IT'S LOBSTER TIME

                                                   It’s Lobster Time

 

          The summer solstice has arrived and in Maine it means that the lobster season is in full swing.  It seems that the bright crustacean is part of every tourist destination plan, and those of us who live here year around savor it as well. Unfortunately, the sticker price for this icon of Maine has succumbed to recent inflation along with everything else.

          So, imagine my delight last weekend when friends of ours stopped for a visit and Dan proudly presented me with two magnificent specimens from his first catch of this year. It has been my good fortune now for many years to be the beneficiary of this largesse and I will confess to savoring every bite, even if one of the specimens required a hammer to break the claws on the cutting board.

          Two large lobsters are a bounty not to be wasted in the best tradition of this column for being ‘thrifty’. While some of the cooked lobster was enjoyed immediately, the rest found its way into an elegant lobster salad. Some years back I discovered the interesting flavor combination of lobster Reuben in a restaurant in Thomaston and I recalled that a bit of tartness went well with the sweet flavor of lobster meat. The following recipe achieves that without being overwhelming.

                                              Lobster salad with capers

          Cut two lobster tails and 2 claws into bite size pieces. In a bowl add: ½ cup finely chopped celery, ½ minced shallot, 2 tsp. chopped capers, 3 chopped cornichons, ½ tsp. salt and ¼ tsp. lemon pepper. Toss all with 1/3 to ½ cup of sour cream, just enough to moisten all ingredients. Serve on lettuce garnished with dill and crusty bread.

          This left me with two lobster carcasses for lobster bisque. Most lobster bisque recipes call for pureed lobster in the soup, which at current prices seemed somewhat extravagant, when it is possible to make the tasty bisque with just shells and any bits of meat left in the main body. This may be the ‘poor man’s lobster bisque’, but it was amazingly tasty and made with rice flour, it was even gluten free.

                                      Lobster bisque ‘economique’

          In a 4 qt. pot sauté I large coarsely chopped onion for 5 minutes in 2 tblsp. olive oil, stir in 3 large, sliced garlic cloves for another minute, pour in 1 cup dry white wine, add the shells and broken backs of two large lobsters and enough water to cover.

          Bring to boil and add 2 whole stalks of celery and 1 and ½ carrots, 1 tsp. salt, ½ tsp. lemon pepper, 1 bay leaf, 1 tsp. thyme, 1 tblsp. Worcestershire sauce and 2 tblsp. double concentrated tomato paste. Cook on medium heat for 1 hour. Remove carrots and celery and set aside. Discard the shells, strain the liquid and puree with the carrots and celery in a blender.

          Return the soup to the pot and if desired, reduce the volume by boiling for 20 minutes. To finish, melt 4 tblsp. butter in a small pan and make a roux with 1/3 cup flour (rice flour for gluten free), stir in some of the liquid to dissolve before adding it back to the rest of the soup. Cook while stirring until thickened, then stir in 1 tblsp. Asian fish sauce, 2/3 cup dry sherry. Finally add I cup heavy cream, heat and serve garnished with croutons and dill.

          Delicious may not rhyme with “Those lazy-hazy-crazy days of summer” as sang by Nat King Cole, but summertime lobsters fit right in with those impressions.

    (I. Winicov Harrington lives in coastal Maine and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day: the Smart-Frugal Food Plan”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)