Poaching Lobster Food

HOW TO BUTTER POACH LOBSTER TAILS

Steps:

• In a saucepan, bring 2-3 tbs. of water to a simmer over medium heat
• Whisk in 1 tbs. butter, when butter melts add another piece. Continuing adding butter pieces - 1 cup (two sticks total.) Do not let the butter come to a boil or the butter will separate. Try to keep the butter between 160 and 175 degrees F. Use an instant read thermometer to to keep it under 180 F
• Add defrosted, raw tails. Cook for 6-8 minutes and turn tails in butter mixture. Again, make sure the butter does not come to a boil, reduce the heat if necessary. Be careful not to overcook lobster. Poached lobster tails should have an an internal temperature of about 140-145°

BUTTER POACHED LOBSTER SHOOTERS

Steps:

• Reserve 1 cup of clarified butter and try to keep warm.
• Place lobster tails in a large pot and cover with the remaining butter. Add 3 cloves of garlic to the pot. Poach on a low heat until the lobster shell changes color and meat is cooked. Allow to cool slightly and harvest meat from tails. Chop meat into bite-size pieces.
• While meat is still warm, assemble the shooters. In shot glass pour a bit of the reserved warm butter into each glass. Top with lobster meat and drizzle with a bit of the lemon juice.

POACHING LIQUID FOR LOBSTER (COURT BOUILLON)

Steps:

• Bring about 3 quarts of water to a boil. Add the wine, coriander, salt, red pepper, thyme, bay leaves, garlic and lemon to the boiling water, and then reduce the heat and simmer, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Place the lobster in the pot and simmer, 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the lobster sit in the hot water 10 minutes.
• Plunge the lobster into a salted ice bath. When completely cool, remove from the ice and serve.

BUTTER POACHED LOBSTER RAVIOLI

Steps:

• For the Pasta Dough: Put the first 2 ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix briefly. Make a well in the flour and add eggs into it. Mix the eggs into the flour and knead the mixture with your hands until smooth. Add water only as needed to reach desired consistency. Avoid adding more than necessary. Flatten dough slightly and cover with plastic. Chill dough in the refrigerator for about 1 hour.
• For the Lobster Filling: Drop the lobsters in boiling water for no more than 45 seconds to a minute. Separate the tail, body, and claws. Split the tail and remove the meat. Crack the claws and knuckles open and remove their meat - setting aside the meat from the larger claw and its knuckles.
• Smash the shells (including the body) with a cleaver or meat mallet. Covering the shells with a kitchen towel first helps avoid making a mess. Heat the clarified butter in a large, heavy bottomed pot over medium/high heat. Add the lobster shells, celery, carrots, and onions. Cook until the mixture caramelizes. This may take up to a half hour. Keep the heat on medium to high. Use a wooden spoon to scrape the brown residue from the bottom of the pot. Add the water (should be enough to cover the contents of the pot. If not add more) and simmer for about 45 minutes.
• While this lobster stock is cooking, cut 8 ounces butter into small cubes. Place them in a small saucepan and add 1 tablespoon of water. Heat the butter slowly - whisking it with the water until fully melted. Add the lobster tail meat and the claw and knuckle meat from the smaller claw. Cook the meat in the butter over low heat for a total of about 5 minutes. Check the claw and knuckle meat after about 3 minutes. When cooked, remove the meat from the butter and set aside to cool slightly. Cut the tail and knuckle meat into small cubes. The claw meat will break up in your fingers.
• Returning to the lobster stock, strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve - saving the stock and discarding the rest. Pour the stock into a clean saucepot, return to the stove and bring to a boil. Continue at a rolling boil until it has reduced down to about a quart of liquid. Remove half of the liquid and set it aside.
• Add the white wine and reduce again - this time down as much as possible. When fully reduced, the bubbles from boiling will be much tighter. There may be as little as a tablespoon of liquid left. Reduce the heat to low and whisk in the 1-ounce of butter. Set this wine reduction aside.
• In a food processor puree the claw and knuckle meat from the larger claw (that you set aside earlier) until it is a smooth paste. Fold the poached lobster meat and about a tablespoon of the wine reduction into the pureed meat. Add a pinch of sea salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate filling until ready to use.
• For the Vanilla Bourbon Sauce: Combine the lobster stock set aside from the filling, the bourbon, vanilla bean, and thyme in a saucepot and bring to a rolling boil. When the mixture has reduced by about half remove the thyme and discard. Remove the vanilla bean and set aside. Continue reducing the liquid until it thickens. Reduce heat to low. Split the vanilla bean and scrape its seeds. Add the seeds to the sauce and discard the pod. Cube up the butter and whisk it, bit by bit, into the sauce to finish it. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.
• For the Celeriac Puree: Place the diced celeriac in a medium saucepot and pour the cream over it. Cut a disk out of parchment paper just big enough to cover the celeriac (the inner diameter of the pot). Using this to cover the mixture instead of a pot lid will help prevent boil-over. Cook the mixture on low heat for 45 minutes or until celeriac is very tender. Remove paper and strain the mixture - reserving both the celeriac and the cream. In a food processor puree the celeriac. Add just enough cream to make a smooth puree. Season with salt and pepper.
• For the Chanterelle Mushroom Ragout: Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the onion. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, for about 15 minutes and then add the fennel. When this mixture has caramelized (may take about 15 minutes) add the chanterelles and the herbs. Add the wine and cook until it reduces by two thirds. Swirl in the butter and season, to taste, with salt and pepper.
• For the Ravioli: Roll the pasta dough out into sheets using a pasta roller. Brush 1 sheet at a time lightly with egg wash. Spoon small mounds of filling (about 1 teaspoon each) onto 1 side of the dough - about 1-inch apart. Fold the dough over the filling and press it together just around the filling - working outward. Cut the ravioli with a pasta wheel or with a ring mold. If making a large batch, freeze the ravioli. This will make cooking them much easier. If not, cover and refrigerate until needed. Just before service, cook the ravioli in a large pot of salted boiling water for about 4 minutes.
• To plate: Pipe 3 small mounds of the celeriac puree in a row in the center of the plate. Gently set 1 ravioli on each mound - slanted upward. Spoon some of the mushroom ragout around the side of the ravioli and drizzle sauce on the plate. If edible flowers or fresh herb sprigs are available they can be used as a garnish.

POACHING LOBSTER

Steps:

• 1. First, kill the lobster, using one of the following methods: Bring a very large pot of water to a boil. Quickly add the lobster, cover, and blanch for 1 minute. Immediately take the lobster out of the pot. Or, place the lobster on a cutting board. Hold it firmly with your left hand (if you are right-handed) where the tail meets the head. With your right hand, hold a large knife vertically over the lobster, with the tip at the point where the vertical and horizontal creases in the lobster head intersect. Firmly and quickly thrust the knife straight through the head until the knife tip meets the cutting board, then cut downward, through the center of the head. The lobster will be dead immediately, though it may still move.
• 2. Twist off the claws where they join the body. Twist the tail away from the head (save the head and legs to make stock, if desired). To keep the tail straight, run a metal skewer lengthwise through the meat, slightly off center, nearest the underside of the tail. Wrap the tail very tightly in plastic wrap.
• 3. Bring several inches of water to a boil in a large, wide pot. Add the lobster tail (in the plastic wrap) and poach for 2 minutes. Add the claws and poach for 4 minutes more. Drain and set aside to cool.
• 4. To extract the lobster meat, twist apart the 2 sections of each claw. Hit the larger part of each claw against a work surface a few times then stand one on its side, with the jagged underside facing up. Strike the side of the claw with a large, heavy knife to crack it, then twist sideways with the knife until the shell splits open. Pull out the meat. Repeat with the other claw.
• 5. Use heavy kitchen shears to cut open and extract the meat from the smaller section of the claw. Cut off and discard the pink, fatty tip of the claws.
• 6. Press firmly on the back of the tail until you hear it crack. Cut through the shell on the underside of the tail and pull it apart to release the meat. Wrap the lobster meat in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use.