To our joy, my daughter Tae heard about a seafood wholesale outlet nearby, and on our first visit we discovered very affordable cooked 1¼-pound lobsters. After a happy feast, the time came to deal with a mountain of shells. Wastehaters that we both are, she decided to make lobster bisque. Pretty exotic, right? Yes, but really not that difficult!
First, Tae sweated (in order words, sauteed on low flame to pull the moisture out) some minced onions, celery, and carrots in olive oil at the bottom of a very large pot, then she put in all the shells, covered them with chicken broth (vegetable stock would have been OK, too), and simmered it all for a couple of hours, after which she strained it into a large bowl.
Meanwhile, in another large pot she made a roux (white creamy sauce) and cooked it gently until it turned light brown. She poured in the strained lobster liquid and stirred until it came to a gentle simmer. Ten minutes later came time to check for taste and consistency. Since it was a bit too liquid, she added a couple of tablespoonfuls of cornstarch (previously dissolved in some cold liquid) and allowed the bisque to simmer some more to cook the starch. Then she splashed in some white wine, sherry, and cognac. Last, she added enough heavy cream to make a nice consistency. No more cooking after that, lest the delicate flavor disappear.
You could also make this soup with shrimp shells. It is really a soup fit for royalty and freezes easily, so you can pull it out for your honored guests any time!
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My mouth is watering – will have to try this recipe soon. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Erica. Good luck!
You could also place the shells in some strainer or cheesecloth before adding to the pot, so when you remove the shells the chopped celery and carrots are retained in the soup…
Thanks, Nancy. This would be a good variation. Great suggestion! Last time I made this, I added some frozen raw fish bones to make a more robust flavor.
Wow, now I’m starving! I’m also a big fan of utilizing every part of your food – from shell or casing to interior and even the juices left behind (depending on what you’re cooking, leftover fat and juice is great to save). I mean, we do live in a country where 50% of food is tossed out each year, and frankly that’s a really disturbing statistic.
I’d love to see more detailed recipe-type posts (written out like a cook book format) in future sustainable food posts. Kudos on the local lobster as well!
Thanks, Eric. I’ve been toying with the idea of actually writing out the recipes, so will try it next time. They would be variations of recipes from my cookbook, “The Refrigerator Files: Creative Makeovers for Your Leftovers” (http://bookstore.iuniverse.com/Products/SKU-000141830/The-Refrigerator-Files.aspx). I plan to do some posts for the holidays soon. Stay tuned to the Leftover Queen!
Jocelyn and Tae,
To our surprise my sister ordered lobsters for the whole family for Christmas Eve. We had a feast! And of course, we saved the shells and I tried out this recipe yesterday. Who knew one could make such fab soup from just the shells!
I even added more chicken broth than I probably should have, but the lobster flavor still came through!
I got all into learning about bisque in the process. I was surprised to read on wikipedia that Julia Child recommended grinding up the shells and putting them in the soup — a little beyond me.
I luckily had my sister’s French mother-in-law handy to teach me how to keep extending the roux with the lobster-y broth.
Everyone loved it! I’m the hero of the family today — thanks to you, two!