butter-poached lobster with shrimp étouffée

2020-07-25

During the Covid-19 quarantine I stocked up on all the Zatarain's products I could find. Zatarain's étouffée base mix is not my favorite (too much flour to my liking,) but Marielos liked it OK. I prefer the étouffée I made from scratch. Of course, I didn't know that until I tried it. :-)

Mounted butter can be heated about 20 degrees warmer than regular butter before it breaks and is therefore better for poaching.

INGREDIENTS

This is what you need for 2 servings:

2 large lobster tails, 3/4 lbs. and up
1 lb. salad shrimp
1 pckg. Zatarain's étouffée base mix
2 tbsp. tomato paste
S&P
10 tbsp. butter, COLD

optional:

1/2 cup chopped each:
onion, celery, bell pepper
Creole seasoning

Pic1: lobster tail, shrimp étouffée, rice

Directions

2020-07-25 —

Zatarain's étouffée

Pic2: package
Pic3: sauce
Pic4: with shrimp

Boil rice for two.
Prepare the sauce as per directions on the package.
IMPORTANT:
- I added almost double (4 cups) the water, and it still was too thick, sticking to the pot.
- Simmer at least 15 minutes over low heat to rehydrate the dried vegetables. Stir regularly.
Add 1 lb. salad shrimp.
Simmer 5 minutes to warm through.
Optional: use a blender to puree part of the shrimp into the sauce.

Mounted butter

Pic5-7: making mounted butter

Cut the COLD butter in thin slices.
Heat 2 tbsp. water until boiling.
Remove the pan from the heat.
Only reheat very briefly over low heat if the emulsion gets too thick. (Pic6+7)
Whisk 1-2 slices at a time into the water until all done.
The result should be a pourable butter emulsion.
Leftover sauce cannot be heated up again, it will break. But it can be used to make clarified butter.

Poaching the lobster tail

Pic8: lobster tails
Pic9+10: poaching

Remove the lobster tails from the shells.
Rinse briefly. Cut coarsely.
Add to the mounted butter.
Heat over LOW heat without boiling and poach the lobster in the butter until fully cooked.
IMPORTANT:
- Keep the butter below boiling, or it will break.
- Frequent stirring helps to keep it cool enough.
Remove from the heat when cooked throughout.
The butter will have absorbed a lot of the lobster flavor.

Served

Pic11-13: served

Serve the lobster with the butter sauce. Delicious.
Serve the étouffée with or over the rice.
Enjoy.
Refrigerate leftovers.

lobster croissant

2020-07-26

Pic14: leftovers, refrigerated
Pic15+16: lobster croissant

Cut leftover lobster in bite-sized pieces.
Optional: reheat briefly.
Serve on a croissant with any other items of your choice.
I added strawberry jam.
Enjoy.

zucchini soup with lobster

2020-07-28

Pic1a: zucchini soup with onions, potatoes
Pic1b: same, with lobster

For more details, see zucchini soup with lobster