A few days ago, I shared with you my cousin, York’s recipe for Fish Stock. What I admire the most about York’s cooking is that you can always tell how much care and attention he gives to his food. Honestly, I would just not have the energy to put into making something as intricate as Lobster Bisque, but from looking at these pictures, I might just have to give this recipe a try.
This bisque is a pretty classic recipe which involves a mixture of vegetables, stock, cream, and rice, cooked and then blended together and strained to have a smooth consistency.
Lobster Bisque
Serves 6
Total Cook Time: 2 hours
10 cups water
1 Tbs and 1 tsp kosher salt
One 2 pound live lobster
1 pound medium shrimp
12 white peppercorns
6 sprigs thyme
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium yellow onion, diced
¾ cups sliced carrots
¾ cups sliced celery
1 ½ teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 ¼ cup dry white wine
¾ cup dry sherry
¼ cup tomato paste
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup of seafood or fish stock
6 tablespoons long-grain rice
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1. Cook the lobster and remove meat. Bring the water and 3 teaspoons salt to a boil in a large pot. Add the lobster, head first, cover, and cook for 12 minutes. Set the cooked lobster on a separate plate to catch any juices and let cool. Save the lobster water. Remove the tail and claw meat from the lobster and reserve, chilled. Reserve the shells.
2. Prepare lobster broth and strain. Peel and devein the shrimp and save all the shells, reserve the shrimp. Add the shrimp shells to the lobster water (I added extra shrimp shells that I saved from a previous recipe), along with the pepper corns, 3 sprigs of thyme, and the lobster shells. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, covered for 30 minutes. Strain the lobster broth through cheesecloth into a bowl. Discard the shells.
3. Brown shrimp and set aside. In a Dutch oven drop in 2 tablespoons of butter and set stove on medium heat. When the butter is frothy, add the shrimp and cook, turning until pink. Scrape into a bowl.
4. Cook vegetables with wine and tomatoes. Put the Dutch over back of the heat and add the remaining tablespoon of butter, followed by the onion, carrots, celery, the remaining 3 sprigs of thyme, and the lemon zest. Stir and cook for 10 minutes. Pour in the white wine and sherry, add the tomato paste, and boil for 3 minutes. Scrape up any cooked bits on the bottom of the pot. Remove to a bowl.
5. Prepare lobster-rice broth. Put the Dutch oven back on the heat and pour in the lobster broth, cream, fish stock, and rice. Cover and simmer until the rice is tender, about 20 minutes.
6. Blend broth, strain and reheat. Add the shrimp, and the vegetable-wine mixture to the lobster-rice broth. Simmer for 5 minutes then blend the mixture with an immersion blender. Strain the mixture, pressing out as much liquid as possible into a separate bowl. Add the cayenne pepper and remaining salt. Add additional cayenne pepper and salt to taste. Reheat gently.
7. Serve bisque with lobster meat. Meanwhile chop lobster meat and prep any additional toppings. Ladle the warm soup into 6 shallow bowls. Top each with a small mound of lobster meat and toppings.