Lobster Bisque with Sherry and Tarragon
The shells do most of the work here — roasted, simmered, and strained into a stock rich enough to need only a cup of cream.
- Serves
- 4
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 1 hr
- Written
Method
-
Melt the butter in a large pot over medium-high heat and cook the shells, stirring often, until they’ve turned bright red and smell toasted.
-
Add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic and cook until the vegetables have softened, about 8 minutes.
-
Stir in the tomato paste and cook until it darkens a shade and coats everything in the pot.
-
Pour in the brandy, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom, and let it bubble until nearly gone.
-
Add the sherry, stock, tarragon, and bay leaf, bring to a simmer, and cook uncovered until reduced by about a third, 40-45 minutes.
-
Strain the stock through a fine sieve, pressing hard on the shells and vegetables to extract every bit of liquid, then discard the solids.
-
Return the strained stock to the pot, whisk in the cream, and simmer until it coats the back of a spoon.
-
Season with salt and cayenne, stir in the chopped lobster meat, and warm through gently without letting it boil.
Notes
The flavor lives in the shells, not the meat, which is why they get roasted hard before anything else goes in the pot — skip that step and the bisque tastes like cream soup with lobster added as an afterthought. Press the solids firmly when straining; a spoon or the back of a ladle against the sieve gets out the last of the good stuff.
No lobster on hand, shrimp shells reduce the same way and cost a fraction as much — the tarragon and sherry are doing enough of the flavor lifting that the finished soup won’t announce the substitution. Serve it in small portions with something crusty for dragging through the bowl; it’s rich enough that a cup goes as far as most people’s idea of a first course.