I really wanted to use the Sea Urchin shell as the vehicle for serving the dish because… 1… it’s beautiful and 2… it’s genius 😛 When I dip my fat face into the shell and go at it with my pitchfork, I get that whole waft of ocean air in my face. It’s like when chefs try to trap some smoke, you get that flavor, except this isn’t a different flavor of burnt smoke, it’s the same flavor that you’re eating…super concentrated…super intense.
Sea urchin pasta served in the shell then in my belly
Here is a Nova Scotia lobster Velouté w/ shallots cooked in butter, then reduced 1 cup of vermouth to a syrup, then white wine in a bisque with a whole lobster tail. mother nature has already made amazing ingredients. let’s highlight them!!! giggity
The basics to cook the lobster and Uni soup: poach the lobster for ~ 4 minutes on very gentle simmer or a boil then cut the heat. They should be parcooked and in the oven until it gets good color. Then sweat leeks, carrots, celery in some oil in a stockpot and when everything is getting a bit of color, put the body in the stockpot with the vegetables and pour in white wine to cover the body. I like to use a not overly acidic sauvignon blanc or chablis. Reduce that by 1/2 till the alcohol is burned away, then cover with COLD water (cold water to a simmer–under a boil will extract the most flavor).
Add some fresh thyme, tarragon(not too much), black peppercorns, bay leaf, maybe a small bit of tomato paste and let it simmer for 45 minutes. taste it and see if it needs more time. Adjust the salt. Strain through a china cap then pass it through a Chinois or fine mesh. You will now have your soup base.
Now here’s where it gets tasty: In a separate saucepan, melt a bit of butter and 3 finely chopped shallots until translucent. Pour in 1/4 cup of Vermouth and reduce that to a syrup. Pour in 1/2 cup of wine and reduce that, then in a separate small saucepan heat up some cream depending on how you like it and add that to the soup base. Important to heat the cream otherwise adding cold cream will curdle when added to the soup. Lay out a few bowls (or use the sea urchin as the vehicle for serving to get the full ocean aroma), add the shallot/vermouth/wine mixture to each individual bowl.
Arroser (butter baste) the lobster meat to finish cooking with garlic in the pan. and spoon some of that fresh Uni in there. careful of the spines
-E