Speaking of Spiceman, there is an intriguing artisan grocery delivery service which recently sprung up in Dallas.  I haven’t tried the service yet, but I am curious about it.  Artizone’s model allows you to purchase artisan grocery products from multiple gourmet stores in one order for home delivery.  Some of the stores currently offering delivery through Artizone include, Spiceman’s 1410, La Duni, Flavors from Afar, and Scardello.  Since that’s a pretty impressive list of vendors, I’ll have to give it a shot.  I’ve used nearly every online grocery delivery service in existence back as early as the late 90′s, unfortunately they all tend to go bankrupt as soon as I’ve become accustomed to the service.  Here’s to hoping that Artizone’s niche service will break the trend!  If you’ve tried Artizone, send me a note!  I’d love to hear about your experiences.

This batch of mushrooms came from Central Market.  They seem hit or miss to me on what types of fresh mushrooms they will have in stock.  The varieties don’t particularly matter, I’ve used all sorts over time.  I look for the most tender mushrooms, (think of the opposite of the creminis, they’re the only meaty mushrooms I choose).  This batch used hedgehog, brown clamshell, oyster, and creminis.  At least two of those are described as being similar in flavor to chanterelle mushrooms, which are my all time favorite mushrooms, but currently out of season.

Cream of Mushroom Soup

(approx 3 qts, serves 7-8 bowl size, 10-12 cup size servings)

8 tbsp butter

1 large yellow onion (not sweet!), chopped

4 stalks chopped celery

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

6 cloves garlic, chopped

1/3 lb. fresh oyster mushrooms, chopped

1/3 lb. fresh Hedgehog Mushrooms, chopped

1/3 lb. fresh Brown Clamshell Mushrooms, chopped

1 lb. cremini baby bella mushrooms, sliced

1 tsp dried thyme leaves

kosher salt

fresh ground pepper

3/4 c. Courvoisier

6 c. chicken broth

1 c. heavy cream

Heat a large stock pot over medium heat.  Melt 4 tbsp of the butter then add the onions, celery, and cayenne.  Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, then add the garlic.  Cook 2 minutes, then add the remaining 4 tbsp butter and all the mushrooms.   Sprinkle the mushrooms with thyme, 1 tsp of kosher salt, and 10 turns fresh ground pepper.  Raise heat to high and brown about 8-10 minutes, stirring every minute or so with a wooden spatula.  Add Courvoisier and cook until liquid becomes thick and syrupy, 3-4 minutes.  Add stock, then bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low, and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.  Use a ladle to transfer 1/3 of  soup to a blender to chop.  Pour to a clean bowl, then repeat with the last two portions.  Return soup to stock pot.  Add cream, cook 5 more minutes, then taste and adjust seasonings.  I added an additional 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of kosher salt and a few quick turns of pepper.  Enjoy!

Don’t worry, I’m not having a life crisis.  This pot roast was prepared simply to signify the impending change of the seasons and provide a key one pot meal that could be made in advance (Soccer season has started!) then served again -even more deliciously in leftover form.  I never eat leftovers.  Ever.  Luckily my husband does without the slightest complaint, I think he enjoys them actually.  But soups – that is a different story – soups are designed to get better with age and therefore provide none of the diminished quality and disappointment I find in traditional leftover dinners.

This method was taught to me by mother, she made it for us and now we all make it for each other and our families.  I’ve never been fond of the word stew – it sounds like something you eat when you don’t have enough money to buy something better.  Kind of like porridge or spam.  But I know that’s ridiculous, so I looked up the definition of stew and it turns out – pot roast is exactly this.  I was going to refer to this as Braised chuck roast, but braising refers to a small amount of cooking liquid – as I would with artichokes.  Stewing means liquid almost covering the meat.  The easiest place to go wrong with this recipe is by not browning your meat long enough – truly you want to brown it until you’re almost afraid of burning the roast.  The second word of caution – though I’ve made this type of meat THOUSANDS of times and only run into the issue once, but I feel compelled to relate – involves frozen chuck roast.  Should you be using a previously frozen chuck roast – PLEASE be sure your roast is completely thawed before you begin browning.  I ran into this problem in haste in July and blistered my face terribly when the hot oil popped up at me.  Don’t worry – it’s healed quite nicely and you can barely tell now.

As for the onions in the recipe – they are crucial – albeit hard to find.  What you want are small onions in a glass jar like this.  You don’t need this Aunt Nellie’s brand, that just seems to be the only kind I see in Texas.  In the Midwest they were called something different.  They’re generally in the canned vegetable aisle along the top row somewhere – possibly near beets.  You drain them, then pour right on in.  For some reason, they are really hard to find so I may have to start ordering them by the case like I do with my pickles.  In a pinch, like this week, I went with the small bags of white boiler onions found in the produce section.  This works fine but is so much more labor intensive, involving boiling quickly, about a minute, then peeling each one before adding to the stew.  Frankly, I just don’t have that kind of patience.  Not to mention they are so much more expensive this way, I think the package of approx 10 onions costs $3.95.

Thanks to my mother for teaching me this staple recipe, I don’t think I could possibly function without it.  Next time you want to send extra support to a loved one – you’ll know what to make.

Pot Roast Recipe makes about 6 quarts

2 beef chuck roasts – do not buy one that says shoulder – approx 6.5 lbs total weight

kosher salt

fresh ground black pepper

paprika

all-purpose flour

olive oil

8-9 carrots, peeled

8-9 medium size new potatoes

2 jars white onions

Season all sides of roasts with kosher salt, pepper, and paprika.  Pour flour into a small bowl, then coat all sides of roast with a layer of flour, shaking off the excess.  Heat a large – heavy bottom required – stock pot on medium high heat on the stove.  Add about 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil, then brown one roast at a time on all sides.

Continue to move roast around about every five minutes.  Keep your eye on the flour mixture, as this will be the base of your gravy, if it looks like it’s starting to burn reduce your heat a bit.  Let first roast rest on a plate and brown the other piece.

When meat is completely browned, add reserved roast and any accumulated juices back to pan.  The entire browning process should take you about 40 minutes.  Cover with water almost, but not quite, covering the roasts completely.  Add 2 teaspoons salt and 16 turns ground pepper.  Cover stock pot with a lid, and reduce heat to medium.  Check after 1 hour, reduce heat by about 25% then cover and cook another hour.

Chop carrots in half lengthwise, then into 2 inch segments.  Chop potatoes in half lengthwise, then into thirds.  Add both to to stew.  Drain onions, then add.  Cover stock pot with lid and cook another hour and a half.  Use tongs to remove chuck roast to a bowl.  Use two forks to remove just the meat portion to a separate bowl then shred.  Discard fat and other parts. Then return shredded beef to stew, stir and season to taste.  Serve with a crunchy garlic french bread.  Happy eating!

Hamburger Soup Recipe

2.5 lbs ground chuck

1 yellow onion, diced

2 cans stewed tomatoes (14.5oz)

4 cans Campbell’s Beef Consomme (10oz)

1 can water

12 turns fresh ground pepper

In a large stock pot, brown ground beef on medium high heat.  When you can see no more pink, use a spatula to push beef to one half of the pot, then add the diced onion to the other.  Spread out your onion and stir each half every thirty seconds.  Continue until onion is soft and beef is very brown.  Use spatula to push beef and onions to one side, then tip pot to drain fat to the other side.  Remove fat with a spoon and discard.  Add tomatoes, consomme, water, and pepper to pan.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.  Simmer 25 minutes, then serve and enjoy!

Chili, like tortilla soup, seems to be a dish that means different things to different people.  I started to enter a contest earlier this year where part of the instructions required a smooth consistency of meat to gravy, containing no identifiable vegetables at all.  And some people think of chili only being a dish served so spicy it demands several beers in rapid succession to keep your taste buds from being destroyed.  This turkey chili with black beans recipe is not very spicy – you can adjust the amounts of cayenne and chili powder to increase the intensity to your desire.  You also could add half of a minced jalapeno in with the garlic, similar to the method I use in my tortilla soup.  I prefer to spice mine at serving with a sprinkling of red pepper flakes.  Enjoy experimenting!

Turkey Chili with Black Beans

2 tbsp olive oil

2.5 lbs ground turkey

1 large white onion, finely chopped

1 red bell pepper, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic

5 tomatoes on the vine, chopped

1 and 1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 and 1/2 tbsp chili powder

1/4 tsp cayenne

12 turns fresh ground pepper

1 and 1/2 tsp ground cumin

4 c. chicken stock

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

Toppings: shredded cheddar jack cheese, diced onion, and crushed red pepper

Heat a heavy bottomed stock pot on medium heat.   Add olive oil and saute onion and bell pepper 8 minutes.  Add ground turkey, increase heat to high and brown thoroughly.  Add garlic, cook another minute.  Add tomatoes, spices and stock, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 2 hours.  Add black beans, simmer another 30 minutes.  Serve and enjoy!

This year has flown by me.  I know that’s trite and ridiculous,  and I’m showing my age but seriously.  That’s how it has felt.  It feels like it *should* be March and asparagus should be just peaking in season.  Of course it’s December and the end of 2009.  Thank God.  I mean that in both the sarcastic sense and the literal sense.  I guess it’s a coming of age thing when you recognize both the monumental joy a decade has brought you right along with a recognition of the pain felt along the way.  Do *any* decades just feel amazing start to finish with love and peace and prosperity the overwhelming theme?  If so, I’d like one of those please.

So in honor of 2009 and the millennium decade or whatever we’re calling these years, I’d like to express gratitude for:

1.  My sweet husband.  7.5 years of marriage  this Christmas and 13.5 together.  Thanks for being on my team, even when I want to throw things at your head, and thank you for always being you, the love of my life.

2.  My children.  What a journey it was to have you here with me.  The road was full of heartache, but the end is my ultimate bliss.  You are everything I ever wanted.  Literally.  And I love that both of you want to be chefs.

3.  Every culinary present I’ve ever received.  All of which have come this decade.  I’ve loved my kitchens, and I’ve loved my toys.  10 years ago, I was in college and had no kitchen – or at least not one worth mentioning.  Dear Kitchen Aid Stand mixer my husband swore I would never use, the card may as well have been written: To Lane, because you love to prove someone wrong.  Dear Cuisinart, (which shall be replaced soon due to the vast improvements to this year’s model) I.  Each and every one makes me happy, and *that* is the goal friends.  I’m thankful for the kitchen I’ve built this decade and look forward to having one twice as nice next decade ; )

4.  My friends and family.  Whose support and interest in my blog has totally blown my mind.  Thanks y’all.  Truly.

5.  The abundance of groceries in my life.  Both the actual food and the multitude of options I have for procuring them.  I am a seriously blessed lady.

So if you made it through my holiday musings, this is the soup I created for a pre-Christmas dinner at my house.  I love a soup course, and hate to serve a meal without one.  We had Cream of Asparagus soup at my luncheon on my Wedding Day,  and it has always held a sweet place in my heart.  You hear cream of …, and I see some of you tuning out.  Let me be clear – this is a predominantly asparagus and broth soup, cream is present, but it is not a cream based soup.  It was very well received.  I originally topped these with the tips of the asparagus, but they tended to sink.   So unless you want to top your soup with a dollop of cream, they may not be the best food presentation choice.

Cream of Asparagus Soup serves 10

4 tbsp butter

2 c. chopped onions

3 bunches asparagus, cleaned, snapped, then sliced into 1 inch segments

6 and ¾ c. chicken stock

¾ c. heavy cream

1/4 c. Madeira wine

1 and ½ tbsp lemon juice

12 turns fresh ground pepper

1 ½ tsp kosher salt

Reserve 20 of the prettiest asparagus tips for garnish.  In a heavy bottomed stock pot, melt your butter on medium heat.  Add chopped onions and saute for 5 minutes, stirring to ensure you are not browning the onions.  Add asparagus and satue an additional 5 minutes.  Add chicken stock, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until asparagus can easily be chopped in half with the edge of a wooden spatula.

Splitting into 3 batches, puree soup in a blender.  Once all pureed, in stock pot, add puree with cream, madeira, and lemon juice.  Add salt and pepper.  Think of your seasonings as a jumping off point to start negotiations, bring soup back up to heat on medium, not to a boil, but warm.

Meanwhile, place asparagus tips in a pan of boiling salted water.  Cook until tender about 8 minutes.  Let soup rest 5-10 minutes at just below medium heat, then recheck and adjust seasonings as warranted.

Merry Meet!

This recipe is written as I made the soup, which is certainly a time intensive method – but there are several shortcuts you could employ.  If your freezer is home to one of my staple whole roasted chickens minus the breast meat which was eaten at an earlier date, skip the first paragraph and throw your freezer portion in the pan with 2 raw split breasts.  If your freezer is bare AND you’re short on time, use 3 raw split breasts and cook for at least an hour before adding your vegetables if you can – but even 30 minutes will get you started.  When you are lacking a whole or part of a roasted chicken your broth isn’t going to be as flavorful, and there will be more room in your pan.  So cover the split breasts, then when you add the veggies, add 4 cups of chicken stock.  If you have cooked white rice on hand, that would totally work as well, I just like this method since the rice absorbs some of your stock’s flavor without stealing all of the stock thus leaving you with a thick, dry soup.

Now get out there and make some for yourself, and a friend, or just throw it in your freezer in individual sizes to bring you through the winter!

Lemony Chicken with Rice Soup Recipe

1 whole chicken approx 5 lbs, rinsed giblets and neck removed

1/2 a lemon, cut into 4 pieces

4 large cloves garlic

1 and 1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper

olive oil

5 stalks celery, sliced

4 carrots, peeled, then sliced lengthwise, then again, then chopped into 1 inch slivers on an angle

1 yellow onion, peeled, sliced, then rounds sliced into quarters

2 bay leaves

2 c.  long grain white rice

3 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

Preheat oven to 425.  In a roasting pan fitted with a rack, stuff the chicken cavity with the lemon pieces, garlic, salt and pepper.  Drizzle skin very lightly with olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast chicken in oven for just over an hour – if you’re going to eat the breast meat at this point, you’ll need to keep cooking it to a safe internal temp of 165.

Since I’m going to continue boiling mine, I took it to 145, then put it in the stock pot and covered with water.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, for 2 hours.  Add celery, carrots, onion, and bay leaves, simmer another hour.  Carefully remove the chicken with turkey forks or a fish spatula, being sure to remove all bone pieces from stock.  Shred chicken meat with two forks, then return to broth.  Add 2 teaspoons kosher salt and 15 turns fresh ground pepper.

Cook rice in  four cups of boiling water.  Reduce heat to a simmer, cook covered about 15 minutes – until mostly cooked, then remove with a slotted spoon, drain, then add al dente rice to soup.  Cook 10 more minutes in covered soup pan.  Add lemon juice and crushed red pepper.  Simmer another 5 minutes, then adjust seasonings to taste.  Serve and enjoy!

I’ve been uninspired in my culinary pursuits lately, and just plain distracted in my grocery runs.  Consequently, I realized yesterday I had 16 yellow onions on my counter.  What better way to remedy that than french onion soup?   So I got out my rubber gloves and goggles and got to chopping.  Kidding.  Luckily chopping onions doesn’t bother me nearly as much as some people.  I only cried twice.  And frankly, I think I needed it.  Perhaps preparing this soup should be considered an emotional cleanse.  I attribute my success in limited tear production to my very sharp chef’s knife, thanks to my brand new knife sharpener, and the flame from my gas stove.  According to this wikipedia article, there’s some science to the sharp knife theory, and they also suggest chilling your onions if you’re concerned.

It’s no wonder I love this soup with the amount of alcohol that goes into it, the heating process actually burns off the alcohol content, but the flavor remains.  If you’re not a huge alcohol fan, I’d recommend keeping the sherry/cognac for deglazing – at least at half their amounts, but skip the red wine and replace it’s quantity with more beef stock.  But that’s only if you’re anti-alcohol.  I think the flavor is perfect, complex, and engaging just as written.  I think most chef’s use white wine in their French onion soups, I use red for a variety of reasons.  First, because I use beef stock and beef pairs best with reds, IMO.  Second, for color.  Third, I simply prefer red wine, and someone has to finish off that bottle.  And if you’re not a beef eater, like I know several of you aren’t, feel free to change this to chicken stock, or vegetable stock if you must.  But then you’re really going to need the alcohol for flavor. *wink*

The last caveat I have is that the easiest way to destroy this soup is  to accidentally use sweet onions.  Well it won’t destroy it, it just won’t be the flavor you’re expecting at all.  You need the yellow, dry onion flavor.  Sweet onions like Vidalia, Walla Walla, Maui and Texas 1015 are generally larger and rounder.  Yellow onions are small and firm, and in my experience, the outer papers seem more closely attached to the skin.  If you’re worried, look for the onions in bags, then confirm that the label reads “Yellow Onion” and nothing else.

French Onion Soup

8 peeled yellow onions, sliced to rounds, then halved to half moons

2 bay leaves

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp butter

1/2 c. cognac

1/2 c. dry sherry

1 and 1/2 c. Shiraz or Cabernet  wine

8 c. beef stock (Kitchen Basics recommended)

1 tsp dried thyme leaves

kosher salt

fresh ground pepper

In a stock pot with the heat a quarter of the way past medium towards high, combine the onions, bay leaves, oil, and butter.  Cook for 55 minutes until onions are soft and browned, stirring every five minutes or so with a wooden spatula.  Be sure to scrape the bottom of the pan, and if you’re at all concerned about your onions burning, reduce the heat just a bit.

Add cognac and sherry to deglaze the pan, being sure to scrape up any brown bits and and combine.  Cook uncovered for 5 minutes.  Add wine, cook 20 minutes uncovered.  Add beef stock, increase heat to high, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a quarter of the way past low towards medium.  Add thyme and simmer for 20 minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste, amount will vary based on seasoning content of stock.  I used approx 2 and 1/2 teaspoons of salt and probably 15 turns of fresh ground pepper.  Let simmer another five minutes, retest, and adjust if needed.  Remove bay leaves, then serve traditionally, topped with a crostini and shredded Gruyere, broiled for a quick minute or with toppings to the side.

Any how, since I really did love the music, and many of my friends were involved, I chose to be a serving wench.  I graciously delivered bowls of beef with barley soup, plates of prime rib, and glasses of wassail to the crowd.  As a reward, I got free dinner and to see the show.  And a reason to be out socializing on a school night.  Which I was *always* looking for.  So perhaps I was caught up in the beauty of the costumes, or the sound of the music, or caught up flirting with my latest love interest, some how, I can not make this soup taste how I remember it, nor find a recipe that in anyway holds promise to do so.  And I didn’t go to a fancy high school so so I’m bound to be crushed one day when I learn I’ve been longing for Kroger brand Soup in economy size cans.

This soup isn’t bad, my husband loved it actually.  And the homemade beef stock from the leftover ribs from my standing rib roast turned out perfectly.  But if you love something you eat when out and about – beg, borrow, or steal the recipe quickly!  Don’t wait to attempt your own version nearly 15 years later. I realize many of you have no desire to make your own stock.  So for an express version, simply purchase boxed beef stock.  I recommend Kitchen Basics.  But if you cook a standing rib roast, save your bones in a ziploc in the freezer and make this stock some Sunday!  One thing I’ll probably alter next round will be to use a chuck roast instead of leftover prime rib, cause seriously, who usually has that lying around.  I’ll go ahead and brown it and braise it the way I do for my pot roast and chimichanga meat.  Then shred the meat and add it to the soup.  I’m a huge fan of shredded over cubed meats.

Beef and Barley Soup

6 c. beef stock – see recipe for homemade stock below

3 stalks celery, chopped

1.5 c. baby carrots

1 medium white onion, chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 c. pearled barley, uncooked

3 c. leftover rare prime rib

Kosher Salt

Fresh Ground Pepper

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Heat olive oil in a stock pot over medium high heat.  Add carrots, onions, and celery and saute until slightly browning, scented, and softening.  Add beef stock, leftover prime rib, and garlic, bring to a boil, then cover and reduce to a simmer.

Meanwhile, boil 4 cups of water in a sauce pan.  Add 1 tsp salt and barley, reduce to a simmer, cook for 45 minutes.  Then add to soup.  Remove leftover prime rib from stock, then shred if you can or cut into bite size pieces and add back to stock.  Skim any surface fat with a spoon to remove.  Season soup with salt, pepper and cayenne to taste.  Let simmer 15 more minutes, then serve.

Homemade Beef Stock

leftover ribs (4) from a standing rib roast

water

2 tbsp salt

2.5 c. celery, chopped

2 c. yellow onion, chopped

2 c. baby carrots

fresh ground pepper

Place ribs in large stock pot, fill to the top with water.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.  Cook for 3 hours, then add celery, onions, and carrots, salt and pepper.  Cook another hour, then strain into a fresh pan.  Let sit 30 minutes to separate, then skim off all fat with a spoon.  Or refrigerate, then pull off the solid fat pieces.

Never miss a new recipe!

This soup has always been a big hit at my annual soup swap, as well as a great course for a Christmas or Christmas Eve dinner – the color just works well.  My parents are probably laughing at me that I could even consider something called Spinach Soup an old stand by.  I was a pretty picky eater as a kiddo, not as phenomenally so as my older sister, but still, fairly anti-vegetable, etc.  The culmination of said pickiness came at age six, resulting in me vomiting out of sheer protest after being forced one bite of a spinach souffle, then immediately declaring a spinach “allergy”.  Did I ever mention I don’t like to be told what to do?  I also tried to convince my best friend’s mother I had an egg allergy around that time, but I’m pretty sure Margee saw right through that.  In any case, Margee pretty much let us do whatever we wanted to anyway.  But, hey, we all grow up some day right?

There are two keys to this dish.  Immutable food laws, in my opinion, regarding spinach.  One – Only cook the spinach for an extremely short period of time to protect the color, flavor, and prevent the bittering flavors from attacking you.  Two – don’t season until you’ve reheated your soup after pureeing and adding the cream and Madeira, salt has a way of changing the flavor during the heating process.  A third rule, not necessarily immutable, but in the quest for food excellence, I’d encourage is, use real cream.  Real heavy cream.  Generally, I’m apt to sub half and half cause we have it on hand, or if a recipe calls for whole milk, I run with skim or 1 %.  In fact, usually if it calls for half and half, I half the amount and make up the difference with 1% milk.  But that one’s largely due to my sheer panic that my coffee might not be perfect the next morning if I use all my half and half.  I’ve made this with half and half and it’s just not the same.  Opt for real cream.  This recipe was adapted over time from the Williams Sonoma Entertaining cookbook.  I know I added more potato, much more stock, knowing me – probably more liquor and generally changed things around a bit – but that’s originally where it came from.  I tried to find the original recipe, but I can’t find my cookbook at the moment, and it’s long out of print.

I find children to enjoy this more if you call it Green Soup instead of spinach.  My kids are aliens, but they both gobbled up a bowl and were thrilled.  I’ve served it to a couple other children with good results.  And just in case you’re a grown up who feels ill at the idea of cooked spinach, give it a shot.  It’s seriously one of my most requested recipes. This recipe makes a bucket load – probably at least 10 bowl size servings – so feel free to half it or to split it with a friend.  As always, food is love and your friend with thank you, unless they throw up on your table out of protest anyway.

Spinach Soup with Madeira

1/4 c. butter
2 1/2 c. diced yellow (or white) onion – just not sweet onions!
2 baking (Russet) potatoes peeled and thinly sliced
5 c chicken stock
2 pkg prewashed baby spinach (at least 9 oz size each, the kind in the ready to make salad section)
1 c heavy cream
1/2 c. Madeira wine
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
salt and pepper (lots of both to taste) probably at least 3 tsps of salt

In a 6qt saucepan over med heat, melt butter.  Add the onion and saute, stirring, until tender and translucent 10-12 minutes.  Add the potato and the chicken stock and bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer until the potato is soft, 8-10 min.

Raise heat to high and start adding spinach by the handful, pushing them down in the hot stock with a spoon.  When all of the spinach has been immersed in the stock, cook until barely wilted no more than 1 min.

Working in batches using a slotted spoon, transfer soup solids to a blender or food processor fitted with the metal blade.  If you put it all in at once, it’s liable to make a big mess and won’t get evenly chopped.  The resulting mixture will be very thick.  At this point you can STOP, if you’re preparing in advance.

Pour the puree back into the stock.  Stir.  Add the cream and Madeira and reheat gently, thinning with additional stock to your liking.  Do not allow to boil.  Season with the nutmeg and generously with salt and pepper to taste.

For the technique, I reserved all of my lobster shells yesterday after Amelia removed the claw and tail meat.  For the head half, I chopped the lobsters in half and removed the sand sac or grain sac as it appears to be called both.  I couldn’t find a picture online of one, and silly me had my hands all slimy at the time, so I didn’t take one either.  I’ll give the description a shot, since I couldn’t find a good description online, and they call me the google-nator.  It looked like a relatively empty area, directly at the front of the head, up near the eyes.  Inside the sac, it looked like little teeny bits of broken up shell.  Here’s a picture of my stock after straining 3 times, I think the color is just beautiful.

When you watch the Barefoot Contessa on the Food Network, she thinks your fishmonger should have fresh, cooked, de-shelled lobster meat available for purchase.  I’m not sure that mine does, but I’ll put him to the test tomorrow.  If he doesn’t I’ll come up with something to add to our remaining bisque.

Lobster Bisque

(for stock)

1 tbsp olive oil

4 carrots, peeled and chopped

1/2 a white onion, sliced and quartered to slivers

5 stalks celery, chopped

4 lobster carcasses, chopped up and sand sac removed

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 14 oz can tomato puree

2 bay leafs

1 tsp dried thyme leaves

2 tsps kosher salt

4 cloves garlic, chopped

(for bisque)

1/2 c. butter

1/2 c. flour

8 c. lobster stock

1 and 1/2 tbsp corn starch

1/2 c. sherry

1 c. milk

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper

2 and 1/2 tsp kosher salt

parsley for garnish

In a large stock pot, warm olive oil over medium heat.  Add carrots, onions, and celery, sautee 10 minutes.  Add chopped lobster shells, then cover with water.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer for 30 minutes.  Add bay leaves, tomato paste, and puree.  Simmer another 30 minutes, then add garlic, thyme, and salt.  Simmer another hour.

Strain stock through a fine strainer to a clean pot.  Strain 2 more times.  Wash original stock pot, then melt butter.  Add flour and cook resulting roux on medium six minutes, stirring continuously.  Start by adding 1/2 c. lobster stock, then 1 cup increments until you’ve added 6 of the 8 cups.  During this process, your mixture will go from a paste-like consistency, to a thinner soup.  Use a whisk the whole time to ensure smoothness.  Add sherry and milk.  Combine corn starch with a ladle full of stock, then add the remaining lobster stock.  Add stock and cornstarch mixture.  Add cayenne, pepper, and salt, then bring to a boil and reduce heat cooking on medium low for 30 minutes.  Stir every five minutes or so – being sure to scrape the bottom to prevent scorching.  Taste, season to taste.

*** Here’s where I would have added finely chopped reserved lobster meat if we’d still had some on hand.