Suffolk shore crab bisque.

So on holiday, living on an old Dutch barge, with only a simple Aga to cook on, do central heating, and all the hot water (best shower in ages!) The Twa Gebroders is a lovely place to stay for a weeks holiday and worth the money and occasional drop of condensation as you sleep...
Shore crab bisque came from HFW's river cottage 'Edible Seashore'. A great book if your off on holiday to the seaside. While I read the recipe it was not slavishly followed, as I'm on a boat in a tiny hamlet in Suffolk... Ingredients being harder to comeby at times.
This recipe worked really well. Though timing was totally out the window!
A pressure cooler would make this a 20 minute cook rather than the hour and a half I spent...
Anyway the recipe.
Take a half small bucket of shore crabs.
3 carrots
2onions
A big leek
3 sticks cellery
2 cloves garlic
Some smoked sweet paprika
Some smoked hot paprika
A tin of chopped toms'
A bottle of Suffolk cider (300ml for cooking  rest to keep the chef happy so get a big bottle)
Olive oil and butter
Dry dill 1 tsp.
S&P
Some milk or CREAM. DOUBLE. NO REALLY! JUST A DASH!!!

Half a bucket of shore crabs?
When cooking for two I used about 10 or 15 of these little crabs, they all fitted into a colander easily.

Top tip on cooking crabs or crustations of any kind, stick them in the freezer for 30 mins to 1 hour before you plunge the poor Buggers into a big pot of very salty boiling water. The big chill puts them into a very... Limited state of being, making plunging them alive into hot water as humane as possible.

1 chop all the veg, and soften in a big casserole with the olive oil and butter. Soften not brown.

2 whilst that's doing bring a big pan of salty water to the boil. (the aha was brill at this) then drop in the crabs bring back to the boil and then cook for 3 minutes. Drain and cool, before chopping.

3 when the vegies are softish, add the paprikas and dry dill and fry for one minute more then add the chopped crab.

4 mix in a measureing jug the tin of tomatoes, a tomato tin of the cider, and top up to 1liter with water. Season.

5 after stirring the crab into the vegies, and cooking whilst you mix the liquid, add the liquid. Stir, put lid on and cook till the vegies are really soft... (this took a goodly long while in the aga oven, wine was enjoyed.)

6 put a sieve over another saucepan. When the vegies are sore laddle into the sieve in small amounts pushing and squeezing as Much through the holes as you can.
Be strong! Repeat till you have a pan of soup.

7 Check the seasoning of the soup. Add S & P as required. Then Stir in the cream or milk.  Bring back to near boiling and serve with the croutons I forgot to tell you to make earlier. Sorry.

8 go back in time, chop into cubes nice sourdough bread and fry in olive oil and butter with 3 cloves garlic s&p. Till crispy and gorgeous.... Low and slow is the way here. While your waiting for the stuff to cook. Really worth it.