Lobster Bisque

Lobster Bisque

Found myself with a lovely dilemma the other day. I had been at a clambake at a cousin’s house and was able to bring an extra lobster home with me. Big thanks, Arlene. It was already cooked and  I could have just melted some butter and had at it. I wanted to do something more so I decided to make lobster bisque. It came out really good. I started by breaking down the lobster and getting out all the meat. I then made a stock from the shells and some veggies. I think that is the real secret- getting all the flavor out of the shells.  I often do the same thing with shrimp shells. I had about 3/4 cup of meat when I had removed it all. I chopped some of the larger pieces but left it in fairly large pieces for the most part. The rest was pretty simple. I had been cleaning leeks earlier that day so I just put a handful of leeks in a pot and sauteed them in butter until tender. I strained the lobster stock, but saved a carrot from it. I then added a couple of tablespoons of flour to the leeks and stirred until smooth. I added the strained stock- about 1 1/2 cups to the pot and brought the mixture to a simmer.  While it was simmering I added 1/4 cup of sherry as well and continued to cook it. I also added a dash of hot sauce and a little salt and pepper. I took the reserved carrot from the stock and sliced it and added it to the pot, too. Once I had the flavors where I wanted them I added the lobster meat and turned the heat off- allowing the already cooked meat to just warm up. The result was an amazing bowl of “yummy-ness”.

Making lobster stock

One yummy lobster