Lobster Bisque

What do you do when you're home, and suddenly four savage sea-beasts burst in through the living room wall? You turn them into soup. Whoohoo! Thanks so much to Catrina and Bill for providing said sea monsters. Now, before you start on this, understand this is the "long version" and it'll be a two-day recipe. Day one is lobster stock, and day two is making the bisque. In this particular case I cheated a bit by making the stock in the morning, and the bisque late that night. Admittedly the bisque was not quite as good as the previous time I made it, but that's my fault and not the recipe following. So off we go.

First, on day one, you're making the stock.

Hi, back? Welcome to tomorrow. Let's make our bisque.

Ingredients:

finely chopped lobster meat, from four small lobsters
1/2 cup white flour
1/3 cup butter
7 cups lobster stock
1 small can tomato paste
1 tablespoon sherry or red wine vinegar
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup sour cream
1 pinch nutmeg
diced fresh tarragon, to taste
salt, pepper, to taste

Let's start by making a roux. Melt the butter in the bottom of a large pot, over medium heat. Add the flour and combine to make a paste. Cook the paste, while stirring it around, until it smells not like flour but sort of nutty and a little browned.

Slowly, while stirring, add the lobster stock. Once combined, bring to near-boil while stirring. You should be able to see the thickening agent of the roux upon the stock, if not, you can add some cornstarch slurry, or toasted flour, to make the stock a bit thickened.

Stir in the tomato paste, sherry, heavy cream, sour cream, and nutmeg. Once this is done, you can add your salt, pepper, and tarragon until the flavor of each is where you like it. Add your cooked lobster chunks, and once hot you're good to serve. If you want a smooth bisque, you can puree' the whole thing now.

Serve using a sprig of tarragon, and a twist of cracked pepper as garnish if you're feeling fancy.