This soup can be made with any shellfish, but I think it’s best with lobster or crabmeat, especially eastern blue crab lump crabmeat. We used to make this with freshly caught crab at the New Jersey shore on late summer days long ago, but it’s not just nostalgia that keeps it in my repertoire.

SERVINGS

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

6 cups fish or chicken stock

4 cups coarsely chopped celery stalks and leaves

1 medium onion, coarsely chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 whole stalks celery

2 slender carrots, peeled

1 cup cooked crabmeat, lobster, or chopped shrimp

2 tablespoons minced celery leaves

PREPARATION

1.    In a large pot, mix the stock, chopped celery, and onion and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cover. Simmer for 30 minutes.

2.    Strain through a colander into a clean pot. Press out the juices from the vegetables; discard the vegetables.

3.    Julienne the whole celery stalks and carrots. Blanch them in boiling water for 2 minutes and

drain. Add the seafood and the julienned vegetables to the consomme and reheat quickly to serving temperature. Sprinkle the top of each bowl with a pinch of minced celery leaves.

 Tip

If you cook your own seafood—which I recommend—you can reserve up to 1 cup of the cooking liquid and add that to the stock.