Bisque of Crawfish a la Humboldt

Wash thoroughly in several waters, four dozen crawfish, after removing the fins from the middle of the tail (see bisque Persigny, No. 204), drain them, then fry in butter, some carrots, onions, leeks, celery and parsley roots all cut into small squares; moisten with half a bottleful of Rhine wine, the same quantity of broth, and season with salt, mignonette and cayenne, and a gill of tomato puree (No. 730), put this with the crawfish on the fire in a well covered saucepan and cook for fifteen minutes, tossing them frequently while cooking; then drain them, and pick out the meat from the tails. Pound the shells with double their quantity of rice and when all forms a paste, moisten with the broth strained through a fine sieve; season and warm up without boiling, and when ready to serve, mix in a quarter of a pound of crawfish butter. Place the crawfish tails with small pancakes, cut round, five-eighths of an inch in diameter, in the soup tureen and pour the bisque over.