Cold Fennel Soup With Lobster Recipes

FENNEL POTATO SOUP WITH LOBSTER MEDALLIONS, BLOOD ORANGE SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or medium soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and sweat them for 3 minutes. Add the fennel and sweat 5 minutes, until it begins to get tender. Add the potatoes, wine and Pernod and simmer to reduce the liquid until it is nearly gone. Season with salt and pepper. Add the vegetable stock, bring to a boil, and then reduce heat and simmer for 40 minutes.
• Meanwhile, put the cream in a small heavy-bottomed saucepot over medium heat. Simmer to reduce until it has thickened and has rich nutty flavor. Set aside.
• While the soup simmers, prepare the Blood Orange Reduction. Whisk together the blood orange juice, lemon juice and honey in small non-reactive saucepot. Simmer over medium heat to reduce to a syrup, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
• Transfer soup in batches to a blender and process until smooth (or use a stick blender in the pot). Pass each batch through a mesh sieve, pushing it through with a rubber spatula. Discard solids. Return the soup to the saucepot over medium heat. Whisk in the reduced cream and adjust seasoning to taste. Keep the soup warm while preparing the lobster.
• Bring a medium saucepot of salted water to a boil. Add the lobster tail and boil for 2 minutes, just enough to be able to remove the meat from shell, not to cook through. Put the tail in an ice bath to stop cooking. Remove the meat from the shell and cut the tail in half, rinsing if necessary. Slice the lobster into bite size pieces.
• Melt the butter in the saucepot. Whisk in the lemon juice, salt and pepper. Add the lobster pieces and poach over low heat until just cooked through, about 2 minutes.
• Ladle hot soup into bowls. Add poached lobster pieces to each serving. Drizzle the soup with blood orange reduction and garnish with orange segments and fennel fronds.

LOBSTER BISQUE

Steps:

• Stock: In a large pot lined with a steamer basket, bring 1 inch salted water to a boil. Steam lobster tails, top-side down, until just cooked through and tails curl under, 6 to 8 minutes for small tails and 8 to 10 minutes for large. Transfer to a plate and let cool. When cool enough to handle, use kitchen shears to cut through underside of tails. Remove meat from shells; reserve shells. Run a paring knife along back of each tail and remove vein. Cut meat into bite-size pieces; cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
• Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high. Add shells and cook until fragrant and deep red in color, about 4 minutes. Add fish stock, wine, and 6 cups water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, skimming impurities from surface, until reduced to 6 cups, 40 to 45 minutes. Strain stock into a large liquid-measuring cup or heatproof bowl. Wipe out pot. (Stock can be stored in airtight containers in the freezer up to 3 months.)
• Bisque: In same pot, melt 4 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat. Add fennel, onion, and garlic and season with salt and pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, tomato paste, thyme, bay leaf, paprika, and cayenne; cook 1 minute. Add brandy, sherry, and strained lobster stock; season generously with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer 30 minutes. Remove thyme and bay leaf.
• Working in batches, puree soup in a blender until smooth. Return soup to pot. Let cool 15 minutes. Whisk together cream and cornstarch, then stir into bisque. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring, until thickened slightly, 1 to 2 minutes. Adjust seasoning as desired.
• Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add lobster meat and cook until just warmed through, 2 to 3 minutes. Pour soup into bowls and serve, topped with lobster, fennel fronds, and a squeeze of lemon, if desired. Soup can be made in advance and stored in an airtight container in refrigerator up to 2 days.

CHILLED FENNEL SOUP

Steps:

• Place fennel in a 5-quart casserole with a tightly fitting lid. Toss with olive oil. Cook, covered, at 100 percent power in a high-power microwave oven for 32 minutes, stirring twice.
• Remove from oven and uncover. Immediately scrape mixture into a food processor. Process for several minutes, stopping from time to time to scrape sides of bowl, until mixture is very smooth.
• Add fromage blanc and process until smooth. Add lemon juice and 2 cups of the chicken broth and process until smooth.
• Scrape mixture into a large bowl. Whisk in remaining 2 cups chicken broth, salt and pepper.
• Refrigerate until cold. Coarsely chop 1/2 cup of the fennel tops and sprinkle some over each serving.

COLD FENNEL SOUP WITH LOBSTER

Steps:

• Remove the stalks and feathery leaves from the fennel bulbs. Mince two tablespoons of the leaves and set aside. Chop the bulbs. You should have about two cups of the chopped bulbs. If additional fennel is needed, chop some of the stalks. Discard any unused stalks.
• Heat the oil in a heavy four-quart saucepan. Add the onion and chopped fennel bulbs and cook slowly, covered, until they are soft and transparent.
• Add the stock, bring to a simmer, and stir in the potatoes and cumin. Simmer partly covered until the vegetables are very tender, about 30 minutes.
• While the vegetables are simmering, steam the lobster for 10 minutes, allow it to cool briefly, then remove the meat from the tail and claws. Dice the meat and refrigerate it, covered, until ready to serve.
• When the vegetables are tender, allow them to cool briefly, then puree in a blender in batches. Puree the soup in a food processor, if you prefer. It will not be as smooth and will benefit from being forced through a fine sieve. Refrigerate the puree, covered, at least four hours or overnight.
• Before serving, stir the half and half into the puree, using as much as you need to give the soup a creamy, but not too thick, consistency. If calories are a concern, the soup can be thinned with water. Add the Pernod and season the soup with salt and pepper. Ladle the soup into six shallow soup plates and spoon some of the lobster into the middle of each. Scatter the minced fennel leaves over the soup and serve.