Restaurant-Quality Lobster Bisque

Rich and flavorful, this lobster bisque is out-of-this-world delicious and satisfying! It’s better than restaurant version, because you get to add chunks of lobster meat!

Every August, Garrat and I used to have a date night in Medora, ND, a small historic town surrounded by beautiful badlands, to celebrate our anniversary. So many fun memories we’ve shared there, including the surprise proposal, watching the sunset over badlands, and hilarious encounter with a LIVE buffalo in the dark (let’s just say, I’ve never seen Garrat jump in to the car so fast!).

And every single date night ended with a fancy dinner at the Theodore’s Dining Room, where I first tried lobster bisque, the very best one! All this was until we got married and had a baby… Now we celebrate our wedding anniversary in November in the comfort of our home. And I love it that way.

But as you can imagine, I missed having that bowl of luxuriously smooth and delicious lobster bisque! Well, that’s not the case anymore. Because I now can make it myself. And dare I say mine is even better?? That’s because I get to add big chunks of lobster meat, and as many as I want!

The good news is that it’s totally easy to make lobster bisque. The not-so-good news is that it takes a little bit of time to make a good lobster broth, just like any broth for that matter, but you can make it in advance.

2 tips on lobster:

• Choose cold-water lobster tail. Wait, there’s warm-water lobster tails too? You bet! Cold water lobsters are basically premium version. Sure, you’ll pay a bit more for them, but you’ll also get tastier and whiter lobster meat with firmer texture. It’s totally worth it!
• Make sure to thaw frozen lobster tails before cooking. And if you’re like me, you probably forgot to transfer them tails into the fridge to thaw nice and slow overnight. Don’t fret though, because I have a tip for you! To quickly thaw frozen lobster tails, place it in a bowl filled with tap water (on coldish side) for about 30 minutes, changing the water once halfway.

And now the visuals for you, step by step!

The lobster broth can be made in advance, just like any broth. And from there, it’ll take only minutes to finish the bisque.

Hope you’ll enjoy a bowl of this fantastic lobster bisque in near future!

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Restaurant-Quality Lobster Bisque

Rich and flavorful, this lobster bisque is out-of-this-world delicious and satisfying! It’s better than restaurant version, because you get to add chunks of lobster meat!

Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients:

For lobster broth:

• 1lb lobster tail (thawed, if frozen)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 3-5 garlic cloves, smashed
• 2/3 cup (160ml) white wine
• ¼ cup tomato paste
• 3 cups (720ml) chicken stock
• 1 sprig fresh thyme
• 1 sprig fresh tarragon
• 1 dried bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon coarse kosher (or sea) salt

For bisque:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons bacon fat (you can substitute all butter)
• ¼ cup (30gr) all-purpose flour
• 1 cup heavy cream
• Cayenne pepper and crackers for garnish

Directions:

1. To cook lobster tail, fill a large dutch oven with 1 quart of water and bring it a boil.
2. Add thawed lobster tail and bring it to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 8 minutes, or until the shells turn bright red. Using a kitchen tong, transfer the lobster tail onto a cutting board. Cool slightly.
3. Using a sharp knife or kitchen shears, cut the lobster tail in half lengthwise, as shown above. Carve out the meat and chop into small pieces. Reserve lobster meat, shells and 2 cups of lobster cooking water.
4. To make lobster broth, heat butter in a large dutch oven over medium high heat. Add shallot, garlic, and celery, and saute for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Reduce heat to medium low and stir in tomato paste and cook for another 3 minutes.
6. Add wine and deglaze the pan. Cook for another 2 minutes. Then add reserved lobster shells, 2 cups of lobster cooking water, chicken stock, thyme, tarragon, bay leaf and salt. Bring it to a boil. The reduce heat to medium and simmer for 1 hour, covered.
7. Strain the broth through a fine mash sieve, making sure to extract as much liquid as possible.
8. To make the bisque, melt butter and bacon fat in a large dutch oven over medium heat. Stir in flour and cook until nice and golden, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes. It should smell slightly nutty. (Be careful not to burn!)
9. Add prepared lobster broth and heavy cream and bring it to a simmer. Stir in chopped lobster meat and serve with crackers. Garnish with cayenne pepper and thyme, if desired.

All images and text ©Shinee D. for Sweet & Savory

All photographs and content on Sweet & Savory by Shinee is copyright protected, unless otherwise noted. Please do not use any of my photos without my authorization. If you would like to share my recipe, you may re-write the recipe in your own words, or simply link back to this post for the full directions. Thank you for your cooperation!