Lobster Agua Chile Recipes

LOBSTER AND GREEN CHILE BISQUE

Steps:

• Heat butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic and cook until soft. Do not allow them to obtain color.
• Plunge a knife between the eyes of the lobsters to dispatch them. Then split them in half lengthwise, and remove the sand sack. Separate into tail, claw, and chest pieces and add the sections to the vegetables. Add 1/2-cup water and cover the pan with a lid for 4 minutes. Remove lid and allow the water to evaporate, then turn off the heat. Remove the lobster pieces from the pan and set aside. When cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the tails and claws, and reserve the meat.
• Chop the shells into smaller pieces and return to the pan. Add the sherry and ignite. When the flames subside, add the wine and reduce by half. Add the water, parsley, cilantro, bay leaf, white peppercorns, poblano puree, and salt, to taste and cook over low heat for 20 minutes.
• Remove most of the shells and pass the soup through a sieve into a clean medium saucepan, add the reserved lobster meat and cook until reduced to 2 cups. Blend the soup in a blender in batches then strain through a sieve into a clean, medium saucepan over medium low heat. Place the cream and milk in a small saucepan and reduce by half. Add the cream and cook until just heated through and season with honey, salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls and garnish with Toasted Corn Relish.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Preheat grill to high. Remove ears from water. Roast corn for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and grill in the husk for 15 to 20 minutes.
• Peel the husk away, and cut corn away from the cob. Combine the corn kernels in a medium bowl with the red onion, roasted poblano, lime juice, olive oil, and tarragon. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

LOBSTER THERMIDOR A LA JULIA CHILD

Steps:

• Simmer all of the ingredients under Step 1 (except the lobsters!) in a large enameled or stainless steel pot for 15 minutes.
• Bring to a rolling boil and then add the live lobsters.
• You can tell when they are done because they are bright red and the long head-feelers can be pulled out pretty easily.
• While the lobsters are steaming, stew the mushrooms over low to medium low heat in a covered saucepan with all of the other ingredients from Step 2 for 10 minutes.
• When the lobsters are cooked, remove them from the kettle.
• Pour the mushroom juices in the kettle (not the mushrooms!) lobster-juices pot and boil down rapidly until it is reduced to about 2 1/4 cups liquid.
• Strain the liquid into a large saucepan and bring to a simmer.
• Cook the first 2 ingredients from Step 3 slowly together in another saucepan.
• Be sure not to brown it!
• Remove from heat, and beat in the lobster-mushroom liquid.
• Boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.
• Drizzle the cream from step 3 on top of the sauce.
• Split the lobsters in half, lengthwise, making sure to keep the shell halves intact.
• Discard 'sand sacks' in the heads and intestines.
• Rub 'lobster coral' and 'green matter' through a fine sieve into a 3 quart mixing bowl, and blend it into the ingredients from step 4.
• Beat the lobster-mushroom sauce into this mixture in small spats.
• Return the sauce to the pan, and, stirring with a wooden spoon, bring it to a boil.
• Boil slowly for 2 minutes.
• Thin out with step 5.
• By now the sauce should be thick enough to coat a spoon pretty heavily.
• Set aside, top filmed with a spoonful of cream.
• Remove the meat from the lobster tails and claws, cut into 3/8 inch cubes.
• Set the skillet with the butter from step 6 over medium heat.
• When butter foam begins to dissipate, stir in the lobster meat and saute, stirring slowly, for 5 minutes, until the meat has turned a rosy color.
• Pour the cognac in and boil for a minute or two, shaking the skillet, until the liquid has been reduced by half.
• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• Fold cooked mushrooms and 2/3 of the sauce into the skillet with the lobster meat.
• Arrange the split lobster shells on a shallow roasting pan or fireproof serving platter.
• Heap the lobster mixture into the shells, and cover with the remaining sauce.
• Sprinkle with cheese and dot with butter (you can refrigerate it at this point to finish up later on).
• Place in upper 1/3 of the oven for 10-15 minutes, until lobster is bubbling and sauce is a nice brown.
• Serve immediately!

GRILLED LOBSTER TAILS WITH LEMON & HERB BUTTER

Steps:

• Make the butter by mixing together all the ingredients, then season and set aside. Can be made two days ahead. Remove from the fridge to soften before using.
• Use kitchen scissors to cut along the tops of the lobster shells, then flip the tails over and crack the ribs of the shell. Use your fingers to open the shell and loosen the meat keeping it attached at the base and pull it half out. Use a knife to cut along the top of the tail without cutting all the way through and remove the vein if you see one. Sit the tail in a shallow roasting tray and add some butter to each one. Tails can be prepared a few hours ahead and chilled.
• Heat the grill to high, then grill the lobster tails for 10 mins until cooked through. Put them on plates and drizzle with the butter from the pan, or pour the butter into a ramekin and put it in the middle of the table for dipping the lobster meat in. Serve with lemon wedges and scatter with extra parsley, if you like.