Lobster Bisque 7.14 Farewell My Pet

“I'm talking about the furry thing that you know you're not supposed to bring to work due to the fact that many of our guests do not enjoy finding dog hairs in their lobster bisque.”

Ingredients:

• 3 lobster tails

• 1 russet potato, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks

• ¼ cup butter

• ¼ cup all-purpose flour

• ½ cup carrots, diced

• ½ cup white onion, diced

• ½ cup celery, diced

• 4 cloves of garlic, minced

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 tsp pepper

• ½ tsp paprika

• ½ tsp old bay seasoning

• 1 ½ tbsp tomato paste

• ½ cup dry white wine

• 1 tbsp oyster sauce

• ⅓ cup heavy cream

• ½ tsp red pepper chili flakes

• Chives for garnish

• Olive oil for garnish

• Oyster crackers for garnish

Directions:

1. Fill a large stockpot about ⅔ of the way with water. Place over high heat and bring to a boil. Add the lobster tails and boil for 6 minutes.

2. Remove the lobster tails with a pair of tongs and set on paper towels to dry and cool. Keep the water boiling and add the potato. Boil for 10 minutes or until the potato is soft when poked with a fork. Do not dispose of the water!

3. Place a large pan over medium heat. Add the butter and allow to completely melt.

4. Add the flour to the melted butter and stir continuously to fully combine. Be careful not to burn.

5. Add the carrots, onion, celery, and garlic. Sauté for about 5 minutes and let the vegetables become soft and fragrant. Season the vegetables with salt, pepper, paprika and old bay seasoning.

6. Add the potato to the saucepan.

7. Using kitchen shears, remove the lobster meat from the shells. Chop up the shells into smaller pieces using shears or a sharp knife. Roughly chop the lobster into bite-sized pieces.

8. Add the shells into the pan with the vegetables. Sauté for an additional 3 minutes.

9. Add the tomato paste and stir to combine.

10. Deglaze the pan by adding the wine and simmer for about 5 minutes.

11. Using the water that you boiled the lobster and potato in, add 5 cups of water to the pan.

12. Stir in the oyster sauce then cover the pan and reduce the heat to medium low.

13. Simmer for 20 minutes then remove from heat.

14. Transfer the soup to a blender (including the shells) and blend until smooth.

15. Pass the soup through a fine mesh sieve to remove the shells and any remaining solids to discard.

16. Transfer the soup back to the pot and place over medium heat. Stir in the cream and season with the red pepper flakes. Stir in the lobster meat and simmer for an additional 3-4 minutes. If you like, add fresh cracked pepper and finishing salt.

17. Serve the soup with chives, a drizzle of olive oil, and oyster crackers as a garnish.

When I tell you, this is the best soup I’ve ever eaten in my life… and then I went and dropped the last bowl I had of it, and it ruined my entire day.

But let me tell you how this soup ended up so good. A few days before I began the process of making this lobster bisque, I saw a reel by Zestful Kitchen where she made shrimp bisque and cooked the shells right into the stock and blended them up before straining out the solids. I knew I needed to do this for my bisque because it would create such a beautiful flavor. And it did!

I loved how this soup came out – rich in flavor, thick and creamy…and then the fateful day came when I was planning on having the last bowl of this soup (paired with a grilled cheese sandwich). I was carrying everything over to my kitchen table and it slipped to the floor, shattering the bowl and my spirits. Heartbroken, I cleaned everything up and into the trash went the remains of the best soup I’ve ever had. And to tell you just how good this soup was, my trash SMELLED GOOD when I went to take it out the next day. And yes, I know that’s a big statement, but it’s true.

This is actually a return dish from way back in season 1! In the infamous magic risotto food critic meal, Sookie also makes lobster bisque, but since I only make one dish per episode, I was glad I got to make this one after all this time. I am a soup girlie, and it’s agonizing that we haven’t reached soup weather here in Texas yet, but I know this will be in my rotation once the temperature finally cools here.

Happy cooking from the Hollow!

If you missed what I made last time, catch up here!