Homard à la Broche

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large heavy roasting pan, about 16 by 12 inches (40 by 30 cm), with fitted wire rack
• •Two stainless steel skewers, 12 to 14 inches (30 to 35 cm) long
• •Bulb baster or long-handled deep spoon
• •Long tongs and dry oven mitts
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Fine-mesh sieve and 2-cup fat separator
• •1-quart heavy saucepan and whisk
• •Lobster crackers and sturdy kitchen shears

Instructions

1. 1

   Choose the finish

   Choose one of the book's two accompaniments, not both. For the Sauce Ravigote service, have the prepared Sauce Ravigote ready to reheat gently. For the reduced glaze, keep the cubed finishing butter cold and measure the glace de viande, Worcestershire, parsley, and lemon before the lobster goes near the oven. The sauce moves quickly once the pan liquor is ready.

2. 2

   Set the fierce heat

   Heat the oven to 450°F (230°C) with a rack in the upper third. Put the basting butter, Champagne, salt, and peppercorns into the heavy roasting pan, set the wire rack over it, and warm the pan in the oven for about 5 minutes, just until the butter melts. Stir once. The liquid should be hot and golden, never browned.

3. 3

   Dispatch and truss

   The cleanest home arrangement is to ask the fishmonger to dispatch the lobster immediately before collection, then keep it very cold and cook it promptly. If dispatching it yourself, chill it in the freezer for about 20 minutes until insensible. Lay it belly-down on a nonslip towel with the claw bands still secured, set the point of a heavy chef's knife at the cross immediately behind the eyes, and cut decisively through the head toward the front; turn the blade and complete the cut back through the centre of the head. Remove the bands, tie the claws close to the body with cotton kitchen twine, and run two sturdy metal skewers lengthwise through the lobster so the tail remains straight.

   Do not leave a dispatched lobster waiting at room temperature. Have the oven and basting pan ready first.
4. 4

   Baste without pause

   Set the lobster belly-down on the rack over the Champagne-butter bath. Roast for 4 minutes, pull the rack forward only far enough to work safely, and baste the entire shell and every joint generously. Turn the lobster onto one side, return it for 4 minutes, then baste and turn again, moving from side to back to the other side and finally belly-down. Continue this rhythm for 28 to 35 minutes. Begin checking at 28 minutes: the shell should be deeply vermilion and glossy, and a thermometer inserted through the thin underside of the thickest tail section should register 145°F (63°C). If the pan develops dry patches or the butter solids begin to scorch, add ¼ cup (60 ml) boiling water and move the pan one rack lower. If the tail is ready before a large claw, detach that claw and return it to the oven for 3 to 5 minutes while the tail rests.

   Work quickly each time the oven opens, but don't rush your hands around hot butter. Long tongs and dry mitts give you control; a wet cloth near fierce heat does not.
5. 5

   Rest and degrease

   Transfer the lobster to a board, remove the skewers and twine, and rest it for 8 minutes. Strain the contents of the dripping pan and any resting juices through a fine sieve into a fat separator. Let it stand for 2 minutes, then separate every visible trace of fat from the lobster liquor. This degreasing matters: grease would blunt the Sauce Ravigote and make the reduced glaze difficult to mount. The removed lobster-scented butter can dress plain potatoes, but none goes back into the sauce.

6. 6

   Finish with ravigote

   For the first accompaniment, bring the Sauce Ravigote to a gentle simmer in a small saucepan. Whisk in the degreased lobster liquor and let the combined sauce simmer only until it again nappes, or coats, the back of a spoon. Taste before adding any salt; the roasting liquor has already been seasoned. Keep it hot without boiling while the lobster is carved.

7. 7

   Build the buttered glaze

   For the second accompaniment, pour the strained, degreased pan liquor into a small saucepan and note its depth against a wooden skewer. Boil briskly until its volume has fallen by one quarter, then add the glace de viande, Worcestershire, and chopped parsley. Simmer for 30 seconds and take the pan off the heat. Whisk in the cold butter a few cubes at a time until the sauce is glossy and thick enough to coat a spoon, then add the lemon juice drop by drop. If the sauce turns oily, stop. Ça se rattrape: put 1 teaspoon (5 ml) cold water in a fresh bowl and whisk the broken sauce into it gradually until the emulsion returns. Do not boil the mounted sauce.

8. 8

   Carve and serve

   Bring the burnished lobster to the table whole if you want the proper moment, then carve without ceremony. Twist off and crack the claws, remove the knuckle meat, cut through the soft underside of the tail with kitchen shears, and lift out the tail meat. Slice the tail across into four thick portions and share the claw and knuckle meat between the plates. Spoon over a little of the chosen sauce and serve the rest hot alongside. À table!

Chef Tips

• •The book specifies one three-pound hard-shell lobster, and that size matters. It has enough mass to survive repeated turning before fierce heat and gives four celebration portions when served with potatoes or another quiet side.
• •Use a dry brut Champagne you would happily pour into four glasses. It needn't be dear, but it must be Champagne here; half the bottle builds the basting liquor, and the other half belongs at the table.
• •Glace de viande is a syrupy, deeply reduced meat foundation, not ordinary stock. A good unsalted prepared concentrate is the honest home equivalent for the stockpot the old kitchen kept going without pause.
• •Sauce Ravigote gives acidity, herbs, and a lighter finish. The reduced glaze is darker and more forceful, with the Worcestershire and glace de viande deliberately pushing against the lobster's sweetness. The source offers a choice because each produces a complete dish.
• •Keep live lobster cold beneath damp paper in the refrigerator, never submerged in fresh water or sitting in melted ice. Ask the fishmonger about humane dispatch if handling it yourself would make you hesitate.

Advance Preparation

• •If choosing Sauce Ravigote, prepare it up to one day ahead, chill it promptly, and reheat it gently while the lobster roasts. Its own method remains separate; here it is the finished accompaniment the book calls for.
• •Earlier on the day of cooking, measure the glaze ingredients, cube and chill the finishing butter, fit the rack into the roasting pan, and set out the skewers, tongs, baster, thermometer, and sieve. Once basting begins, the lobster should have your full attention.
• •Do not dispatch the lobster in advance. Arrange fishmonger dispatch immediately before collection or perform it only after the oven and basting bath are ready.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 180g)