Blue Sky Recipes (continued)
Late Summer Soft-shell Lobster with Lobster Butter or Low-fat Rouille
Ingredients
Lobster Butter:
• 3/4 cup canola oil
• 2 cooked lobster bodies, chopped into pieces with a cleaver
• 3 shallots, diced
• 1 tsp. paprika
• Pinch cayenne
• 1/2 cup sherry (cream or amontillado)
• Handful of cherry tomatoes, chopped
• 1 lb. good-quality salted butter (preferably Vermont cultured butter, or Kate's butter with sea salt from Maine), cut into small dice
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
Low-fat Rouille:
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cooked lobster bodies, chopped into pieces with a cleaver
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1/2 cup diced carrot
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 1/2 cup diced fennel
• 1 red jalapeño, seeded and diced
• 1 tsp. crushed fennel seeds
• 1 generous pinch saffron threads
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 cups white wine
• 2 cups canned San Marzano tomatoes, crushed
• Juice and rind of 1 orange, rind removed with a vegetable peeler
• 1 tsp. tomato paste
• 1/2 cup Pernod
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1 large red pepper
• 1 lb. plain, low-fat Greek yogurt
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 6 (2-lb.) soft-shell lobsters
• Sea salt
• Lemons, cut into wedges, for serving
Directions
1. For the lobster butter: Heat a saucepan over high heat. Add the oil and the chopped lobster bodies, and sauté 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the shallots, and cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Stir in the paprika and cayenne. Add the sherry and simmer 5 minutes. Add the cherry tomatoes and the butter. Reduce the heat to low, and simmer until all the liquid other than the butter has evaporated, about 30 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Strain. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
2. For the rouille: Heat a saucepan over high heat. Add the olive oil and the lobster bodies, and sauté 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the diced onion, carrot, celery, fennel and jalapeño, the fennel seeds, the saffron and the bay leaf, and cook until vegetables are softened, about 8 minutes. Raise the heat to high, add the white wine, and cook to reduce by about half, 5 to 8 minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes, the orange juice and rind, and the tomato paste. Bring to a simmer and cook slowly until thickened, about 15 minutes. Remove and discard lobster bodies, and cook 2 more minutes. In a small saucepan, flame the Pernod and add to the pan with the tomato mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Strain through a food mill into a bowl; set aside. You should have about 1 ½ cups purée.
3. Grill the red pepper over coals, or a gas flame, until the skin is blackened all over. Place in bowl, cover with plastic, and let stand until it cools to room temperature. Remove the skin, seeds and stem with a small knife or your fingers (do not rinse). Place in the bowl of a food processor along with the puréed tomato mixture and process to blend. Scrape into a bowl, and refrigerate until chilled. Fold in the yogurt and the lemon juice. Taste for seasoning. Cover and chill until ready to serve.
4. Half fill 2 large (2-gallon) pots with heavily salted (or sea) water, and bring to a boil. Add 3 lobsters to each pot. When the water returns to a boil, cook 15 minutes. Remove the lobsters from the pots with tongs.
5. To serve, heat the lobster butter until warm. Serve the lobsters with the butter, the rouille and lemon wedges. Serves 6.
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