James Beard's New Fish Cookery (41 page)

This is one of the favorite dishes in the United States. Personally, I think it is rather dull and, unless superbly done with a wood or charcoal fire, not worth the money. However, here is the method.

Use a 11/2- or 2-pound lobster for each person. You can ask your fish dealer to split and clean the lobster. To do it yourself, first kill the lobster by inserting a sharp knife between the body and tail shells; this cuts the spinal cord. Then place the lobster on its back, and with a heavy sharp knife and mallet, split it. Cut right through the back shell separating the two halves. Remove the stomach and the intestinal vein that you will find running down the tail section close to the back. Leave the liver, which is the grayish-looking meat in the body cavity (it turns green after cooking). Butter each half lobster well. Have bowls of melted butter handy. You will need it during the cooking process and will serve it with the lobsters later. Preheat your broiler for 10 minutes.

Place your lobster halves on the broiler rack, flesh side to the heat, and broil until they are cooked through. Baste frequently with the melted butter. The cooking time should be about 12 to 15 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste and serve on very hot plates with plenty of melted butter and lemon wedges. Shoestring or French-fried potatoes are the accepted accompaniment.

LOBSTER À L’AMÉRICAINE

This is probably the most famous of all lobster dishes. It has been called by many names and was originally lobster Provençale, a dish native to the south of France where the people have used tomatoes in sauces for generations. It has also been called
homard armoricaine
by those who thought the dish originated in Armorique. It is now generally conceded that the first lobster à 1’Américaine, as we now know it, was prepared at the restaurant of Noel-Peters in the Passage de Prince in Paris — not a favorite spot today, but once exceedingly fashionable.

3 pounds lobster

1/2 cup olive oil

3 tablespoons butter

1 small onion, finely chopped

6 shallots, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped

6 ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped

3 tablespoons chopped parsley

1 tablespoon chopped fresh,
or
1 teaspoon dried, tarragon

11/2 teaspoons thyme

1/2 bay leaf

11/2 cups white wine

3 tablespoons tomato paste

Cayenne pepper

Salt

1/4 cup cognac

Wash the lobster(s) well. With a very sharp heavy knife cut medallions of the tail, cutting through the markings in the tail. Cut the body in half, clean it, and save the liver and coral, if any, for the sauce. Remove the claws.

Heat the olive oil and add the pieces of lobster. Toss them around in the oil until the shells have turned red and the meat is seared. Remove the meat and shells to a hot platter. Add the butter to the pan with the olive oil and sauté the onions and shallots until lightly colored. Add the garlic, tomatoes, herbs, and white wine and let it simmer for 30 minutes. Add the tomato paste and season to taste. Pour the cognac over the lobster pieces and ignite. Then put them in the sauce, cover, and simmer for about 20 minutes. At the last, stir in the liver and lobster coral.

Serve with a rice pilaf.

NOTE
: The meat of the lobster may be removed from the shells before adding it to the sauce. If you do this, be sure to put the shells in for the added flavor they give to the sauce. Personally, I feel that taking lobster meat from the shell before serving makes no sense unless it is going into a tart, or soufflé, or some other form of preparation that actually requires it.

CHAUSSON OF LOBSTER À L’AMÉRICAINE

1 pound puff paste

Lobster à l’Américaine (see preceding recipe)

Beaten egg

Heavy cream

Butter

Chopped parsley

A chausson is a large turnover made of puff paste. Use your favorite recipe for the paste and chill it for 2 hours. Then roll it out in a circle about 1/3 inch thick. Spread the center with lobster à l’Américaine (without the shells) and save some of the sauce. Now, fold one part of the circle two-thirds of the way over the lobster mixture. Take the other end of the pastry and pull that over the first fold. Now you should have two thicknesses of pastry over the center part. Seal the edges with a little cold water, brush the pastry well with beaten egg, and put it in a 450° oven. Bake for 10 minutes and reduce the heat to 350°. Continue baking until the pastry is cooked — about 30 to 35 minutes.

Serve the chausson in slices with the remaining sauce, which you have heated with a little heavy cream and a good pat of butter. Garnish with chopped parsley.

LOBSTER OMELET

Sauté lobster meat lightly in butter with a little chopped onion and parsley. Fold the mixture into individual omelets and garnish with broiled mushroom caps.

LOBSTER FRA DIAVOLO

This is the Italian version of lobster à l’Américaine. In fact, it might even be the original. The following recipe will serve two people.

2 lobsters (1 to 11/2 pounds each)

6 tablespoons olive oil

4 sprigs of parsley

1 teaspoon thyme
or
oregano

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

Pinch of cloves

Pinch of mace

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 cups cooked tomatoes

1/4 cup brandy

Split the live lobsters and cook them in hot olive oil until the color has turned. Continue cooking gently for about 10 minutes. Add the seasonings, herbs, and tomatoes. Cover and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring often. Arrange a ring of rice on a serving dish. Put the lobster halves in the center and pour the sauce over them. Add the brandy and blaze just before serving.

CIVET OF LOBSTER

This is really still another version of lobster à l’Américaine.

1 lobster (about 2 pounds)

2 tablespoons butter

2 medium onions, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

4 or 5 ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1/2 teaspoon tarragon

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup white wine

1/4 cup cognac
or
whiskey

Liver and intestines of the lobster

Cut the lobster in small pieces as for lobster à l’Américaine. Remove the claws. Reserve the liver and intestines. Butter a shallow skillet or saucepan. Put the onions, garlic, and tomatoes with the herbs in the saucepan. Place the pieces of lobster on this bed of vegetables, salt and pepper to taste, and brush well with olive oil. Add the wine and cognac, cover, and bring to a boil. Let it boil vigorously for about 2 minutes. Remove the pieces of lobster to a hot platter. Add the liver, intestines, liquid, and a little more parsley to the saucepan and let it cook down for a few minutes. Taste for seasoning and pour the sauce over the pieces of lobster. Serve with rice.

LOBSTER FRANCO-AMERICAN

This, too, is a version of lobster à l’Américaine.

2 lobsters (about 2 pounds each)

1/3 cup olive oil

2 medium onions, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 cup tomato sauce

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons cognac

2 tablespoons meat glaze

1/3 cup sherry
or
Madeira

2 tablespoons chopped pimiento

Plunge the lobsters into boiling water for 1 minute to kill them. Cut them in half, and save the liquid and liver and intestines. Put the olive oil in a large ovenproof pan and heat over a flame. Add the onions, garlic, and lobster halves and season to taste. Add the tomato sauce and let it cook with the other ingredients for 4 minutes. Pour 1/4 cup of the cognac into the pan, cover it, and place it in a 400° oven for approximately 18 minutes. Remove the lobsters to a hot platter and keep warm.

Strain the sauce through a fine sieve. Reheat it, add the liver, intestines, and liquid from the lobsters, the meat glaze, the sherry or Madeira, the remaining 2 tablespoons of cognac, and the pimiento. Pour the sauce over the lobster.

LOBSTER AU GRATIN

3 cups cooked lobster meat

6 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup cognac

1/4 cup white wine

1/2 cup heavy cream

Hollandaise sauce (pages 25–26)

Sauté the lobster in butter just long enough to heat it. Add the cognac and ignite. Add the white wine and cream and cook for 5 minutes. Pour into a casserole, top with Hollandaise sauce, and run under the broiler long enough to glaze. Serve with rice.

LOBSTER IN CREAM

This is very delicate and flavorful.

2 lobsters (1 to 11/2 pounds each)

6 tablespoons butter

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Paprika

1/3 cup sherry

Cream to cover

Beurre manié (page 475)

Cut the lobsters as for lobster à l’Américaine. Melt the butter in a large skillet, add the lobster, and let it just color. Season to taste, add the sherry, and let it cook down a little. Add just enough hot cream to cover the lobster, clap on a lid, and let it simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the pieces of lobster, take the meat from the shells and put it in a serving dish. Thicken the sauce with beurre manié and taste for seasoning. Pour the sauce over the lobster. This may be served in patty shells or croustades or with rice or toast points.

VARIATIONS

Lobster in Cream, Mornay.
When the lobster is cooked and removed from the cream, add 1 cup of grated cheese (Gruyère or Cheddar) and a few grains of cayenne to the sauce. Stir until the cheese is well blended and the sauce thickened. Place the lobster meat in an ovenproof dish, pour the sauce over this, and top with more grated cheese and a sprinkling of bread crumbs. Brown under the broiler.

Lobster Curry.
While the lobster is cooking in the cream, sauté 3 tablespoons chopped onion in 3 tablespoons butter. When the onions are soft, add 3 tablespoons flour and 1 tablespoon curry powder. Blend well and add 1/2 cup white wine. Add the cream and continue stirring until the sauce is thickened. Arrange the lobster meat in a serving dish and pour the curry sauce over it. Serve with rice.

Lobster Hungarian.
Add 1 tablespoon paprika to the sauce just before pouring it over the lobster meat.

LOBSTER NEWBURG, FRENCH VERSION

Although lobster Newburg has appeared in many French books, including Montagne and Salles’s, it is definitely an American dish. It was originally named for a man named Wenburg, not Newburg, so the story goes.

There are two different theories about the preparation of a Newburg. The French is a little more deft than the American, so I give it first.

1 lobster (2 to 3 pounds)

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2/3 cup white wine

1/4 cup brandy
or
whiskey

11/2 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup bouillon (fish
or
meat stock)

Beurre manié (page 475)

Cayenne pepper

Cut the lobster in sections. Heat the butter and oil and sear the lobster, seasoning it to taste while it is cooking. When the shell has turned red — in about 3 minutes — remove the lobster and add the white wine and spirits to the fat. Let this cook down to half its volume. Add the cream, lobster, and bouillon. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove the lobster and take the meat from the shell and arrange it on a serving dish. Let the sauce cook down a bit and thicken it with beurre manié. Add a dash of cayenne and taste for seasoning. Pour the sauce over the lobster and serve.

LOBSTER NEWBURG, AMERICAN VERSION

This is our version of Mr. Wenburg’s dish.

11/2 cups cooked lobster meat

4 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup brandy

1 cup heavy cream

3 egg yolks

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Cut the lobster meat into large pieces and sauté in butter for 5 minutes. Add the brandy and blaze. Mix the egg yolks and heavy cream together and heat in the upper part of a double boiler, stirring constantly until the mixture coats the spoon. Add the lobster and heat through, being careful not to let the mixture boil. Taste for seasoning. Serve in croustades or patty shells or on rice.

LOBSTER PHOCEENNE

Court bouillon (page 18)

1 lobster (about 2 pounds)

1/4 cup olive oil

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

3 shallots, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 green pepper, chopped

3/4 cup rice

Pinch of saffron

Prepare a strong court bouillon and let it reduce by half. Strain. Cut the live lobster in half and remove the intestinal tract. Heat the olive oil in a deep pot and add the lobster, salt, pepper, shallots, garlic, and green pepper. Toss the lobster in the oil to redden it; add the rice and saffron. Pour the court bouillon over all, cover tightly, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and let it cook very slowly for about 20 minutes or until the rice is done. Serve the lobster on a bed of the rice.

STUFFED LOBSTER DROUANT

4 small lobsters

Butter

21/2 cups sauce béchamel (page 23)

1 tablespoon dry mustared

Cayenne pepper

1 cup grated Gruyère cheese

Split the live lobsters and remove the intestinal tract. Butter them lightly and broil for 12 to 15 minutes, depending on their size. When cooked, remove the lobster meat from the shells and keep it hot.

Season the sauce béhamel with the mustard and cayenne. Spread a thin layer of sauce in the empty lobster shells, add pieces of the lobster meat cut in thin slices and cover these with additional sauce. Sprinkle the top with grated cheese. Place in a 400° oven until heat through.

LOBSTTER THERMIDOR

This dish was first served at the famous Café de Paris in Paris. It was created by Monsieur Tony Girod and this is the original recipe.

1 lobster (about 2 pounds)