French · Main
Homard Thermidor
Lobster folded into a mustard-cognac cream and glazed in the shell — the grand old showstopper, portioned for a two-top on the aft deck
- Prep
- 40 min
- Cook
- 30 min
- Serves
- 2
Ingredients
- Live lobsters — 2 (600–700 g each)
- Unsalted butter — 60 g
- Shallots, minced — 60 g
- Button mushrooms, small dice — 100 g
- Cognac — 30 ml
- Dry white wine — 80 ml
- Fish stock — 100 ml
- Double cream — 180 ml
- Dijon mustard — 20 g
- Egg yolk — 1 (20 g)
- Gruyère, grated — 50 g
- Tarragon, chopped — 6 g
- Cayenne — 0.5 g
- Fine salt — 5 g
Method
- Dispatch lobsters; blanch 4 min in heavily salted boiling water, then ice. Halve lengthwise; crack claws and cook them 3 min more.
- Remove all meat; cut into 2 cm pieces. Clean and dry the half-shells.
- Sweat shallots and mushrooms in 40 g butter, 5 min; add Cognac, flambé; add wine, reduce by half.
- Add stock and cream; reduce to a thick coating sauce, about 6 min.
- Off heat, whisk in Dijon, yolk, tarragon, cayenne and salt.
- Fold in lobster; heap into the shells; top with Gruyère and remaining butter in flecks.
- Gratinate at 230 °C for 8–10 min until bronzed and bubbling.