I love Fall… I know we don’t actually have a Fall here in Florida (don’t remind me, it makes me cry) but I like the idea of it and what it represents. To me it represents that winter, my favorite season, is just around the corner (yes don’t remind me we don’t really have a winter either -_-), that the holidays will start soon, that it is a time for family, that a lot of cooking will happen, that people will be kinder for a little bit. I honestly wish I lived in a place where the leaves turn gorgeous shades of red, and coats, scarves, and mittens are necessary.

However, for now, that is not where I am located. I am in Florida -_- and must do with cranking the AC to the low 60s and decorating my house in tons of fake fall foliage. I will be posting a lot of Fall themed recipes in the months to come, but for today I decided to celebrate the beginning of Fall with a bowl of Shrimp and Scallops Bisque. Why? Because it is a hot bowl of stick to your ribs food… and because I had shrimp and scallops in my fridge.

Ingredients:

-1 lb peeled and deveined shrimp

-1/2 lb scallops

-2 Tbsp vegetable oil

-1 red onion (can use vidalia, yellow, whatever you have at hand)

-1 Tbsp chopped garlic

-1/4 cup spiced rum

-1/2 cup red wine

-1/3 cup tomato sauce (can add more if you like a stronger pink)

-1 cup whole milk

-1 cup heavy cream

-3 cups chicken stock or seafood stock

-1/2 stick of butter

-1/4 cup of flour

Set chicken stock to heat. When it is almost boiling add shrimp and blanch for a minute. I did this to get that shrimp flavor into the stock, you can avoid this step if you use seafood stock. Keep stock simmering on low heat.

In a large dutch oven pot add vegetable oil, when it is hot add the onions. Let cook for ten minutes on medium heat. Then add garlic, cook for only 30 seconds to a minute (remember, garlic is a delicate butterfly that can not be cooked with any direct heat for long periods of time).
Add the shrimps and scallops. Saute for 5 minutes. Then add spiced rum and red wine (you might want to remove the pan from the heat when you do this step, wouldn’t want you to get a fire facial). Let cook for five more minutes in order to remove the alcohol from the sauce.

Get all the shrimp and scallops out onto a cutting board. Add all the remaining sauce to the chicken stock. Clean pot with a paper towel. Set on medium heat and add butter to the pot to start melting. Keeping an eye on the butter quickly chop your shrimps and scallops into small pieces. Add the flour to the butter and stir with a whisk until it is well combined. Let cook for about a minute and then slowly add the heavy cream and milk while constantly stirring with your whisk. Let cook for five minutes.

Now we put it all together! Add cut up shrimp and scallops, chicken stock mixture, and tomato sauce. Let simmer for about 20 minutes on medium-low heat. After the 20 minutes taste it and add salt and pepper as needed. Garnish with some chopped parsley or chives and serve immediately.