Lobster Bisque

For as long as I can remember, my family has eaten Stouffer's lasagna for Christmas Eve dinner.  My mom started doing this because she could put it in the oven before we left for church, and when we got home it was ready and we could eat right away.  Well this year, after our "rogue" Thanksgiving, where we made brisket instead of turkey, we decided to shake things up at Christmas as well.  My whole family loves Lobster Bisque, and when we see it on a restaurant menu, we almost always get a bowl to share.  So when we were brainstorming what we wanted to make for that dinner, as soon as I suggested Lobster Bisque, the family was sold!  Since the bisque is so rich, we decided to have salad and lavosh with it, and it made for a meal that felt special for the holidays!

This was my first attempt to make a soup like this, and I have to say it was really quite easy.  My dad helped me to grill the lobster earlier in the afternoon, then we chopped it up and let it soak in the sherry while we were at church.  We also pre-diced all of the vegetables.  When we got home, it only took about 20 minutes for us to have some piping hot bisque on the table....almost as easy as the frozen lasagna!   This soup was really good, the whole family loved it, and it was almost even better the next day when reheated and thinned out with some milk.  The only thing that we will change the next time we make it, is reducing the amount of dry sherry, the sherry was a bit strong for our tastes, so next time I would reduce it in half so it doesn't overwhelm the other flavors. 

This isn't an every week kind of soup, mainly because some of the ingredients can be pricey, but it is perfect for a special occasion...so give it a try!

Lobster Bisque

adapted from The Reluctant Gourmet

1 - 2 c. cooked lobster meat (I grilled 2 lobster tails, but Trader Joe's has frozen pre-cooked langostino lobster that would work also
1/2 c. dry sherry (I would either reduce in half, or just not add all back into the soup)

3 Tbsp. butter
3 Tbsp. flour
1/2  c. onion, diced
1/4 c. celery, diced
1/4 c, carrot, diced
Salt and white pepper, to taste
1/2 tsp. Old Bay Seasoning, or to taste
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
1 c. whole milk
1 c. half and half
1 c. seafood stock (This is usually in the frozen section, but you can substitute chicken stock if you can't find it)


Combine the lobster meat with the sherry. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

In a hot pan over medium heat, melt the butter. Once it stops sputtering, add the onion, celery, carrot, salt and pepper and Old Bay. Stir and let cook until the vegetables are translucent and are getting soft.

Add the tomato paste and cook for another couple of minutes.

Add the flour and cook for two to three minutes, stirring all the time.

While whisking, add the cold milk, half and half and stock and bring to a boil. Let boil for about 1 minute, still whisking constantly. Turn the heat down and let simmer until slightly reduced.

Using an immersion blender, blend the soup until smooth.

Taste, and add more salt, pepper or Old Bay, if you think it needs it. Add the reserved lobster and sherry to the pot and simmer for just a couple of minutes, so the lobster is heated through.

Serve with crusty bread and maybe a little sour cream on the top. If you want to be really fancy, sprinkle on a little chopped tarragon as garnish.  Yummy!

The Atlanta Fish Market - Atlanta, GA

I can't believe it has been three weeks since we got back from our Georgia adventure and I haven't posted about any of the delicious food that we ate! And eat we did; lots of wonderful seafood and Southern delicacies were on our agenda, and while I never did get any chicken and waffles (don't scrunch your nose at this, it is darn tasty), we did have some really wonderful food!

Our first night of the trip we stayed in Atlanta near Lenox Square, which is a big shopping district. Pre-trip my dad had done some research and had gotten us reservations at The Atlanta Fish Market, which was touted to have some of the best seafood in Georgia. After getting changed at the hotel we headed over for our 7:30 reservation, and even though it was really only 4:30 Phoenix time, we were starved due to traveling and the lack of a formal lunch. I was in charge of the driving during the whole trip since my dad had hurt his back, and while I don't usually mind driving, I am not fond of the passengers trying to tell me how to drive or that they accidentally forgot the directions! After a few maneuvers that could possibly be considered illegal, we finally found the restaurant, which incidentally is hard to miss due to the 65-foot high copper fish that sits out in front of the restaurant!

The restaurant was housed in a large brick building, and upon entering the high ceilings and colorful decorations gave it a very inviting feeling. We were taken to one of the large booths that ran along one of the aisles. Have I ever mentioned how much I love booths? It is just so much more comfortable, you can spread out, and if you are a girl...there is always room for your purse! This booth could have easily sat six people, so there was no fighting for elbow room. Our waitress came over and discussed the specials, then took our drink orders and left us to look over the menu. This menu was massive, there were so many delicious looking choices, we just couldn't decide! I think before she took our order, at least three of us had changed our orders at least three times!

When our waitress returned with our drinks and some crusty sourdough bread, we put in our order; a few appetizers for sharing and our entrees. We dug into the bread like we had not seen food in days. It was warm on the inside, and crusty on the outside, the perfect way to start our meal. Luckily, some of our appetizers arrived, otherwise we may have put ourselves in a bread coma!

The first thing on the table was the Creamy New England Clam and Cod Chowder. My family is a bunch of seafood soup loving fools, and we always seem to get clam chowder when we are out, so we were anxious to try this version. At first impression, I was a bit taken back by the appearance of the soup, I am used to a chowder that is very white, but this one had more of a golden hue to it. But all first impressions immediately went away as soon as I took a bite, it was the most amazing chowder I had ever had! It was thick enough, but not heavy; it had a nice seafood flavor, but not in an overwhelming way; and the potatoes were cooked perfectly. My whole family thought that this was a superb chowder, and the bowl was empty in a flash. In truths, I could have had another bowl just for myself!

My dad and sister were really excited to see New England "Steamer Clams" on the menu, so we got an order of them as well. Normally when we get these, the clams come swimming in the broth, but in this instance, the clams were served on the side from the broth, so you just dipped the clam in the broth. Wow, these were amazing!! The broth had such great flavor; garlic, lemon, butter and the clams were so tender it was a match made in heaven. A close second was dipping the bread in the leftover broth...mmmm.

My dad also wanted to share a salad to start and chose the Blue Cheese Caesar, since my mom does not like blue cheese, it was up to my sister and I to help with it. We all found the concept of a Caesar salad with blue cheese to be very intriguing, and the result was delicious. Basically, it was a regular Caesar salad, that was then topped wih crmbled blue cheese for some added punch. The three of us that ate it really liked it, you could still taste the Caesar dressing, but for a blue cheese lover, this is one tasty salad (and I don't even normally like salad!).

We had just barely finished all our starters when our entrees started to arrive. My mom one was one of the people who couldn't quite decide what to order, but utlimately, with some guidance from our server, she decided on the Jumbo Sea Scallops Hong Kong Style. Hong Kong Style is the restaurant's signature fish preparation, and you can get it with any of the fresh seafood selections that they have that day. So for the scallops, they were sauteed with sherry soy, scallions and ginger then served over a bed of sauteed spinach with a side of sticky white rice. The presentation of the dish was beautiful, and my mom couldn't get over how huge the portion was! Typically, restaurants will give you about 4 or 5 large scallops as a serving, this dish had about 10! Mom took her first bite and was very happy with the dish. The scallops were sweet and tender, and when contrasted with the salty soy it was a delicious combination. I was lucky enough to score a scallop off her plate, and it was so amazing, the flavors were so delicate and especially good when eaten with some of the spinach that had been cooked in the same broth; it was a very successful dish. Mom had a hard time eating all of the scallops, but she just couldn't bear to see any of them go to waste!

My dad ordered something I have never seen him order in a restaurant, lobster. It is not that he doesn't like lobster, it is just not something that he ever seems to be in the mood for (with the exception of when it is in a bisque - see I told you - seafood soup fanatics!). I guess the description of the 1 1/2 lb. "Signature" Whole Stuffed Maine Lobster was just too enticing for him to pass up. The lobster was HUGE, it took up an entire plate to itself, forcing the whipped garlic potatoes and green beans to occupy their own plate. The lobster had been split down the middle but left the tail meat intact to be dipped in drawn butter, but the rest of the shell was stuffed with Alaskan King Crab stuffing, which was basically like a giant crab cake! Dad really loved this, he said the lobster was cooked perfectly, and was not rubbery at all. The King Crab stuffing was seasoned well and really complimented the sweet lobster. The garlic whipped potatoes were also excellent, with just the right amount of garlic and extremely creamy from the butter. He too had a hard time finishing his meal.

I was in the mood for crab, but I am not a fan of crab legs and I didn't think I could eat two whole crab cakes so I decided to order the "King" Crab Fritters off of the appetizer menu. When my plate came out, I was presented with three medium sized fritters, some homemade potato chips and a side of spicy remoulade sauce. I cut in to the first fritter and was pleasantly surprised to find basically a crab cake! It seems that they had taken their typical crab cake mixture, dipped it in a light batter and deep fried them. The crab was wonderful, there was not a lot of filler, just crab and I really liked the remoulade sauce. The homemade potato chips were still warm and cooked just enough to give them a nice crunch. I felt that this was an excellent value because I was basically get the crab cakes at a much reduced price, and since I got samples from everyone else's plates...I had more than enough food to eat.

My sister was going to order the crab legs, but then she decided that she could get those anywhere, so she went with the Surf Special of the Day, the "Lobster & Frites." It consisted of a 6 oz. lobster tail dipped in their thin batter and flash fried and was served with french fries and some honey mustard dipping sauce. When her plate first arrived she was a bit confused because she didn't think it looked like a lobster tail, but she went ahead and started eating anyway. As she started eating, she realized that there wasn't any honey mustard dipping sauce (she has a major obssession with this stuff), while we waited to flag down the waitress, my dad finally tried a bite of her meal and said, "Mmm, those are some good shrimp." What? Shrimp, she had ordered lobster! Well when the waitress came back she confirmed that they gave my sister the wrong meal, and like magic, the lobster appeared, but we got to keep the shrimp too due to the mix up! Boy were we lucky here, these were the best fried shrimp we had ever had. The batter was so light, that it gave just enough crunch without masking the shrimp flavor. My mom, dad and I were happy to eat the plate of shrimp that we were given by mistake!

While my sister too enjoyed the shrimp, she loved the lobster. It had the same thin batter, and the sweet lobster paired really well with the honey mustard dipping sauce. She gave me a bite and it was delicious, a unique preparation that really highlighted the lobster very well! (Now this looks more like a lobster tail!)

Even though we had eaten way too much already, especially due to the tasty bonus shrimp, we just couldn't resist getting some dessert....I mean we were on vacation! I really wanted to get the bread pudding; I used to be very against bread pudding, but now I can't seem to understand why? This version was dotted with golden raisins and served warm with a butter rum sauce....it was divine! The raisins really made this exceptional, I think golden raisins get a bad wrap most of the time, but when they are warmed up their sweetness really shines through. My mom is a big bread pudding lover, and thought that this was an excellent version.

My sister is not a fan of bread pudding, so we ended up ordering a second dessert, the warm apple tart with cinnamon ice cream. The tart was excellent, it had a crumb topping and the crust was so flaky and delicious. What really set this tart apart was the homemade cinnamon ice cream that it was served with, it was a wonderful combination that made it very unique.

While we probably didn't need to have dessert, we were glad that we did, but we were very, very full! My sister declared it the best meal she had ever eaten, and most of us agreed that as a whole, the meal was AMAZING! Our trip to Georgia had started off on a high note, and I know if I ever get back to Atlanta, a trip to The Atlanta Fish Market will definitely be on my itinerary!

The Atlanta Fish Market
265 Pharr Road NE
Atlanta, GA 30305

http://www.buckheadrestaurants.com/