Bisque de Homard

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 5-quart (4.7 L) sauté pan or cocotte with a lid
• •Heavy chef's knife, seafood shears, and folded kitchen towel
• •3-quart (2.8 L) saucepan for the rice
• •Sturdy food processor or properly vented heavy-duty blender
• •Coarse strainer and 8-inch (20 cm) fine-mesh sieve
• •Ladle, whisk, and heatproof spatula
• •Heavy food-safe bag and rolling pin or meat mallet

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the lobster

   Ask the fishmonger to dispatch the lobster shortly before you collect it, or chill a live lobster for 20 minutes so it is quiet and manageable. Secure it on a heavy board with a folded towel, dispatch it swiftly through the head, then remove the claws and cut the tail and body through the shell into sections about 2 inches (5 cm) wide. Crack the thick claw shells once, but leave the meat inside. Save every drop of the raw liquor. This is not waste to clear away; shell, head, juices, and meat all belong to the bisque.

2. 2

   Build the bisque base

   Prepare Bisque d’Écrevisses (No. 662), using the measure and sequence of every ingredient specified there, but substitute all the lobster sections and their liquor for the 15 crayfish. Keep its mirepoix, butter browning, brandy, white wine, seasoning, white consommé, and separately cooked rice exactly as written. Toss the lobster in the browned mirepoix until every shell is a strong lacquered red and the pan smells roasted rather than merely warm. Make the flambage (burn off the brandy) safely: measure the brandy into a cup, pull the pan away from the burner, turn off the extractor, add the brandy, then ignite it with a long match while keeping a lid beside you. Never pour from the bottle over the pan. If the brandy will not catch, reduce it briskly until its raw alcoholic edge disappears. Ça se rattrape.

   A pale lobster gives a pale, timid bisque. Let the shell redden thoroughly against the buttered pan before the wine and consommé arrive, without scorching the mirepoix underneath.
3. 3

   Reserve the tail

   At the point where Bisque d’Écrevisses (No. 662) directs you to shell the cooked tails, lift out the lobster sections and let them cool only until your hands can manage them. Remove the tail meat cleanly and cut it into small dice about 1/4 inch (6 mm); cover and keep it cold for the garnish. Return the head, body, claw shells, claw meat, soft matter, and any juices to the pan. Do not reserve or stuff carapaces. The lobster entry replaces that brigade garnish with diced tail, which is both more generous and more sensible at a home table.

4. 4

   Pound and strain

   Continue the pounding and straining prescribed in Bisque d’Écrevisses (No. 662). For the home equivalent, crack the cooked shells into small pieces inside a doubled heavy bag, then let the mixture cool for 10 minutes before pulsing the solids in a sturdy food processor with the cooked rice, mirepoix, and enough lobster cooking liquor to keep everything moving. Work in small batches and stop if the motor labors; crack the shell more finely, then continue. Force the purée first through a coarse strainer and then through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing firmly with a ladle until the residue is nearly dry. Complete the formula's final loosening, whisking, brief boil, and last straining. The second fine pass is not ceremony. It is the difference between velvet and grit. If you feel shell on the tongue, pass the bisque once more through a damp double layer of cheesecloth before adding the cream.

   Never blend boiling liquid in a sealed vessel. Let it cool briefly, work no more than half-full, and use a food processor or a properly vented blender approved by its maker.
5. 5

   Hold without a skin

   If service is within 20 minutes, press a piece of buttered parchment directly against the surface and keep the bisque over the lowest heat. The original bain-marie and the little lumps of butter floating on top were brigade holding equipment, useful when a dining room might call at any moment. One cook serving one table can finish at once, which protects the fresh lobster flavor and asks less of the sauce.

6. 6

   Finish the bisque

   Finish Bisque d’Écrevisses (No. 662) with its prescribed butter, thick cream, and very little cayenne, whisking off the heat until the bisque gleams and coats the spoon in a light, even film. Return the diced tail only long enough to warm it through, reserving a few pieces for the center of each bowl. Do not boil after the butter and cream go in, or the fat can separate and the tail will toughen. If the surface turns oily, put a spoonful of warm white consommé into a clean saucepan and whisk in the bisque gradually until it comes together again. Ça se rattrape. Taste for salt, ladle generously, and serve at once. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Buy one lively 3-pound (1.36 kg) lobster rather than several little ones. The larger animal gives you enough shell, head, and coral matter to build a serious soup, with a tail substantial enough to make a proper garnish.
• •The raw lobster is the only substitution authorized by this entry. Keep Bisque d’Écrevisses (No. 662) whole as the governing preparation, including its carrot, onion, parsley stalks, thyme, bay, brandy, white wine, white consommé, rice, butter, cream, and cayenne. Tomato, flour, and commercial lobster paste belong to other formulas, not this one.
• •Rice is the thickener, and the word carries the technique. It softens completely, then disappears into the pounded shell mixture, giving body without the floury finish a roux would bring.
• •Press the shell residue firmly but stop before you force hard fragments through the sieve. If there is any doubt, strain again. Cream softens flavor, but it cannot hide grit.
• •Serve the bisque in warmed bowls with a dry white Burgundy or a restrained Champagne. Bread is welcome for the last coral streaks, but the soup needs no herb confetti, crouton tower, or cream drawing on its surface.
• •Cool leftovers quickly in shallow containers and keep them cold for no more than 2 days. Reheat gently without boiling; warm fresh lobster dice separately in a spoonful of bisque if the original garnish has already been eaten.

Advance Preparation

• •Prepare the bisque through its final fine straining up to 1 day ahead. Cool it rapidly, cover, and keep the diced tail in a separate cold container. Reheat the base gently, then add the finishing butter, cream, cayenne, and lobster only when you are ready to serve.
• •The strained base can be frozen before its butter-and-cream finish for up to 1 month. Thaw it in the cold, bring it briefly to a simmer while whisking, strain once more if needed, then finish as directed.
• •Set out the processor, both strainers, a deep receiving bowl, and the buttered parchment before the lobster enters the pan. Once the shells are cooked, the work moves quickly and is far pleasanter when every tool is waiting.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 240g)