Shoreside Lobster Bisque
"This decadent, rich lobster bisque requires some effort to make, but it is worth every minute! Serve this soup with a buttered crouton and a dollop of creme fraiche."
photo by ddav0962
- Ready In:
- 1hr 45mins
- Ingredients:
- 18
- Serves:
-
4
ingredients
- 2 (1 lb) live lobsters
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion, sliced
- 1 stalk celery, sliced
- 1 small carrot, sliced
- 1 head garlic, cut in half crosswise
- 1 tomatoes, sliced
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 8 whole black peppercorns
- 1⁄2 cup brandy
- 1⁄2 cup dry sherry
- 4 cups fish stock or 4 cups bottled clam juice
- 1⁄4 cup tomato paste
- 1⁄2 cup whipping cream
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon water
directions
- Bring large pot of water to boil.
- Add lobsters head first and boil until cooked through, about 8 minutes.
- Using tongs, transfer lobsters to large bowl.
- Reserve 2 cups cooking liquid.
- Cool lobsters.
- Working over large bowl to catch juices, cut off lobster tails and claws.
- Crack tail and claw shells and remove lobster meat.
- Coarsely chop lobster meat; cover and chill.
- Coarsely chop lobster shells and bodies; transfer to medium bowl.
- Reserve juices from lobster in large bowl.
- Heat olive oil in heavy large pot over high heat.
- Add lobster shells and bodies and sauté until shells begin to brown, about 8 minutes.
- Add onion and next 8 ingredients (celery through peppercorns).
- Mix in brandy and Sherry.
- Boil until almost all liquid has evaporated, about 4 minutes.
- Add fish stock, reserved 2 cups lobster cooking liquid and lobster juices.
- Simmer 1 hour.
- Strain soup through sieve set over large saucepan, pressing firmly on solids.
- Whisk tomato paste into soup.
- Simmer until soup is reduced to 3 cups, about 15 minutes.
- (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.) Add cream to soup and simmer 5 minutes.
- Dissolve cornstarch in 1 tablespoon water.
- Add to soup and boil until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes.
- Mix lobster meat into soup and stir to heat through.
- Ladle soup into bowls.
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Reviews
-
Well I reviewed this recipe a week ago when I made it, but the review has never shown up. I did not want to leave this one un-reviewed as it is clearly a 10 star recipe!! I had never made my own Lobster Bisque before so I was a little bit nervous from the get go. But there was no reason, as this recipe was very clear and easy to follow. That aside, the Bisque is absolutely wonderful! I am so happy that I chose this recipe for Think Pink 2010, and so was everyone who enjoyed it. Great recipe, Thank you Tracy K! -
I have been using this recipe for about 4 years now and didn't realize that I had not yet rated it. I live in New England and my neighbor across the street is a lobsterman, so I have access to the freshest lobster you can get. This recipe makes the best Lobster Bisque that I have ever had and I am a bisque snob. I may tweak it here and there, like eating the lobsters and saving the bodies 4 - 6 in the freezer to make the bisque for as many people, adding a couple tablespoons of butter, etc. This is a very tasty and full flavored bisque. It takes time but is very well worth it. -
My husband used this recipe and it was better than any lobster bisque we have had in any restaurant. We did not use Brandy, and we used Cream Sherry (used a little extra too!) My husband pureed some of the lobster meat and added it to step 22 for the final thickening. He also added a pad of butter. We highly recommend this recipe.
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I made this for a special birthday dinner recently, and I'm only giving it 4 stars because I had to tweak the recipe a little. Let me preface by saying that I had the local supermarket steam my lobsters (I doubled the recipe so I knew I wasn't getting FOUR of those guys in my pot!) and the girl reserved the liquid for me so that worked out fine. Other than that, I made it exactly as directed. I used fish stock, not clam juice (which could have been my problem). I had to tweak it because it was way too "fishy" for us; my fiance and I got upset stomachs just from tasting it before the party! I ended up adding extra cream and extra tomato paste to try and balance it out, and after a lot of tears, the end result was a success! My family members were licking their bowls clean. I'm only giving it 4 stars, though, because of the hysteria I went through trying to fix it; I wasn't tossing all that money out the door without a fight. Those small adjustments at the end saved the day, though... so if any of you reading this prefer a creamier, lighter bisque, buy some extra cream and tomato paste and add as necessary! For reference, I think I used about 1-2 cups more cream and about 2 tbs more paste...but, that's a rough estimate. I eyeballed it by taste/color.
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Tracy K
United States
I'm a 32-year-old Web writer/editor with a passion for cooking good food. Currently I am (still)trying to find an uninterrupted weekend afternoon so that I can bake a loaf of bread from scratch!
I am also a singer with a local (Washington DC-area) a cappella group... you can check us out at the web site above!
