lobster thermidor

Cooking is one of the most rewarding activity one can do at home. I have been cooking regularly since living in the college's on campus residence. I like cuisines from all cultures. There is so much to learn and explore and cuisines, ingredients, and the techniques reflect a lot about the specific culture, custom, and history. When I travel I always come home with new insights which expands my culinary repertoire.


Amongst different cuisines I have always have very high regard on French and Japanese. I used to be quite intimidated by French cooking because it often involves very elaborate steps. Slowly I tried a few dishes and each new dish becomes easier as I gain insights on the techniques and some basic foundations.

I happen to tuned into Hubert Keller's show where he was preparing lobster thermidor. I thought this is an interesting dish that I want to try instead of eating lobster the same old way. I approach my friend and said if you buy the lobsters I would make you a dinner with lobster thermidor. He jumped at the offer. The next day I bought two 2 1/2 lb lobsters from my Asian fish monger. I also bought a dozen of oysters in shell for making BBQ oysters as appetizer.

Since coming back from recent trip to Louisiana I have plenty of practice of honing my skill on BBQ oysters. I can almost make them in my sleep now. The oysters from my fish monger have been stellar lately. They are small (small is good), fresh, and very tasty. Pacific Northwest's oysters can be as good if not better than those from Louisiana.
so far i have managed not to stab my palm with the oyster knife

 ready for the grill

while you can let the grill do the opening of the oyster for you, i prefer open it and grill them with the topping

it only take a few minutes - the grilling concentrates the flavor; i usually throw in a small piece of wet wood to add some smoke

 next transfer to a skillet to prepare for broiling under my salamander (high power infra broiler)

 i love my salamander

a small dash of Tabasco on top and the savory appetizer is ready - p.s. Costco has the best deal on jumbo size Tabasco

While planning the meal I struck an idea. Since we have two lobsters, why not make two meals out of them. This would hedge against disaster if I mess up this new dish. My friend liked the idea so 2 meals was our last minute plan.

I set out to roughly follow Hubert Keller's recipe. I just rehearsed in my head what I remember from the show. While my friend thought it was great I was not satisfied. I thought his use of wiped cream is a bit strange. Also by leaving the craws on the lobster halves your guest have to struggle and make for a messy dinning experience. French cuisine rarely requires the dinner to eat with their hands.

I captured the juice when I cut open the lobsters and with the left over filling I made a meal out of it the next day

Not satisfied the result of the first try I went online to browse some recipes. As always finding a good one is harder than you think. I just read through the jest of a few and created my own in my head. I prefer to steam the lobster so the juice is not leached away by the water.

I prepared the filling with saute mixture of mushrooms, carrots, onion, celery, and parsnip. I made a bechamel sauce and a white roux to further thicken it if needed. There are other ingredients like cheese, and heavy cream etc. Oh, and there is a bit of Hennessy cognac and Dijon mustard.

This time I extract all the meat including those from the claws and dice them. They are then mixed with the sauce, sauted vegetable, and heated in a saucepan to form a filling. They way the filling will be hot though out when serving.
you can see I captured all the savory juice in the tray when I cut open the lobster; every cooking shows I watch just let the juice goes to waste

 after topping with a layer of cheese it is ready to go under the boiler

i lower then rack so the cheese does not burn and to achieve a more even browning

 ready to be plated with a bit of saute spinach

a glass of dry French wine is best for rich dish like this

 success - my friend Terry said it is much better than the first one; I am very please with the result

i made a lobster omelet with the left over filling and egg white for breakfast next day

the singular sakura 櫻花 in my front yard

the plum tree blossomed 梅花 a month earlier