Lobster Circus - Part Two: Lobster Bisque

Lobster Circus - Part Two: Lobster Bisque

The sweetest tasting lobster bisque is one that doesn't force you to put a second mortgage on your house.

I have to start this post by mentioning that looking for rentals in New York City must be one of the worst experiences in life along with how awful walking down Broadway and Prince is on a Saturday afternoon--someone really needs to let tourists know it's not okay to stop directly in the middle of a busy sidewalk to ogle storefronts. Now that my patience has thoroughly been tested, I've  been brought to the brink of insanity, and only had one major breakdown, I should be signing a lease sometime this week. Of course, this isn't over until I'm holding a signed copy of said lease, money has been exchanged, and I'm sitting in my new backyard drinking a cocktail and eating a fig from one of my new fig trees, but I think I can at least calm down and feel like this thing is almost there. What better time to add the thrilling sequel to my post on lobster rolls and what to do with your frozen lobster bodies. 

Recipe:

Dark Brick Roux

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup flour

Lobster Stock

• 2 cooked lobster carcasses, defrosted
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 2 ribs celery, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/3 cup tomato paste
• 2 oz brown liquor, Congac or Bourbon
• 1 cup dry white wine, Sauvignon Blanc
• 6 whole garlic cloves
• 2 bay leaves
• 12 sprigs thyme
• 12 sprigs tarragon
• 1 Tbsp whole black pepper corns
• 3 cups vegetable stock
• 3 cups fish stock

Finishing

• 1 cup heavy cream
• Salt and pepper

Procedure:

Begin by making a dark or brick roux. A roux is equal parts by volume of flour and a fat cooked over heat for a certain amount of time. When a liquid is added to this slurry, it helps thicken it up when heated. This is the base of so many sauces including three French mother sauces:  Béchamel, Velouté, and Espagnole. A roux can be brought from white through dark, or brick depending on how long you cook it... the color comes from the flour toasting and the butter browning due to the heat. This recipe requires a dark roux because it adds a really nice nutty flavor to the bisque while not adding too much thickening to an already thick soup--the longer a roux cooks, the less thickening power it has. 

Melt the butter in a heavy sauce pan and then whisk in the flour. Cook over medium heat while continuing to whisk. Eventually, you'll see the color start changing. Your goal here is to achieve a brick color without going too far and burning the roux... this is easier said than done. Take a look at the pictures I took and the times between each of them. The best way I've found to do this is to pull the roux before you think it's done and stick the pan on top of some ice to stop the cooking process.

~ 6 minutes cooking time

10 seconds later

10 seconds later (cooling over ice)

Cooled

Isn't that crazy? Even being cooled, the carry over cooking is what can kill you. Set your roux aside, and now it's time to move on to the lobster broth.

Cut your mirepoix, which is your carrots, celery, and onions roughly cut into the relatively same size. Cook over medium heat until they start to get soft.

Don't worry about cuts, this all gets blended soon anyway!

Once they get soft, add the tomato paste and lobster carcasses. Stir to disperse the lobster paste and now it's time to Flambé. A great and safe way to:

1. Turn off the heat
2. Use a wooden spoon and pour your liquor (In my case I used Widow Jane Bourbon) over the spoon in the pot
3. Turn the burner back on and light the wooden spoon covered in liquor
4. Return the spoon to the pot to Flambé the liquor
5. Smile and laugh like a little girl

If you don't have a gas burner, you can do the same procedure using a stick lighter, or just bypass the spoon completely and light the pot with the stick lighter itself. Add your white wine and reduce until the wine is almost all evaporated. Post-alcohol, your stock should look something like this:

Now, add your bouquet garni, which traditionally combines garlic, bay leaf, parsley, thyme, and peppercorn into cheesecloth. I've substituted the parsley with tarragon for a rich and perfect flavor to go along with lobster. 

Add the stock, bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer. Cook for a couple of hours.

Here come's the messy part: Get out your blender and spoon in the contents off your stock--everything except the bouquet garni. Blend on high until it becomes a smooth paste and then strain through a chinois or another fine mesh strainer. Use a ladle, almost like a plunger, to move the slurry around to drain the rich liquid from the strainer. 

Don't throw this away!

Once everything is said and done and you've steam-cleaned your kitchen to remove all the lobster residue that splattered on your walls, you'll be left with something resembling this:

But we're not quite done

Add this liquid to a clean pot with heavy cream and whisk in your roux. Bring to a boil and remove from the heat. Your lobster bisque is ready to serve with whatever garnish your heart desires (Remember that lobster leg meat you got out with a rolling pin?)

While the process may be laborious, what you get out of this recipe is pure magic. It not only reminded me of childhood, but surpassed every expectation I had of what I could do with leftover lobster carcasses. Trust me, this recipe is worth the elbow grease and cleaning bill. Don't forget to have your dog help too!

Trek loves carrots

- Adam from Tipped Mixology