Lobster Bisque

Two turkeys, 15 pounds of mashed potatoes, 6 pounds of sweet potatoes, 4 dozen rolls, 2 salads, gravy, stuffing, green beans, corn casserole, cranberries, 2 pies, 1 cake, 1 tart, chocolate pretzels, sugar cookies and homemade ice cream.  I would say that Thanksgiving  2018 was a feast of epic proportions.  These are the meals that home chefs live for.  Lots of food, lots of wine, pretty table decorations and plenty of guests to enjoy it all.  

Before we dove into any of that scrumptious Thanksgiving fare - we kicked off our meal with a bowl of creamy lobster bisque.  Inspired by the darling little pumpkin bakers that really became table decorations, I decided to start off our meal with a somewhat non-traditional soup course.  Lobster bisque was the first thing that came to mind when I started to think through hearty soups to compliment our Thanksgiving meal.  After all, who doesn't like lobster?

Lobster Bisque
8 lobster tails
1 stick butter
1/3 cup olive oil
4 medium carrots, sliced
2 yellow onions, diced
4 stalks celery, sliced
4 Tablespoons tomato paste
8 cups chicken stock
3 sprigs fresh parsley
3 sprigs fresh tarragon
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper​

Place steamer basket in bottom of a large pot and add 1" of water.  Bring to a boil.  Add 2-3 lobsters at a time, cover and steam 2 1/2 minutes.  Reserve water in bottom of pot.  

Remove tails, split tails in two and remove meat.  Chop meat.  Reserve shells. Refrigerate lobster meat. 

Chop shells into 1" pieces. 

Melt butter and oil in empty pan.  Add shells and cook 8-10 minutes.  

Add carrots, celery and onion and cook until bottom begins to brown.  

​Stir in tomato paste and cook 5 minutes. 

Add brandy and cook 5 minutes.  Add wine and cook another 5 minutes on high.  

Add reserved steaming water and chicken broth.  Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook, uncovered for 1 hour. 

Strain bisque through a strainer.  Reserve solids.  Remove shells and discard.

Process liquid and as many vegetables as you like in batched in a blender.  The more veggies you add - the thicker your bisque will be.  

Strain bisque again through a fine mesh strainer to remove any bits of shells.   

Stir in cream and warm reserved meat in melted butter in skillet.  

Ladle bisque into bowls and top with warmed lobster meat and garnish with parsley and tarragon.  

We had 21 people at our house on Thanksgiving to eat up all that delicious food, but we still managed to end up with enough leftovers to get us through at least a couple of extra meals.  We did NOT have a lot of leftover lobster bisque though.  I guess that means that it was a hit.  

Ciao!