Lobster bisque is perfect for a really fancy dinner party
I love making soup when I entertain. Everybody loves a good soup. And it’s a first course you can make ahead. Like before lunch. Takes the pressure off the cook. And lobster bisque is seriously fancy fare. This isn’t your run of the mill soup. It has lobster in it after all. I don’t know about you but I save lobster for when I want to impress. And this soup impresses.
This is a simpler lobster bisque
The traditional approach is a lot of work. Cook whole lobsters. Shell them. Flambe the shells. Make lobster stock. Then start making soup. That’s the completely over the top way to do it. It’s amazing. The depth of flavour is almost surreal. But it’s a lot of prep. And have you ever smelled lobster stock cooking? That’s something best done outside. You do not want your house stinking of lobster boil when your guests arrive. Unless you have an industrial strength hood fan it’s not something I recommend. This is a scaled back version. It’s not trivial as far as soup goes. But it is way easier. And you don’t stink up your house.
A few simple substitutions make this recipe approachable
I’m not usually about cutting corners. Mostly I go for it. But in this case there are two little tricks I use. Clam juice instead of lobster stock. No smell. Briny ocean flavours. Almost a no-brainer really. Canned, frozen lobster is the other one. It’s pretty good stuff. Not the same a whole lobster. But it still has that sweet, fresh taste of lobster. Not like you’d imagine anything from a can would be. Don’t know why it works. But it does. Way better than that canned crab stuff. That’s just nasty. After that it’s pretty straight forward. No real surprises. Layers of flavour. Aromatic vegetables and mushrooms for an earthy note. Tomato paste, white wine and sherry layer on the complexity. A hint of cayenne for a bit of bite. And lots of cream of course. This is fine dining after all.
