lobster “bisque”

we had a lot of leftovers on new years.

Needless to say, wasting all that goodness would have been a travesty.  So, like the dutiful spawn that we were, we divvied up the leftovers and sent everyone home stuffed and satisfied.

and i got the lobster carcass.

Remember Arnold?

I couldn’t very well throw away this beauty of a lobster shell now could I?

Lobster stock was definitely a less timely process than making, say, chicken/turkey/ham stock, so I wasn’t too off put by it.  With a few simple ingredients, the stock came together with ease.

Lobster Stock

(makes about 4 cups)

adapted from epicurious

• 1 lobster carcass (from an approximately 3 lb. lobster)
• 1 large carrot, cut into 2 in. pieces
• 1 celery stalk, cut into 2 in. pieces
• 1 onion, quartered
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 seeded/diced jalapeno (optional)
• 2 black peppercorns
• salt
• 8 cups water

1. Heat oil in bottom of heavy stock pot/dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Add lobster carcass and crush with a wooden spoon to break down further.  Cook until brown, about 15 minutes.

2.  Chop carrot, celery, jalapenos, peppercorns, and onion and add to pot.  Salt to taste (I went light on the salt as I knew it would eventually cook down and didn’t know how much salt the shell would produce).

3.  Stir in tomato paste and white wine until wine is mostly evaporated.

4.  Add water and simmer until the stock is reduced to half.  Approximately 1 hour.

5.  Pour stock through a fine sieve and cool.  Can be made up to three days ahead of time.

Stock can be frozen for up to 3 months

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onto the lobster “bisque”

I say “bisque” because it didn’t actually turn out to be as such.  I didn’t really know what a bisque meant.  I knew what it was and what it tasted like, but wasn’t quite sure what made it bisque as opposed to soup.

defn:  A thick creamy soup made from fish, shellfish, meat or vegetables.

Okay, so mine wasn’t thick or very creamy, but it was made from shellfish.

Lobster “Bisque”

2 servings

• 1 cup lobster stock
• 2 tsp tomato paste
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• tarragon to taste
• thyme to taste
• leftover lobster meat

1/4 cup cream (I used milk because it was all I had)

1.  Reheat lobster stock over medium low heat.

2.  Add the crushed garlic clove, tarragon and thyme.

3.  Whisk in tomato paste and simmer.

4.  Add cream and lower heat.

5.  Take out the garlic clove before serving.

5.  Top with lobster and enjoy!

There were definitely some things that I left out.  Many recipes included cornstarch to thicken the soup and I opted out of it simply because I was too lazy.  I also used milk instead of whipping cream/cream because that’s all I had, thus, the color/density/texture of the soup was less creamy and rich.  However, I actually enjoyed the lightness of the soup with a touch of silkiness from the milk.

The soup had surprising depth for such few/lack of ingredients.  It wasn’t a bisque, but I could pretend.

You were loved.  Hopefully you don’t come back and haunt me with your big, scary feelers.