Lobster Bisque With Tarragon Recipes

LOBSTERS WITH TARRAGON VERMOUTH SAUCE

Steps:

• Cook lobsters:
• Bring water and sea salt to a boil in an 8- to 10-quart pot. Plunge 2 lobsters headfirst into water and cook, covered, over high heat 7 minutes from time lobsters enter water, then transfer with tongs to sink to drain. Return water to a boil and cook remaining 2 lobsters in same manner.
• Make sauce while lobsters cook and drain:
• Melt butter and cool until just warm.
• Whisk together vermouth, vinegar, and yolks in a metal bowl, then set bowl over a small saucepan of boiling water and heat mixture, whisking, until warm. Add melted butter in a slow stream, whisking, then whisk in salt and pepper. Cook sauce, whisking, until thickened and registers 160°F on an instant-read thermometer, about 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat and keep bowl in saucepan. Just before serving, stir in lemon juice and tarragon.
• Working from belly side, halve each lobster lengthwise with a sharp heavy knife or kitchen shears. Serve lobsters with sauce.

PERFECT LOBSTER BISQUE

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the mushrooms, onion, celery, and carrot. Cook and stir until tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the chicken broth, and season with salt and cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.
• Pour the vegetable and broth mixture into the container of a blender, and add 1/4 cup of the lobster meat. Cover, and process until smooth. Return to the saucepan, and stir in the half-and-half, white wine, and remaining lobster meat. Cook over low heat, stirring frequently until thickened, about 30 minutes.

LOBSTER BISQUE WITH TARRAGON

Steps:

• In a large soup pot, melt 4 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat and add the carrots, shallots and celery. Cook, stirring, until the vegetables are very soft, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
• Place a cutting board inside a sheet pan. (This will catch all the juices from the lobsters.) Lay a lobster on the cutting board. Place the tip of a large, heavy knife at the indentation where the carapace meets the head of the lobster, making sure that the cutting blade is facing toward the lobster's eyes. Swiftly and forcefully, plunge the knife through the lobster until the point of the knife hits the cutting board. Immediately force the blade down, splitting the head of the lobster. (The lobster will be dead, although it may still move.) Repeat with the remaining lobster.
• Twist off the tails and claws of the lobsters. Split the bodies in half and scoop out and discard the spongy green parts in the head. Put the lobster pieces and any juice that has accumulated in the sheet pan into the pot with the vegetables and cook, stirring, over medium-high heat until the shells are bright red, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the lobsters from the pot and cool a few minutes. Remove the meat from the claws and tails and refrigerate. Chop the shells into small pieces and return them to the pot.
• Cook the shells for a few minutes over high heat. Add 4 tablespoons of the Cognac and ignite it. When the flames die, add wine, stock, tarragon leaves, bay leaf, tomatoes, 1 teaspoon of salt and a few grinds of pepper. Lower the heat and simmer for 45 minutes.
• Remove as many large pieces of shell as possible and place them, a cup or two at a time, in a food processor. Pulse until the shells are finely ground. Return ground shells to the pot and add the rice and 3 cups of water. Dice the meat from the tails only and add it. Cover the pot and simmer another 30 minutes.
• Put the soup through a food mill. Discard the solids and strain the puree through a fine sieve. Put the puree in a large saucepan and add the cream, milk and remaining Cognac. Heat very gently, not allowing it to boil, until hot. Just before serving, whisk in the remaining tablespoon of butter. Ladle soup into bowls and chop the claw meat to use with a little chopped tarragon for garnish. Serve immediately.

LOBSTER BOUDAN WITH A FRESH LEMON AND TARRAGON BUTTER SAUCE

Steps:

• In a food processor, combine the lobster meat, shallots, cream and cognac. Season with salt, cayenne and pepper. Turn the mixture into a mixing bowl. Stir in the rice and parsley. Season with salt, cayenne and black pepper. **To test the seasoning of the sausage, pan-fry a small piece of the filling for a couple of minutes on each side. Re-adjust the seasoning if needed. Either using a feeding tube or a funnel, stuff the sausage into the casings and make 3-inch links. Bring a large saucepan of salted water up to a boil. Poach the sausage for about 5 minutes, or until the sausage is firm to the touch and plump. Remove from the water and allow to cool. In a large saute pan, over medium heat, melt the butter. Pan-fry the sausage for 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Remove from the pan and keep warm. To serve, spoon the sauce in the center of each plate. Lay a crouton in the center of the sauce. Place a couple of links of sausage over each crouton. Garnish with parsley and butter sauce.
• In a saucepan, over medium heat, combine the shallots and lemon juice. Season with salt and cayenne. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer until the mixture reduces by half. Add the cream and continue to cook for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter, a couple of pieces at a time. Season with the salt and cayenne. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve. Add the hot sauce, Worcestershire and chopped tarragon. Keep hot.
• Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, 1999

LOBSTER BISQUE

Steps:

• Heat the water in a large stock pot to boiling. Drop in the lobsters and cook covered for 12 minutes. Remove the lobsters from the pot; reserve 4 cups of the water. Let the lobsters cool.
• When the lobsters are cool enough to handle, crack the shells and remove all the lobster meat. Finely dice the meat and set aside. Reserve the shells.
• Melt half the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the lobster shells and pour in the Cognac. Heat until the Cognac is warm, then flame it with a match. When the flames subside, stir in 1/2 cup shallots, the garlic, tomato paste, wine, reserved cooking liquid, the tarragon, thyme, red pepper flakes, and bay leaves. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Strain through a sieve into a bowl.
• Melt the remaining 3 tablespoons butter in a stock pot over medium-high heat. Add 3 tablespoons shallots and sauté 2 minutes. Add the flour and cook, whisking constantly, for 1 minute. Gradually whisk in the strained lobster stock; whisk until well blended. Whisk in the milk and cream and heat over medium heat until hot. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Whisk the egg yolks together in a small bowl. Whisk in 1/2 cup of the hot soup and then return to the pot; whisk until thoroughly blended. Stir in the reserved lobster meat. Heat for several minutes and serve immediately.

BOILED LOBSTERS WITH TARRAGON BUTTER

Steps:

• Fill a 6-quart pot three fourths full with salted water and bring to a boil. Plunge lobsters headfirst into water and boil, covered, 7 to 8 minutes. Transfer lobsters with tongs to a colander and drain head down to remove excess liquid.
• Finely chop shallot. In a small saucepan melt butter with shallot, tarragon, vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste.
• Arrange lobsters on a platter and using kitchen shears remove thin, hard membrane from underside of each tail by cutting just inside outer edge of shell.
• Spoon some tarragon butter over each lobster tail and serve remainder on the side.

LOBSTER BISQUE FROM SCRATCH

Steps:

• Pour 4 cups seafood stock into a large pot and bring to a rolling boil. Add lobster tails and boil until flesh is opaque, about 5 minutes. Remove tails and reserve all broth. Shell all tail meat and set aside.
• Melt butter in another pot over medium heat. Add onion, carrots, and celery. Saute until fragrant, 3 to 4 minutes. Add garlic and saute, 30 to 40 seconds. Pour in sherry; let it reduce by half. Pour in reserved seafood stock. Add rice and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then reduce to medium-low. Let simmer until rice is tender, about 30 minutes. Remove bay leaf.
• Blend all contents of the soup until smooth using an immersion blender. Add tomato paste, tarragon, salt, thyme, pepper, paprika, and cayenne. Let simmer over medium-low heat for 30 minutes more. Pour in cream and stir in well for that trademark pinkish/orange bisque color. Season with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into bowls and top with a generous lump of lobster meat.