SPICY LOBSTER BISQUE

‘Community Through Cooking’

INGREDIENTS

Spicy Lobster Bisque

• 4 lobster tails, cleaned

• ½ white onion, chopped

• ½ cup fennel, chopped

• ½ cup celery, chopped

• ¼ cup shiitake mushrooms, chopped

• 1 tomato, peeled, seeded, diced

• 1 jalapeño, chopped

• 6 cloves garlic, crushed

• 1 tbsp butter

• 1 tbsp tomato paste

• ¼ tsp cayenne

• ½ cup heavy cream

• 2 cups Chardonnay

• 3 cups chicken broth

• 4 cups lobster stock

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 1 tbsp chili oil

• 1 tsp lemon juice

• ¼ tsp Worcestershire sauce

Lobster Stock

• 5 sprigs thyme

• 5 bay leaves

• lobster shells

• celery, roughly chopped

• fennel, roughly chopped

• onion, roughly chopped

• 1 tsp coarse sea salt

• 10 cups water

Sides & Garnish

• sourdough bread

• 1 sprig thyme

RECIPE

Making the stock for this dish was way more fun than I had expected (relaxing, too). I just tossed some of my favorite vegetables and herbs together in a pot and stepped away, letting the boiling water extract all the wonderful flavors as I prepared the other ingredients. It was a nice change of pace from flying around the kitchen trying to cook 10 things at once!

Since I hyped it up so much, let’s create the stock first. Boil a pot of water and add the roughly chopped celery, fennel and onion. Throw in the bay leaves and thyme sprigs with the coarse sea salt. Remove the lobster meat from the tails and place it in a separate bowl for later. Sauté the leftover shells in olive oil until they turn bright red (~5 minutes). This releases the flavor inside the shells. Then, add them to the stock and allow the mixture to simmer for 45 minutes.

Next, blanche your tomato by placing it in boiling water for 45 seconds so the skin easily peels off. Cut the tomato in half, scoop out the seeds, dice it and save to add later. Chop up your celery, fennel, onion, jalapeño and shiitake mushrooms. Sauté them in olive oil for 5 minutes and set them aside.

Now it’s time to chop up your lobster meat into bite-sized pieces. Sauté them in butter with the garlic and cayenne for 4 minutes. Set aside in a separate bowl.

When the stock is ready, strain out the vegetables and herbs. Transfer 4 cups of the lobster stock into a large frying pan; add the Chardonnay and chicken broth. Bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring occasionally, and reduce to half (takes about 30 minutes). Next, add the sautéed vegetables, chili oil, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, diced tomato and tomato paste.

Purée the combination in a blender and then pour it into a large bowl. Finally, stir in the heavy cream and lobster pieces. Serve with sourdough bread and a sprig of thyme for garnish.

-Al

RECIPE

Making the stock for this dish was way more fun than I had expected (relaxing, too). I just tossed some of my favorite vegetables and herbs together in a pot and stepped away, letting the boiling water extract all the wonderful flavors as I prepared the other ingredients. It was a nice change of pace from flying around the kitchen trying to cook 10 things at once!

Since I hyped it up so much, let’s create the stock first. Boil a pot of water and add the roughly chopped celery, fennel and onion. Throw in the bay leaves and thyme sprigs with the coarse sea salt. Remove the lobster meat from the tails and place it in a separate bowl for later. Sauté the leftover shells in olive oil until they turn bright red (~5 minutes). This releases the flavor inside the shells. Then, add them to the stock and allow the mixture to simmer for 45 minutes.

Next, blanche your tomato by placing it in boiling water for 45 seconds so the skin easily peels off. Cut the tomato in half, scoop out the seeds, dice it and save to add later. Chop up your celery, fennel, onion, jalapeño and shiitake mushrooms. Sauté them in olive oil for 5 minutes and set them aside.

Now it’s time to chop up your lobster meat into bite-sized pieces. Sauté them in butter with the garlic and cayenne for 4 minutes. Set aside in a separate bowl.

When the stock is ready, strain out the vegetables and herbs. Transfer 4 cups of the lobster stock into a large frying pan; add the Chardonnay and chicken broth. Bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring occasionally, and reduce to half (takes about 30 minutes). Next, add the sautéed vegetables, chili oil, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, diced tomato and tomato paste.

Purée the combination in a blender and then pour it into a large bowl. Finally, stir in the heavy cream and lobster pieces. Serve with sourdough bread and a sprig of thyme for garnish.

-Al