel, white cannelini beans, a can of tuna, some red onion, salt, pepper, olive oil.

tina said...

That crab soup looks great!

Malar said...

I wish i'm there now to taste the soup! It look so yummy!

Veggie Gnome said...

Selamat Hari Rayah! (Slightly belated)

That soup looks fantastic! That fennel looks great! So far, I have not had luck with it. Haven't even tried to grow it the last 2 years. So, well done! :)

Cat-from-Sydney said...

MKG dear,
My Mama is really wishing that you're our neighbour. In her current "unwellness" that soup is the best. purrr....meow!

shaz said...

Mmm, the crab soup sounds delicious! And I adore Ilhan's diplodocus. I would have guessed wrong too, he he.

littlekarstar said...

Hooray! So glad Florence fennel worked well for you! :)

Sean L said...

Salam Aidilfitri. Oh how I wish I can grow Florence fennel over here. The soup looks heavenly.

Lrong Lim said...

Oishii so desu!

Sue Garrett said...

I'm afraid I have to join Mark in that I don't like crab or fennel! I'm sure if you do the soup would be delicious

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

Jody~ We have an unusual early spring season this year. It is unusually warm than it should be. But we are enjoying spring flowers very much at the moment.

Cher~I guess since we can't afford this kind of soup in expensive hotels, it felt such a luxury to make this soup ;-).

Lena~Ah gardening is wierd, every year different plants will fail and succeed. All depending on mother nature swings.

Cikmanggis~Nasib baik Ilhan sibuk main serpihan ketam atas jeti jadi aman papa dia nak memancing. Selalunya tak boleh duduk diam.

Mark~I think fennel is an acquired taste ;-).

Patricia~That Italian originated way to enjoy fennel sounds very delicious!

Tina~Good for cold night to warm up the body.

Malar~I think it was enough for 6serves with that recipe.

Veggie Gnome~ Oh Raya is celebrated for 1 month, not belated yet :). I was worried about growing fennel, it was relief to see that it bulb.

Cat-from-Sydney~Hope you are feeling much better soon. You will like the crab meat!

Shaz~Ilhan is very obsess with dinasours. I am surprised he can remember many dinosaurs name and me as a mom still struggle to pronounce it.

Mrs Bok~ I did a trial of direc-sowing and transplanting. Happy that both seems to be working.

Sean L~ Thank you for the wish. I hope you get to feast on many delicious food during this festive season.

Lrong~ Oishikatta!

Sue~Thanks Sue. But I am not that a good cook:).

Wendy said...

A sea inspired puzzle - better than blocks!

I love any kind of soup that involves crab. I've only had fennel once though and even though I enjoyed it a lot, I ended up being allergic and had to get steroids to make the rash go away!

hijaudaun said...

sup ketam tu nampak sgt menyelerakan. ;>

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

Wendy~Oh I did not realised that fennel can cause allergy. I will take note of that in case any of my family members has allergies.

Hijaudaun~ Sekali-kala tukar selera sup ketam pula :).