Last summer my very good friends Crispin and Brian tied the knot in Toronto and then again in Fire Island. My gift to the two of them was a rehearsal dinner for about 25 of their closest friends and family members. The party was a blast and the meal was a big success... except for when it started raining and we had to carry and re-set the entire table on the inside of the house. With a little team work and fast on our feet action the table was re-set inside.
On June 3rd of this year we celebrated their 1 year anniversary and ordered live lobsters from Mr. John Haviland, the most amazing lobsterman. John sent 11 lobsters to Fire Island. We steamed the lobsters and served them with corn casserole and a big tasty salad.
We ended up with a bunch of leftover lobster shells and thought... "mmmmm lobster bisque."
So we cleaned the inards out of the lobster cavities and placed all of the shells into a big stock pot with three carrots, two celery stalks, one yellow onion cut in half, a bay leaf and a tbsp of peppercorns. The pot was filled with water until the shells were covered and we simmered on low heat for about 4 hours.
The shells were strained from the liquid and the pot was placed back onto the stove, with the liquid, and we cooked it down for about another 45 minutes over medium heat. We ran the final broth through some cheese cloth to remove the impurities and set aside.
3 tbsp of flour and a 1/2 stick of butter were melted and cooked together in a sauce pan. The butter and flour mixture created a rue that cooked in the pan for about 5 minutes (stir constantly). Then we added a pint of heavy cream and cooked for about 5 minutes more over medium heat that caused the mixture to slightly boil and also thicken. A few ladles of the lobster broth were added to the mixture and then we slowly added that to the remaining lobster broth. This cooked down for another 15-20 minutes over medium heat and thickened a little. Next we added salt to taste.
The soup was served by placing a few pieces of leftover lobster meat in the bottom of a bowl. Two ladles of soup were added and topped with chopped parseley.
Delicious.
Wow thanks, I didn't know what to do with the shells, aside from using them as a bowl for the actual lobster. Thanks for the recipe. ( Well recipe in a non recipe format )
Once again thanks!
Posted by: Brian | July 30, 2009 at 08:34 PM
Hi. I want to make the lobster bisque but dont want to have to buy the lobster. is there somewhere where i can just get the shells? thanks.
Posted by: alan | October 22, 2009 at 09:21 PM
Hmmm... Not sure where you can buy lobster shells, but the first place I would check is the fish market. Many times fishmongers will de-shell lobster and just sell the meat.
Posted by: Michael | November 19, 2009 at 07:02 AM
As I write I am simmering some left over lobster shells. It may be tasty when done.
Dick1942@ Verizon.net
Posted by: Dick the midnight cook | December 22, 2010 at 05:54 PM