Lobster bisque

I am never one to pass up the opportunity to make a fragrant broth from scraps of things.

If I roast a chicken, I make stock from the bones. If I make beef ribs, guess what? Beef stock, from the bones. And if I make anything from fresh lobster, you bet I’m going to make lobster stock from the shells. Do you know how ridiculously expensive it is to buy frozen lobster stock at a specialty store? You’re looking at $10 for a small container, maybe $15. For water stewed with crustacean scraps. Ridiculous. So naturally when I was done making New England style Lobster Rolls recently, I popped the shells into a pot and simmered them down with some flavouring vegetables, to produce a rich, fragrant, lobstery broth.

I got a lot of stock out of 2 lobster shells. Probably about 10 cups. So I froze half of it for later and wondered what to do with the other half. Then it came to me: bisque! I’ve had very expensive lobster bisque at restaurants before, why not try a home-made version! It turned out to be very easy to make. I had a little crab leftover so I spooned that into the bowls of velvety bisque as a sort of garnish.

And I still have the rest of the stock for another use, maybe bouillabaisse. This made a lovely weeknight dinner, served with sparkling wine and some nice fresh bread. Here’s the recipe!