
Ease of Preparation: Medium
Time of Preparation: 1 hour and 20 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
This is how the lobsters roll! On thick slices of sourdough, slathered with peppy jalapeno mayonnaise and butter, served alongside a bowl of creamy and thick sweet corn bisque. It’s a soup and salad combo for the seafood lover in you!
Ingredients:
Sweet Corn Bisque:
- 4 ears of corn, kernels shaved off the cob, cobs reserved
- 4 tablespoons (60 ml) olive oil, divided
- 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
- 1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 sprig thyme
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) brown sugar
- 2 cups (470 ml) whipping cream
- 1 cup (240 ml) milk
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) turmeric
- Salt and white pepper
Lobster Roll:
- 2 lobsters (1 ½ pounds/.75 kg each)
- Salted water, for blanching
- Salt and pepper
Jalapeno Mayo:
- ½ cup (120 ml) mayonnaise
- 2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- Salt and Pepper
To Serve:
- Lobster Meat
- Jalapeno Mayo
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) finely chopped chives
- 4 large slices of sourdough bread, cut ¾-inch (1.9 cm) thick
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) butter, room temperature (plus more for warming lobster claws)
- Sweet Corn Bisque
- Micro basil, to garnish
Method:
For the Sweet Corn Bisque:
Preheat oven to 450 F (230 C).
Toss the reserved corn cobs with half of the olive oil. Spread on a baking dish and roast for 8 minutes, until charred. Set aside.
Heat remaining oil in a medium soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté for 5 minutes, until translucent.
Add the brown sugar, stir and cook for 1 minute, until dissolved.
Add the corn kernels, turmeric, celery, and carrot and cook for 2 minutes, until warm though and starting to soften.
Pour in the milk and cream, then add the corn cobs and thyme. Bring all to a simmer, adjust the heat as needed and gently cook for 1 hour until the corn cobs have sweetened the broth.
At this stage, remove the thyme sprigs and the corn cobs and discard.
Carefully transfer the hot soup to a blender (in batches, if needed) and blend until quite smooth. Use a kitchen towel or oven mitts to protect your hands and start by pulsing the soup in short bursts to reduce the risk of the hot soup splashing out of the blender.
Return to pot, season with salt and white pepper.
Stir until silky smooth, keep warm or reheat before serving.
For the Jalapeno Mayo:
In a small food processor, blitz mayo, jalapenos, garlic, salt, and pepper until smooth to make jalapeno mayo.
For the Lobster:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Prepare a big bowl of ice water.
Lower the lobsters in the boiling salted water head-first and cook for 6 minutes, until the shells turn bright red and the joints stiffen. Immediately transfer the cooked lobster to the ice water to stop the cooking.
When completely cooled, drain off the ice water, pat dry and crack the lobster shells in several places. Carefully remove big pieces of meat from the knuckles and tails, with an effort to keep the claw meat intact.
Chop the meat from the tails and knuckles into small even chunks.
To Serve:
In a bowl, combine the chopped lobster meat, Jalapeno Mayo, and the chives. Fold together until well mixed and set aside.
Heat a cast iron skillet over medium high heat.
Use a 3-inch (7.5 cm) round cookie cutter to cut 4 circles of the sliced sourdough bread.
Butter both sides of the bread coins in a neat even layer.
Pan-sear the bread coins, 1-2 minutes per side, until evenly golden brown and crunchy. Set aside and keep warm.
Add a bit more butter to the skillet and heat until foamy, place in the whole lobster claw meat and sear gently, about 1 minute per side, until warmed though. Season with salt and pepper.
Use a 3-ounce (90 ml) ladle to neatly portion the warm Sweet Corn Bisque into 4 shallow, wide-rimmed serving bowls (reserve any excess for another use).
Carefully lay a toasted bread coin in the center of the bisque.
Neatly lay a spoonful of the lobster-mayo salad mixture over the toast coin.
Top each spoonful of the salad with a warm lobster claw and garnish with micro basil.
Serve immediately.