James Beard's New Fish Cookery (42 page)

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2/3 cup olive oil

2/3 cup white wine

2/3 cup bouillon (fish
or
meat stock)

1 tablespoon chopped challot
or
green onion

1 tablespoon chopped tarragon
or
chervil and tarragon

1 cup sauce béchamel (page 28)

3/4 cup heavy cream, mixed with 2 egg yolks

1 teaspoon dry mustard

Grated Parmesan cheese

Melted butter

Split the live lobster in half. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and brush with olive oil. Bake it in a 425° oven for approximately 18 minutes. Baste during the cooking with additional olive oil. When the lobster is cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the body and claws and dice it. Combine the wine, broth, and herbs and cook until it is reduced to practically a glaze. Add this to the sauce béchamel and stir in the cream mixed with the egg yolks. Allow this to heat without boiling. Add the mustard and taste for seasoning. When it is well thickened, add the lobster meat and heat through. Fill the lobster shells with this mixture, sprinkle with the grated cheese, brush with the butter, and brown in a 375° oven.

VARIATIONS

1. The American version of this recipe omits the mustard and tarragon and adds sautéed mushrooms and a little sherry.

2. Here is a quick version. Make a cream sauce and flavor it with sherry and plenty of mustard. Arrange frozen lobster meat in an ovenproof dish, add the sauce, sprinkle with grated cheese, and brown in the oven.

HOMARD AUX AROMATES

4 lobsters (about 11/2 pounds each)

White wine court bouillon (pages 19–20; add thyme, bay leaf, parsley, peppercorns, and coriander)

4 tablespoons heavy cream

Beurre manié (page 475)

1 cup Hollandaise sauce (pages 25–26)

Fresh tarragon

This dish is a favorite in France and there are a number of recipes for it. I give two that I regard as distinctive, each in its own way. This recipe will serve 4 people.

Poach the lobsters in the court bouillon. When they are cool enough to handle remove the meat from the bodies and claws. Reduce the court bouillon to 11/2 cups of liquid, strain, and add the cream and beurre manié. Stir until thickened and add the Hollandaise sauce. Arrange the lobster shells on a serving dish, fill them with the lobster meat, and cover with the sauce. Sprinkle generously with chopped tarragon.

VARIATION

Prepare 2 cups of sauce velouté (page 21) using bouillon, white wine, and cream in equal parts. Add chopped parsley, chervil, tarragon, and fennel and stir in 2 egg yolks. Taste for seasoning. Arrange the lobster shells filled with lobster meat on a hot platter and cover with the sauce.

DEVILED LOBSTER

4 small lobsters

4 tablespoons butter

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

2 green peppers, finely chopped

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Mustard

Cayenne pepper

2 cups bread crumbs

Butter

Cook the lobsters in salted water. When cool enough to handle, split them and remove the meat. Dice it and mix it with the liver and lobster coral, if there is any.

Melt the butter in a skillet and sauté the vegetables. When they are tender, season them to taste and combine them with half the bread crumbs and the lobster meat. Season highly with salt, pepper, mustard, and cayenne and fill the lobster shells with this mixture. Dot with butter and sprinkle with the rest of the crumbs. Bake in a 400° oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until nicely browned.

BAKED LOBSTER ITALIAN

1 lobster (about 2 pounds)

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

Fines herbes (parsley, basil, oregano)

6 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup bread crumbs

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Grated Parmesan cheese

Split the lobster and remove the intestinal tract. Brush with olive oil. Sauté the garlic and herbs for 3 minutes in 3 tablespoons of the butter and mix with the bread crumbs. Spread this paste over the lobster halves, salt and pepper to taste, and dot with the remaining 3 tablespoons butter. Bake in a 400° oven for about 20 minutes. Sprinkle with the cheese and run under the broiler to brown.

SAUTÉED LOBSTER WITH CURRY

1/4 pound butter

1/2 cup shredded blanched almonds

2 tablespoons grated onion
or
shallot

1 pound cooked lobster meat (frozen is excellent), cut into scallops

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

2 teaspoons curry powder

1/2 cup heavy cream

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Melt the butter in a large skillet and add the almonds and onion (or shallot). Cook for 3 or 4 minutes. Add the lobster and toss lightly. Add the parsley and curry and blend in the cream. Let it just come to a boil and simmer for 3 minutes. Taste for seasoning and serve on fried toast rounds.

LOBSTER NORTH AFRICAN

To be authentic this dish should be made with langouste, but it can be prepared with any kind of lobster. This recipe will serve two people.

1 large lobster

2 green peppers, cut in julienne strips

9 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup tomato sauce

1/3 cup white wine

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 medium onion, chopped

1 small eggplant, peeled and diced

1 cup cooked rice

Cayenne pepper

Oregano

1/4 cup brandy
or
whiskey

Cook the lobster in salt water for about 10 to 12 minutes, or until done. When cool enough to handle, remove the tail and cut it in half, cut the body in half and remove the claws. Take the meat from the claws.

Sauté the green peppers in 3 tablespoons of the olive oil until they are soft. Then add the tomato sauce and wine and season with salt and pepper. Let it cook down for several minutes. Add the two sections of the tail and the meat from the claws and let it heat through. Remove from the fire but keep warm.

Sauté the onion in the remaining 6 tablespoons olive oil until soft. Add the eggplant. Sauté until it is soft and slightly colored. Mix this with the rice and season well with salt, pepper, cayenne, and oregano. Heap this on the two halves of the body of the lobster and top with the two halves of the lobster tail.

Add the brandy (or whiskey) to the tomato sauce, and cook it down for several minutes. Pour the sauce over the lobster halves and serve with additional rice.

SAUTÉED LOBSTER WITH TOMATOES

4 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup chopped, seeded tomatoes

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Basil

1 pound lobster meat, cut into scallops

Heat the butter and olive oil and add the tomatoes. Salt and pepper to taste and add a touch of basil. Simmer until the tomatoes form a paste. Add the lobster, cut into scallops, and cook until it is heated through. Serve on fried toast.

LOBSTER CARDINAL

1 lobster (2 to 3 pounds)

1/2 pound shrimp

Court bouillon (page 18)

1/2 pound mushrooms, diced

3 or 4 truffles (optional), diced

4 tablespoons butter

1 cup sauce béchamel (page 23)

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 egg yolks

1/4 cup brandy
or
whiskey

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Grated Parmesan cheese

Melted butter

Cook the lobster and the shrimp in court bouillon for about 10 to 12 minutes. When they are cool enough to handle, shell the shrimp and split the lobster in halves. Take the meat from the lobster tail and slice in even scallops. Remove the claws and take the meat from the body and claws and dice it. Sauté the mushrooms and truffles with the lobster (set the meat from the lobster tail aside) in a little butter for a few minutes.

Grind or chop the shrimp very fine and mix with the béchamel, cream, egg yolks, and liquor. Stir over low heat until thickened but do not let it boil. Taste for seasoning. Mix a little of the sauce with the mushrooms and lobster meat and arrange in the bottom of the lobster shells. Place the scallops of meat from the lobster tail on this bed of sauce, cover with more sauce, sprinkle with grated cheese, and brush with melted butter. Run it under the broiler for a few minutes to brown.

LOBSTER SAUTÉ FINES HERBES

1/4 pound butter

1 pound lobster meat, cut into scallops

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup mixed chopped herbs (chives, parsley, tarragon,
or
your own choice)

1/4 cup white wine

Melt the butter, add the lobster, and sauté, tossing lightly, until browned. Season to taste; add the herbs and the wine. Turn the pieces of lobster so they are thoroughly covered with the herbs and wine. Serve on fried toast.

LOBSTER SAUTÉ MEXICAN

3 sweet peppers, seeded and finely chopped

2 tablespoons chopped onion

1/3 cup olive oil

3 tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped

1/2 cup white wine

2 teaspoons chili powder

Pinch of saffron

2 pimientos, finely cut

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 pound lobster meat

Sauté the peppers and onion in the olive oil until soft. Add the tomatoes, wine, chili powder, saffron, and pimientos. Taste for seasoning. Cover and cook for 25 to 30 minutes over low heat. Add the lobster and cook for another 10 to 12 minutes. Serve with rice or polenta.

LOBSTER SAUTÉ LOUISIANA

1 clove garlic, chopped

3 green onions, chopped

1 green pepper, seeded and cut into strips

6 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup tomato sauce

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Cayenne pepper

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 cup cooked lobster meat

Sauté the garlic, onions, and pepper in butter for 5 minutes; add the tomato sauce and let it cook down a bit. Season to taste, stir in the cream and blend well. Add the lobster meat and heat it through. Serve on fried toast.

MOUSSE OF LOBSTER

This mousse makes an excellent light luncheon main course with a Hollandaise sauce and an equally fine first course at dinner with a sauce mousseline. Considering the price of lobster and the optional truffles, should you use them, it has become something of an extravagance today. However, the mousse is beautifully light, tremendously delicate, and great fun to eat.

1 pound lobster meat

2 egg whites

Ice

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Paprika

2 cups heavy cream

Butter

24 mushroom caps

1 cup white wine

Hollandaise sauce (pages 25–26)

Grind the lobster meat through the fine blade of a meat grinder putting it through the grinder twice. Or you may pound it in a mortar. Gradually work in the egg whites with a wooden spoon. Next, put the mixture through a puree machine or a fine sieve. Place a bowl over cracked ice, place the mixture in the bowl and, with a wooden spoon, work in the salt, pepper, and paprika to taste and the cream, a tablespoon or two at a time.

If using a food processor, place the lobster meat and egg whites in the beaker, and process for 30 seconds. With the machine still processing, gradually pour the cream into the fish, and add the salt, pepper, and paprika to taste.

Butter a ring mold or charlotte mold and decorate it with slices of truffle, if you wish. Fill the mold 3/4 full with the lobster mixture. Place in a pan of hot water and cook, either over low heat or in a moderate oven (350°), until set. This should take about 30 minutes. Unmold on a hot platter and decorate with mushrooms that have been poached briefly in the white wine. Serve with a Hollandaise sauce.

NOTE
: Individual molds of the mousse may be made and served in the same way.

LOBSTER SOUFFLÉ

1 cup finely chopped lobster meat

1/2 cup court bouillon (page 18)

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

1/2 cup cream

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Cayenne pepper

4 egg yolks

6 egg whites

It is nice to prepare the lobster for this dish yourself. If you do, cook the live lobster in a court bouillon. When it is done, remove it from the bouillon and let the liquid cook down to 1/2 cup. Strain it and set it aside to use in the soufflé. After you have cleaned the lobster, be sure to chop the meat very fine; or put it through a food chopper, using the fine blade.

Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the flour. Cook over medium heat until it is golden and thoroughly blended. Gradually stir in the bouillon and cream, which you have mixed with the intestines of the lobster. Continue stirring until well thickened. Remove from the stove, season to taste, and add the lobster meat. Gradually beat in the egg yolks, one at a time. Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold them into the lobster mixture. Pour the mixture into a well-buttered soufflé mold and bake at 375° for 30 to 35 minutes. Serve plain or with a Hollandaise sauce (pages 25–26).

SOUFFLÉ OF LOBSTER PLAZA-ATHENÉE

1 live lobster (2 to 21/2 pounds)

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Paprika

5 tablespoons butter

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

2 onions, finely chopped

2 carrots, finely chopped

2 ounces cognac

1 cup white wine

1/2 cup cream

5 or 6 egg yolks

1/2 cup sauce béchamel (page 23)

5 egg whites

Split the lobster in half and remove the intestines, liver, and coral. Season each half with salt, pepper, and paprika. Melt the butter in a deep saucepan and add the finely chopped vegetables. Put the lobster halves in the pan and let them cook until the shells redden. Add the cognac and blaze. Pour the wine in the pan and let it all cook for 15 minutes. Remove the lobster and, when cool enough to handle, take the meat from the body and claws and place it in a buttered casserole.