Court Bouillon for Seafood Boil. And Surf Wipeout.

Whether it’s a big-ol’ 4th of July lobster boil or a more refined three-way lobster tasting course, a court bouillon amps up the lobstery-ness of our crustacean friends.  And sends a nice aroma around the house (or backyard boil).  A seasoned vegetable stock with seafood-friendly flavors.  Here’s the start of a court bouillon I did at my in-laws for a recent 15 lobster boil:

Lobsters are a unique grocery item as they arrive alive.  Offing a lobster is the closest many (most?) of us will come to killing dinner.   Many cooks throw them in the pot and run out of the room.  Others can’t do it at all.   On the other end of the spectrum, some chefs just dismantle a lobster without even a coup de grâce of the knife through the head.  In any event, if you are inclined to do the deed, let’s send our crustaceans on their way in a really tasty manner.

Water in the pot, a couple beers or a bottle of dry Sauv Blanc.  Cut lemon. A halved onion and a few stalks of celery.  Maybe a quartered fennel bulb and half a garlic head. For the herbs, a fist of fresh parsley and tarragon.  And a healthy pour of the Old Bay seasoning.  Let it all simmer low and slow and get its flavor on. 

Timing lobster cooking is more art than science, it depends on the size and number of the lobsters, the size of the pot, how much court-bouillon you’ve got happening and the heat of your flame.  My general rule is about 12 minutes, but with the big boil above it took more like 15.  If you come across a recipe that has a 2 handle or more on the timing, move on.  Cooking a lobster for 20 minutes is shameful.  Just shameful.  

Sometimes I’ll par-steam a lobster for 3 or 4 minutes, then clean the whole thing and finish cooking the meat in warmed butter.   Lobster poached in butter.  Let’s say that again: lobster poached in butter.  Mmmm.  I’ll still do the court-bouillon for that, even though the flavors don’t really have time to get into the meat.   Why?  

Lobster stock.  Add all the shells back to the court bouillon and let it all simmer a long while.  Oddly, there is a huge amount of lobster flavor in the shells, and the simmering coaxes it out into a beautiful stock.  Strain, discard solids and reduce.  Lobster stock is a magic potion of many uses.  

p.s. – Surfing lesson #3.  There’s still a lot of work to do:

But some of this happened too:

• coup de grace
• fennel
• lobster
• Old Bay
• tarragon