When I married my Chef Husband 23 years ago, I couldn’t boil water. Literally! I even burned a hard boiled egg, once, and will never forget the black smoke and horrendous smell wafting from my sad and depressing college apartment kitchen. I was thrilled to think that I would never, in my life, have to cook a meal. Being married to a Chef should have it’s upsides, right?
Flash forward about 3 years, after our first son was born. Cheffie worked about 75 hours a week in the restaurant industry; every night, every weekend and every holiday. And unless our son was going to grow up on a diet consisting of nothing but Kraft macaroni & cheese with cut up hot dogs in it, I was going to have to learn how to throw something together in the kitchen. Not that there is anything wrong with Kraft macaroni & cheese OR hot dogs, mind you. Both guilty pleasures I afford myself from time to time. I was raised in Chicago, after all.
BUT, I didn’t want my husband to teach me to cook. I didn’t want to deal with the pressure, the bickering and the know-it-all-ey attitude I felt was coming, for sure. So instead, I opened a Food & Wine magazine, followed some recipes and made it work. Turns out, I was pretty darned good at it.
Welp, here we are 23 years later. Working in the kitchen together with minimal bickering and, now, I am the one with the know-it-all-ey attitude. Learn how to make a classic lobster bisque in the style of Julia Child with a James Beard nominated Chef.
Ingredients
- 5 4oz. cold lobster tails, shell on
- 1 ½ cups carrots, large chop
- 1 ½ cups celery, large chop
- 1 ½ shallot and onion blend, large chop
- 5 garlic cloves, large and whole
- 8 oz. canned whole tomatoes
- 6 TBL tomato paste
- 1 cup white rice, cooked (volume after cooking)
- 2 ½ quarts chicken stock (homemade pref.)
- 4 oz. dry sherry
- 6 oz. heavy cream
- 3 TBL fresh tarragon
- ½ TBL dried thyme
- 2 TBL EVOO
- Himalayan salt and cracked black pepper to taste
Instructions
Carefully remove the lobster meat from the shells and reserve the shells.
In a large mixing bowl, toss the shells, carrot, celery, shallots, onion, garlic, tomato paste and EVOO. Toss, well, with your hands to ensure all the shells and vegetables are coated with the tomato paste and EVOO. Spread evenly on a parchment lined sheet tray and roast in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
Transfer the roasted shells and vegetables into a large stock pot on high heat. Add the sherry to the stock pot and allow the alcohol to cook off, slightly. Once deglazed, add the chicken stock, canned tomatoes, thyme, and tarragon.
Bring mixture to a bowl, then lower the heat and simmer for 45 minutes. Once the bisque base has reduced for 45 minutes, remove the shells and discard. Place the lobster tail meat into the bisque base and poach for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, remove the tail meat, cut into 1/4-1/2” pieces and set aside.
Add the heavy cream while the stock is still simmering, stir well.
Turn off heat, add the cooked rice and 6-8 oz. of the lobster meat. Using a regular blender or food processor, work in very small batches (half or less of blender capacity) to prevent the heat and steam from forcing the soup out of the top of the blender. Puree the soup for 45 seconds
or more to ensure smooth, creamy consistency. Taste the bisque, before serving, and add Himalayan salt and cracked black pepper, to taste.
To serve: place bisque in serving bowls and top with 1-2 TBL of the reserved, chopped lobster meat. Garnish with fresh tarragon.
Serve with FLEMING’S STEAK HOUSE’S Tomahawk steak and THE CAPITAL GRILLE’S Smoky Brussels Sprouts and Enjoy!
FULL VIDEO TUTORIAL
