Bisque

Pat: Bisques are the most luxurious soups around. With a base of cream and seafood and brandy, they have a way of filling you and sating your appetite. This recipe is an easy, satisfying version of a dish that usually takes much longer to prepare. A quickie homemade shrimp stock provides an essential depth of flavor. And though the small amount of rice might seem unusual, it helps thicken the soup.

Blush-colored lobster bisque made from flavorful lobster stock has historically suggested the height of elegance. Save this recipe for a leisurely weekend.

Sautéing and simmering shrimp shells to make a quick stock gives this soup a deeper, richer flavor.

Who needs lobster? Mussels bring a similar richness to this soup.

A no-cook soup that's as effortless as it is elegant embodies everything we look for in a summer dish. The sweet honey and sharp vinegar are natural extensions of summertime tomatoes' flavor.

When was the last time you had a traditional, everything-from-scratch bisque? The rarity of an execution this loving, along with those succulent lumps of meat, guarantees groans of pleasure at the Christmas table. The intensely crabby finishing touch, with its base akin to drawn butter, will delight veteran crustacean eaters.

Red peas and kidney beans are one and the same.

Thai red curry paste adds a spicy punch.

Celery root (also called celeriac) is one of autumn's most delicious—but least appreciated—vegetables. Here it adds fresh celery flavor to this velvety first-course soup.

Active time: 45 min Start to finish: 1 3/4 hr

The duck leg confit brings added richness to the bisque, but the soup is also delicious without it.

Teri Carpenter of Albuquerque, New Mexico, writes: "On a trip to British Columbia, we dined at Blue Heron Inn, on Porpoise Bay, in Sechelt. They served a fabulous onion and fennel bisque. Could you get the chef to share the recipe with Gourmet?" This bisque is so lush that demitasse cups make an ideal serving size. Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 1 hr

The pink-peppercorn garnish gives this chilled soup a pretty spring look.