Lobster Attack

I like to eat Lobster, but I don’t like to cook it. Anything with an exo-skeleton gives me the heeby-jeebies. You know that feeling when you wake up in the middle of the night with a black fuzzy spider crawling over your eye– I get that same sensation when handling anything with pinchers.
When I first started at Cordon Bleu I had to force myself to get over the morbid side of cooking. When we made crab bisque we had to smash them alive, that was hard. So was butchering ole’ bugs bunny with it’s eyes and head still attached. I also don’t eat veal because I’ve seen it all caged up and it’s trés triste. I guess it comes down to the food chain and I’m really glad that for now, we’re on top.
Okay, back to killing lobsters…the recipe we’re making tomorrow is Hommard à L’Americaine avec Riz Aux Raisins. So basically what you do is you take the lobster and you stick it’s head in boiling water. Not the whole body, because you want to sauté that with aromatic vegetables. It dies quickly but then after you’ve held it’s head in and “drowned” it, it continues to twitch. ICK IT TWITCHES!!!!
Then you twist off the big pinchers and break the thorax from the body by twisting it apart (yup, still twitching). After scooping out lobster ‘mustard’ for the sauce you sauté all the parts in butter & oil and mirepoix. Once cooked the lobster is removed and kept warm while the sauce is made.

The recipe is totally delicious. The rice with sultanas go great with the sweetness of the lobster and the sauce is to die for…well, not really. The recipe is called à L’Americaine because the old big fancy cruise ships that used to go from Normandy to America would serve this dish to their first class customers.
Tomorrow’s the big day in the practical, I hope it goes well. I’m thinking about practicing tonight just so tomorrow I don’t get all wobbily in class, I’m sure my husband won’t mind…

Technorati Tags: Cooking School, Cuisine, Food, Le Cordon Bleu, lobster, Paris