Lobster Bisque

Isaac is now 11 and was in no way harmed in the preparation of this bisque

So we have a fun lineup this week and I would love to discuss several of the dishes in greater detail. Unfortunately that would take all evening, you don't want to read that much about them, and if you didn't notice, it's gorgeous outside. The story about the first time I made tamales from scratch will have to wait. Suffice it to say they are a labor of love. Think Polish family gathering around Christmas time to crank out hundreds of hand made pierogis. That level of pain in the butt. Which I didn't fully appreciate the first time I made them for Val, which involved hours more work than anticipated, her poor little apartment kitchen totally violated, a very late meal, and a fully inebriated couple having spent hours sipping tequila and cervezas on an empty stomach. Funny story in retrospect, I don't think it seemed that way at the time, but we shall focus our attention on Lobster Bisque. Another labor of love. I tried to give an interested client/friend a 30sec Cliff's Notes explanation of the process and even that took 10min. We will be preparing our Bisque (I believe in this case the Bisque is deserving of the capital B) using the same recipe and technique that was handed down to me from Certified Master Chef Milos Cihelka at the iconic Golden Mushroom in Southfield, which is essentially word for word the same as Escoffier's classic French recipe. It was there that I made this Bisque many many times as the restaurant's Saucier (if it's been a while since kitchen French class, that's the position in the traditional kitchen brigade that makes all of the restaurants soups and sauces, as if you couldn't figure that one out). And it's a two day process (not including another day to get the lobsters delivered), so you better keep a close eye on your inventory. Show up at 6:00AM to find there was a big run on Bisque the night before, you're about to have a very bad day. Believe me, I know. There's poaching the lobsters and chilling them to remove the meat (later to be added back to the Bisque). Pulverizing all of the shells with a generous amount of butter, then lightly roasting the shells with the butter turning the butter a beautiful bright orange/red. This will be used to finish the soup and gives the Bisque it's lovely color. Side Note: this step is most often omitted because it's a real nuisance. It's the only pure way, however, to achieve an attractively colored Bisque. Stirring that bit of butter in at the end. Otherwise the soup is more brown/orange, basically the color of any stock. See, that bright red lobster color is not soluble in water, but is in fat. So the stock provides the lovely flavor, but unpleasant color. Most kitchens will simply add a bunch of tomato paste to get the color correct. Cheaters. We don't play like that. Where were we? Oh ya, roasted shells and butter into the stock pot. Separately roast a bunch of carrot, celery, onion, and just a smidge of tomato then they go into the stock pot. Make stock and chill overnight. Next day remove solidified lobster butter from top, use some for roux to thicken soup, reserve some to stir in at end. Strain stock, then proceed to standard soup making procedure with a bit of white wine, sherry, and at the end a splash of brandy. Thicken slightly with prepared lobster roux, add a bit of cream, stir in reserved lobster butter, pray that not too many fingers have gotten into your reserved lobster meat and add that, then you're almost home. Last step: find the most perfect soup cup and saucer, shiniest soup spoon, and make a sample serving (adding twice as much lobster meat as you would for the actual customers) to deliver to chef in his office. Everything was tasted by chef before it was deemed acceptable to serve. For all other items a spoonful of said item was placed on a saucer and taken to chef for judgement. For the Bisque it must be a full cup (never a bowl, a cup). And the testing procedure always the same. A very close look for color. Several swirls around the cup with the spoon then spoonfuls repeatedly lifted and gently poured back into the cup to inspect for proper consistency and ensure adequate lobster meat (that's why we always put more in his!). Then nose nearly submerged into cup like a snooty wine sommelier for the sniff test. Hint of brandy, white wine, yes. Lobster of course. Then the taste. And if your last two days of Bisquing were successful you would get a truly nondescript nod indicating that it was acceptable, and that you would live to prepare it again, and now get the hell out of my office. Sometimes a little nod can say a lot. Now you can see why the tamale story will have to wait for another day. Finally, please note pricing for this lovely Bisque. Honestly, about the same price we charged at "The Shroom" 20+ years ago, yet double our normal soup price. Because lobster is really expensive if you didn't know. And even though we are all tightening our financial belts a bit during this time, I was just feeling a bit defiant (as I typically am) and decided to say "f..k it, we're doing this!"

Enjoy and Have a Great Weekend,

Brian