Homard an Court Bouillon (Boiled Labster)
Make a court-bouillon by boiling 3 quarts water with 2 tablespoons salt, 1 sliced onion, 1 sliced carrot, 1 cup vinegar, 10 peppercorns, 2 bay leaves. 2 sprigs of parsley. 1 stalk of celery, 1 clove of garlic and a pinch of thyme. Or use 3 quarts water seasoned with 2 tablespoons salt. If the lobsters are to be served hot, plunge them into the boiling water or bouillon and took them 20 to 25 minutes. Remove them from the kettle, split the bodies and crack the large claws. Arrange the lobsters, cut side up. on a serving dish and serve with melted butter and lemon. If the lobsters arc to be served cold, cook them for only 15 minutes and let them cool in the cooking liquid. Split the bodies, chill, crack the claws and serve with mayonnaise and lemon.
Lobster Thermidar
Split 3 large live lobsters weighing 1 ¾ to 2 pounds. Season them with ½ teaspoon salt. Put ¼ inch salad oil in a large pan, arrange the lobsters on this and bake them in a hot oven (400° F.) for 20 minutes, basting from time to time with the oil. In the meantime, melt 2 tablespoons butter in a saucepan, add 1 tablespoon chopped shallot and ½ cup dry while wine, and cook this sauce until it is reduced to ¼ its original quantity. Add 1 teaspoon English mustard, 2 cups Mornay sauce (April, 1955), and 1 tablespoon chopped parsley and cook, stirring with a wire whip, until the sauce is smooth. Correct the seasoning with salt and add more mustard if desired. When the lobster is baked, remove the meat from the shells and dice it. Keep the shells whole. Discard the intestinal vein, the sac at the head and the gray fringy parts. Wash and dry the shells. Arrange the shells on a heatproof platter and put a little sauce in each. Distribute the lobster meat among the shells. Add 1 tablespoon whipped cream to the remaining sauce and spread this over the lobster meal. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan or dry Swiss cheese and brown the topping under the broiler or in a hot oven.
Lobster à la Française
Split lengthwise 3 large live lobsters weighing 1 ¾ to 2 pounds, remove the intestinal vein, the sac near the head and the gray, fringy parts of each, and cut off the claws. Season with salt.
Slice 3 carrots and 4 small onions very thinly, parboil them for 5 or 6 minutes and drain. Melt 2 tablespoons barter in a large, shallow pan, add half the carrots and onions and 1 tablespoon chopped shallots. Place the lobsters side by side in the pan and add the remaining carrot and onion and 2 tablespoons chopped parsley. Crack the lobster claws and arrange them on top of the lobsters. Add ¾ cup dry white wine and ½ cup fish stock or water, bring the liquid to a boil and cover the pan with a circle of buttered white paper cut to fit the pan. Pierce a tiny hole in the center to vent the steam. Cover the pan with the lid and cook in a hot oven (400° F.) or over low heat on top of the range for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the lobster meat detaches easily from the shell. Remove the lobsters from the pan, detach the meat from the shells, then replace it and arrange the shells on a serving planer. Remove the meat from the claws and arrange it at the head. Keep the lobster warm while preparing the sauce. Return the pan to the hear and reduce the sauce to 1/3 its original quantity. Add ½ cup cream Sauce and finish by swirling in 2 tablespoons butter. Remove the pan from the hear as soon as the butter melts. The sauce should be light and nor too thick. Correct the seasoning with salt and add a little freshly ground pepper, 2 tablespoons cognac and 1 teaspoon chopped chives. Pour the sauce and vegetables over the lobster in the shells.
When lobster meat is to be served in a sauce but nor in the shell, the traditional French chef cuts up the raw lobster and cooks it in butter or oil, usually with onion and shallot. In this way the flavor of the shell penetrates the meat and the sauce too. Sometimes the meat is removed from the shells before it is combined with the sauce and sometimes shell and meat are served as they come from the pan and the guest picks out the meat with a fish fork. The lobster is cut up as follows: Willi a heavy knife cut off the claws and crack the large ones, cut off the can cut across the body at the center, then cut the upper half in two pans lengthwise. Remove and discard the intestinal vein, the sac at the head and the gray fringy parts. This method is used in making dishes such as—
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