The good thing about cooking with frozen lobster meat? You don't have to see the lobster suffer!
I had written a blog post a few weeks ago documenting my experience at cooking my very first Bouillabaisse fish stew recipe, taken from “The Ultimate Soup Cookbook: Over 900 Family-Favorite Recipes
” by Reader’s Digest.
Seeing how that was a huge success (and also while I was still unable to flip away from the “Fish and Seafood Soups” chapter in the book!), I made the decision to take another stab at a different seafood soup recipe.
When I was shopping for ingredients for the Bouillabaisse recipe, I had picked up a few packages of frozen lobster claw meat at a local Asian grocery store that were on sale. (Note: For those of you who aren’t aware… here in Toronto, large-scale Asian grocery store chains are incredibly good sources for seafood! And I’m talking endless varieties of every type of fish & shellfish imaginable, not to mention endless sizes of frozen shrimp to choose from.). So I had decided to take the remaining, unused lobster claws that were leftover and use the meat to create a lobster bisque soup.
In particular, I was trying to cook the one that’s simply titled “Lobster Bisque” from The Ultimate Soup Cookbook
Another lobster comic for your enjoyment...
A few notes, based on my experience with cooking this soup. In the recipe, the bisque calls for the use of either 8 ounces of “coarsely flaked lobster” or 1 package (8 ounces) of “frozen lobster-flavored, chunk-style fish that’s thawed.” First of all, I decided to double the recipe when making it (I had double of everything that was in the ingredients list, so I figured… why not make twice the amount while cooking it in one go?). I also decided to take a few liberties. In particular, I made the decision to use both 8 ounces of real lobster meat (taken from those frozen lobster claws I had mentioned earlier), mixed in with 8 ounces of “fake” lobster-flavored chunk-style fish.
So even though I did incorporate some real lobster meat in the recipe… I gotta say, it’s definitely not the most legit version of lobster bisque ever created. But hey, it was a good start!
I promise not to call a lobster by any name, period!
If you were to ask me on my thoughts of what an ideal lobster bisque should be like, I’d probably describe for you a soup that’s not so much creamy and chowder-esque, but something that’s rather more dense, darker in color, and definitely heavily seasoned with a lot of herbs and spices. I’m hoping the next lobster bisque recipe that I try will result in a soup that more closely resembles this description. Stay tuned to find out!
Until then, here is the recipe that I did try out. You’ll find below a list of ingredients and directions for the recipe, as well as my photographs that I took while going through the entire cooking process. Hopefully the pictures will help you visualize the steps needed to successfully make this “Lobster Bisque” soup. Enjoy!
Reader’s Digest’s “Lobster Bisque” Creamy Chowder Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 2 3/4 cups low-fat (1%) milk
- 1 cup half-and-half
- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground mace
- 1/4 tsp white or black pepper
- 8 ounces coarsely flaked lobster or 1 package (8 ounces) frozen lobster-flavored, chunk-style fish, thawed
- 1/4 cup dry sherry, dry white wine, or half-and-half
Directions:
- In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine onion, celery & broth
- Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer (covered) until vegetables are tender (about 5 min)
- Stir in milk
- In a small bowl, whisk together half-and-half, flour, salt, mace & pepper
- Stir into pan and cook, stirring constantly over medium heat until thickened and bubbly (about 10 min)
- Stir in lobster & sherry and simmer (uncovered) until heated through (about 5 min)
Serves: 4
Partially thawing frozen lobster claws (to be used in Lobster Bisque recipe)
Semi-cooking the partially thawed lobster claw meat in a pot of hot water. The partly cooked lobster claws are then placed in an ice bath to stop the cooking process.
Ingredients for cooking the broth (keep in mind I doubled everything): 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth, 2 large yellow onions (finely chopped) & 2 celery stalks (finely chopped)
Cooking the broth by combining the veggies (onion & celery) + chicken broth + milk
Whisking together half-and-half, flour, salt, ground mace & pepper in a small bowl
8 ounces flaked lobster-flavored, chunk-style fish used in Lobster Bisque recipe
The end result: 2 bowls of Lobster Bisque soup!
Collage image of a bowl of Lobster Bisque chowder, seen at different angles
