Big Sur Bakery Cookbook - Michelle Wojtowicz [77]
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INGREDIENTS
FOR THE LOBSTER STOCK:
2 tablespoons rice bran oil or canola oil
1 yellow onion, roughly chopped
1 carrot, roughly chopped
1 celery stalk, roughly chopped
Shell from 1 lobster (reserve the meat for another use)
½ cup tomato sauce
¼ cup dry white wine
1 small bay leaf
1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves
FOR THE BISQUE:
3 pounds shrimp
3 tablespoons rice bran oil or canola oil
2 medium yellow onions, roughly chopped
2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
2 large carrots, roughly chopped
1 small fennel bulb, roughly chopped
Serves 6
Start with the lobster stock: Heat a large pot over medium-high heat and drizzle the oil into it. Add the onions, carrots, and celery and sauté until they’re lightly browned, about 6 minutes. Then add the lobster shell and cook for 10 minutes. Add the tomato sauce and cook for 2 minutes more. Deglaze the pan with the white wine, scraping any brown bits from the bottom with a wooden spoon. Add 3 quarts water, the bay leaf, and the oregano. Simmer, uncovered, over medium-low heat for 1 hour. Strain the stock through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, and discard the solids. Reserve.
To make the bisque, peel and devein the shrimp, making sure to save the shells. Heat a large pot over medium-high heat and drizzle the oil into it. Add the onions, celery, carrots, fennel, mushrooms, and garlic, and sauté until they’re caramelized, about 10 minutes. Add the reserved shrimp shells and continue to cook for about 2 minutes, until the shells turn pink. Add the tomato sauce and cook for another minute. Deglaze the pan with the cognac, scraping any brown bits from the bottom with a wooden spoon. Pour in the lobster stock and simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour.
Strain the liquid from the solids, reserving both. Place the solids (including the shrimp shells) in a blender and add just enough of the liquid to cover them. Begin to purée, adding more liquid as needed until the purée is very smooth. Then strain the purée into a bowl. (Don’t use a fine-mesh sieve—you want a thick bisque, and using a strainer that’s too fine will strain off the body of the soup.) Put the bisque back in the pot on the heat, season with salt and pepper, and add the shrimp. Poach the shrimp in the hot liquid until they are just pink and tender, about 5 minutes. Keep the bisque warm over very, very low heat until ready to serve.
Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 375ºF.
To make the basil toasts, fill a medium bowl halfway with water, and put about a dozen ice cubes in it. Set it aside.
3 white button mushrooms, sliced
3 cremini mushrooms, sliced
6 garlic cloves, crushed
¼ cup tomato sauce
¼ cup cognac
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
FOR THE BASIL TOASTS:
Kosher salt
1 cup (packed) fresh basil leaves
½ cup flat-leaf parsley leaves
1 tablespoon fresh tarragon leaves
½ cup rice bran oil or canola oil
Freshly ground black pepper
6 slices sourdough bread, cut ½-inch thick
FOR SERVING:
¼ cup basil oil
Bring 4 quarts water to a boil in a large pot. Add 1 tablespoon salt, and blanch the basil, parsley, and tarragon in the boiling water for 10 to 20 seconds, until they’re bright green. Immediately strain the herbs through a colander and place the colander in the ice water to cool for 2 minutes (the ice water will stop them from overcooking and help them retain their color). Drain, and squeeze the herbs dry with a kitchen towel. Combine the herbs and the oil in a blender or food processor, and pulse for a few seconds until smooth. Season the mixture with salt and pepper. Brush both sides of the bread slices heavily with the herb purée, and lay them on a cookie sheet. Bake the toasts until the bread is crisp, 7 to 10 minutes.
To serve, transfer the warm bisque to a tureen or individual bowls. Garnish with the basil oil, and serve the basil toasts on the side.
Photographs