Conference turris::cooks

Joanne's Lobster Bisque

(this makes an enormous quantity; feel free to cut it in half)

5-6 lb of lobster meat ($$$$!!!)
10 T butter
1/2 c diced carrots
2 small onions, chopped
1 bay leaf
a pinch of thyme
a few sprigs of parsley
6 T cognac
2/3 c dry white wine 
1 c fish stock or chicken broth
2 T sherry or madeira
1/2 c flour
6 c boiling milk
6 T heavy cream

Melt 4 T butter.
Saute the carrots, onions, and spices in the butter.
Ignite 4T of cognac (carefully!) and add.
Add wine and stock and simmer 20 minutes.

Melt 6T butter and whisk in the flour, blending so it isn't lumpy.
Add this to the soup.

Add the lobster meat, milk, cream, and remaining ingredients.

Simmer for half an hour.


This is GREAT bisque; understandably, we don't have it very often!

    I may be wrong, but I think the recipe in 376.3 is actually referring
    to lobster in the shell, i.e. four one and a half pound lobsters.
    
    Also, there is only one proper way to get the lobster meat to make
    the bisque.
    
    1.  Invite some friends over for lobster dinner.
    
    2.  Buy a *WHOLE* lot of lobster, i.e. more than 3 lbs/person,
        possibly much more depending on your friends.
    
    3.  Use the left-overs for bisque.
    
    That is why the recipe uses boiled lobster, rather than having you
    cut the tail off live lobster as is done in the New York Times Cookbook
    recipe.
    
    		Paul (who's obviously getting hungry)

I used the recipe from this note last week and it was incredible, 
delicious, wonderful, etc.   I can't wait to make it again. 

I did make a few modifications though to cut down on cost and fat.  I
thought I would share these with you. 


- Instead of lobster, I used a combination of shrimp and crab.  The 
  crab I used just as I bought it.  The shrimp I par boiled and then 
  food processed into little chunks.   I added them at the same time the 
  recipe said to add the lobster. 


-    Melt 4 T butter.
     Saute the carrots, onions, and spices in the butter.

I skipped these two steps.  Instead, I pureed the carrot and onion in 
the food processor.  Then I added the spices and took up again at the 
'Ignite 4T of cognac' step.  

This allowed me to skip the fat and 400 calories contained in the
butter.   It also allowed the carrot and onion to be dispersed
throughout the soup rather than in chunks (just my personal preference
for this type of soup). 



-    Melt 6T butter and whisk in the flour, blending so it isn't lumpy.

I blended the flour with water instead of butter.  This eliminated the 
fat and 600 calories of the butter.  


- I used light cream instead of heavy.  

    Bisque of Clams
    
    24 clams in the shell
    2 c. milk or white stock (or part of each)
    1 T. butter
    1 T. flour
    2 c. water
    1 T. chopped celery
    1 t. chopped parsley
    salt and pepper
    
    Make a white sauce of the milk, flour, and butter.  Scrub the clams
    thoroughly, then pack into pot with a tight fitting lid, using 1/2 c.
    water to steam.  When all have opeend, remove, cool in their own
    liquor.  Detach clams from shells, put through food chopper and add
    strained liquor.  Add water, celery, and parsley and cook 10 minutes. 
    Press through a sieve and add to the white sauce.  Season, beat with an
    eggbeater, and serve.

    
    Oyster Bisque
    
    1 pint oysters
    2 c. milk
    1 c. stale bread-crumbs
    1 T. flour
    1 T. butter
    2 c. water
    1 slice onion chopped fine
    1 stalk celery, diced
    1 stalk parsley, chopped fine
    1 bay-leaf
    salt and pepper
    
    Scald the milk, add the bread-crumbs and cook in a double boiler for 20
    minutes.  Rub through a sieve.  Make a white sauce of the milk and
    crumb mixtures and the flour and butter.  Chop the oysters, put them in
    a saucepan with their own liquor, the water and the chopped vegetables
    and herbs.  Simmer for 20-30 minutes.  Rub through a fine sieve and
    combine with the white sauce mixture.  More milk or cream may be added
    if the bisque is very thick.  Season and serve.

    
    Tomato Bisque (Mock Bisque)
    
    4 c. milk
    3/4 c. dry bread crumbs
    1/2 onion stuck with 6 cloves
    Sprig of Parsley
    1/2 bay leaf
    2 c. cooked tomatoes
    2 t. sugar
    3 T. butter
    1 t. salt
    1/8 t. pepper
    
    Scald milk with bread crumbs, onion, parsley, and bay leaf.  Remove
    onion and bay leaf and rub through sieve.  Heat tomatoes with sugar to
    boiling, rub through sieve.  Reheat milk mixture with butter, salt and
    pepper.  Add tomatoes and serve at once with croutons or crisp
    crackers.  If desired, garnish with whipped cream and a sprig of
    watercress.  Serves 6
    
    (This is also good seasoned with basil)