Lobster a l'Americaine Recipe
If you are going to splurge on lobster, why not go all the way with this show-stopping, yet easy, cognac-flamed lobster.
- Preparation:
- Cooking:
- Total:
- Serves: 2 persons
Ingredients
- 3pounds
- lobster
- ½cup
- olive oil
- 3tablespoons butter
- 1small onion, finely chopped
- 6
- shallots , finely chopped
- 1clove
- garlic , peeled and chopped
- 6ripe tomatoes , peeled, seeded, and chopped
- 3tablespoons chopped parsley
- 1tablespoon chopped fresh, or 1 teaspoon dried,
- tarragon
- 1 ½teaspoons
- thyme
- ½bay leaf
- 1 ½cups white wine
- 3tablespoons tomato paste
- Cayenne pepper to taste
- Salt to taste
- ¼cup cognac
Instructions
Step 1
Wash the lobsters well. With a very sharp heavy knife cut medallions of the tail, cutting through the markings on the tail. Cut the body in half, clean it, and save the liver and coral, if any, for the sauce. Remove the claws.Step 2
Heat the olive oil and add the pieces of lobster. Toss them around in the oil until the shells have turned red and the meat is seared. Remove the meat and shells to a hot platter.Step 3
Add the butter to the pan with the olive oil and saute the onions and shallots until lightly colored. Add the garlic, tomatoes, parsley, tarragon, thyme, bay leaf, and white wine and let it simmer for 30 minutes. Add the tomato paste and season to taste.Step 4
Pour the cognac over the lobster pieces and ignite. Then put them in the sauce, cover, and simmer for about 20 minutes. At the last, stir in the liver and lobster coral. Recipe Source: by James Beard (Little Brown) Reprinted with permission.