Lobster Bisque

There’s nothing better to take the chill out of your bones than cozy and comforting soups. Lobster bisque is possibly one of the most elegant and extravagant ways to do this. However, when you live coastal and travel to great New England beach areas, seafood, even lobster can be found for very affordable prices. I happened to come across the creatures to make this soup for a low cost of $5.00 per pound. It takes approximately 6 pounds of whole lobster to make this soup however the recipe can be tweaked and stretched to feed quite a few servings. Also, when making the stock for this soup, extra stock can be reserved and frozen for future recipes and sauces.

Admittedly, this is a recipe that should be done when you have ample time to devote to your kitchen. I tend to make this over the weekends when I can multitask with out house chores. It just needs some tender loving care.

— Allison

Lobster Bisque

 

5.0 from 2 reviews

Lobster Bisque

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

3 hours 30 mins

Total time

3 hours 45 mins

 

Author: three beans on a string

Serves: 16

Ingredients

• 4 (1.5 pound) lobsters
• 1.5 cups tomato paste
• 1.5 cups coarsely chopped celery, with leaves
• 1.5 cups coarsely chopped carrots
• 1.5 cups coarsely chopped yellow onions
• 1 sprig of fresh thyme
• 5 sprigs of fresh parsley
• ½ tsp saffron
• 4 cups fat-free half-n-half
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup cream sherry
• 1 tbsp ground white pepper
• ¼ cup butter
• ¼ cup flour

Instructions

1. Fill a large stock pot with water, enough to cover lobsters, and bring to a boil. Completely immerse the lobsters in the boiling water, when the water re-boils, turn down heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the lobsters, and save all the stock from cooking the lobsters. Clean the claws and tails of the lobsters, reserve the meat.
2. Place 10 cups of the stock into a clean pot and place on low heat. Add the shells of the cleaned lobster, including the bodies (cut into quarters), roe and tomalley. Add 1 cup of the tomato paste, simmer on low for 1.5 hours, stirring occasionally. Pour the entire contents through a sieve into a clean stockpot. There should be approximately 8 cups of stock.
3. In a separate saute pan, place the onions, celery, carrots, thyme, parsley and saffron. Add 4 cups of stock from the original stock pot and cook on high heat for 30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Then add the remaining ½ cup of tomato paste and white pepper, turn the heat to low and simmer for another ½ hour. Press the contents through a sieve into the 8 cups of previously made stock.
4. In a small sauce pan, melt the butter and whisk in the flour over medium heat to make a roux. Whisk in 2 cups of the half-n-half. This will create a thick saucy mixture. Whisk this into the stock mixture above, and then whisk in the remaining half-n-half and heavy cream. Add the sherry and simmer on a low heat for 20 minutes. If you prefer the bisque to be thicker, you can add additional portions of roux. Slow cooking this soup for additional time will also thicken it and concentrate the flavors. Add salt as needed.
5. Chop the previously cleaned meat and place into a bowl. Add a few pieces to each soup bowl and pour the soup over to serve.
6. Chop the previously cleaned meat and place into a bowl. Add a few pieces to each soup bowl and pour the soup over to serve.

3.2.2708

 About the Photographs

Lobster is both delicate and luxurious, and I wanted today’s photographs to illustrate both of these qualities. A small bowl of bisque is piled high with lobster meat and garnished with lovely little oregano leaves. For texture and visual interest, I used some clam shells Allison brought home from a clamming trip at the Jersey Shore.

I took these photos with my  Nikon D80, using a 28mm f2.8 NIKKOR wide angle lens.  I used a Lowell Ego tabletop light like this one. These photographs were taken indoors on a cloudy, overcast afternoon. The light was positioned directly to the right of the food. I used a white reflector positioned on the left side of the bowl, slightly toward the front.  My ISO was set at 400 and the shutter speed was 125. In both shots, the aperture was set at 2.8.

-Elizabeth

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