This past
month, for our 37th (!) anniversary, my husband and I went out to
dinner. Where we live, there are few
nearby choices (although plenty if we want to fight traffic for an hour or more), and
this place is one of the few that is both close and serves good food.
The first-course
special of the evening was Lobster and Corn Chowder. I though the combination of local lobster and
fresh corn was brilliant, although I had my reservations about the
"chowder" part, because most often that means a soup heavy with
potatoes and cream. But we took the plunge anyway, and were not disappointed by
the very tasty soup that appeared before us.
As predicted, the sweetness of the lobster and the corn made them the
perfect pairing, with a little edge contributed by grilling the corn first.
I wanted to
recreate it at home. Simple, right? Except when I started looking for a recipe, I
came up blank. Nothing on Epicurious. Nothing in my large and eclectic selection of
cookbooks (oh, no, Julia has failed me!).
So I was stuck with improvising.
It wasn't
hard. The basics are simple: boil a
lobster (please don't make me explain how to terminate the poor creature—just
honor it by enjoying the soup), remove the meat and chill, covered, until you
need it. Since there were only two of us
eating this, I used one one and a quarter pound lobster and one ear of corn. You can easily increase the amounts, and
increase the stock (below) proportionately.
Make a
hearty fish/lobster stock:
Lobster
carcasses and shells
1 quart
water
1/2 cup dry
white wine
1 medium
onion, thinly sliced
1 small
carrot, thinly sliced
2 cloves
garlic, crushed
2 sprigs
fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp black peppercorns
Sea salt
Place the
lobster carcasses (minus meat) in a large pot and add the water (it should
cover the lobster bits). Add the wine, onions, carrot, garlic, thyme, bay leaf
and peppercorns, and let simmer, uncovered, and reduce for about an hour. (Keep
the lobster shells covered with liquid.)
Season with
a bit of salt and taste. If the flavor
seems light, simmer for another 10-20 minutes.
Strain (if you're not going to use it immediately, cover it after it has
cooled and keep refrigerated, no more than three days; you may also freeze it). Makes about two
cups.
When you
are ready to make the soup:
Husk the
corn and remove as much silk as you can.
Grill it briefly so that some of the kernels are a bit charred. When cool enough to handle, cut the kernels
from the cobs. You should have about one cup (for two servings).
Now comes
the fun part. Place your stock in a
clean pan and bring to a simmer.
Taste! Stir in 2 Tblsp unsalted
butter and 3/4 cup heavy cream. Add some
paprika (sweet) and a dash of any herbs or spices that strike your fancy (I
used turmeric, for a bit of an earthy taste; you could also add a pinch of
cayenne if you want some bite). Taste
again. Add some more sea salt and
freshly ground pepper if you like.
When you're
happy with the flavor, you can plate your soup:
In a wide
shallow bowl, scatter the corn kernels. Take
your lobster meat (at room temperature) and make a nice nest of it in the
middle of the bowl, so that some rises above the surface. Ladle the soup around
the lobster island.
And
enjoy! We found this goes well with a
crispy flatbread toasted with some Parmesan cheese—it's a nice contrast.
Note: this is a relatively thin soup, nice for a
summer meal. If you want to thicken it,
you can mix some cornstarch in water, then add to the strained soup, stirring
well. Simmer for a few minutes until the
mixture thickens.
This sounds and looks scrumptious, Sheila. Thanks for the inspiration - will try it this weekend.
ReplyDeleteSounds wonderful Sheila--I have always been intimidated by actually cooking a lobster, but this recipe could get me over the hump.
ReplyDeleteand Happy Anniversary!
The daunting part is getting the meat out of the lobster. It takes work. But it is SO worth it!
ReplyDeleteMost places you buy lobster will steam it for you.
Grilled corn and lobster sounds like heaven.
Congratulations on 37 years, Sheila! This is so elegant! Wouldn't it be a lovely soup for a formal Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner?
ReplyDelete~Krista
Old Bay seasoning would add a bite too!
ReplyDeleteNice, Sheila. I love lobster bisque. I wouldn't have thought to add corn to it. Lovely.
ReplyDeleteDaryl / Avery
The recipe would probably work well with crab too, which also tastes a bit sweet--and you can buy it already removed from the shell. (You can buy lobster stock in a can too--shh, don't tell.)
ReplyDeleteYes, Better Than Bullion makes a very credible lobster stock. And other varieties.
DeleteWhat a recipe! Lovely for your anniversary too. My husband will fall in love with this.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sheila!
I'll take a big bowl, a hunk of bread, and a glass of white, if you please--can't think of a better late summer/early fall lunch.
ReplyDeleteHappy Anniversary to you and your husband, Sheila--37 years, huzzah!
~ Cleo