Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Lobster Bisque recipe

You can also just use the lobster shells to make the stock for the bisque. If you have a local fishmonger, that would be the best place to get the fish bones, fish heads, shells and other scraps that would make a wonderful fish stock.

Due to unforseen circumstances, no fishy bits. The only ones I could find were at a local Asian store and I had no idea what the fish was or how mild it was (recipies call for mild fish).

Traditional recipies call for both fishy bit stock and lobster shell/bit stock. I'll make due with the lobster bits.

For a wine I chose an Ontario Beamsville Bench (an area) 2006 Chardonnay from Cave Spring Vineyard. I don't have all the fancy words to describe it so I'll stick with very, very tasty!
OK, I'll try a little better. It has fruity overtones, a classical Chardonnay flavour and what I think is described as a smoothe buttery finish. Yummy. I was only planning on having a little before dinner, but am through my first glass already.

Make sure to roast the shells (lobster, shrimp or whatever you have) in a hot oven (400 degrees) or in a hot pan with a bit of olive until the shells turn bright red all over before you make the actual stock. Cave Spring makes some really nice whites. Enjoy!

I had never heard of Cave Spring. I'm impressed. And the bottle is almost empty...

Instead of cooked lobster, I think you'll end up with glazed Fred.

Here's an rather complex recipe straight from a tiny island where the population is only 140,000 but Lobster brings in an annual landed value of 105 million.

1. 1 large pot,
2. less than a 1/4 of a pot of freshly collected sea water.
3. as many lobster as will fit in the pot.
4. someone to go fetch a larger pot

OK, it's not a bisque but around here, bisque is for tourists. ...snicker...

Several years ago, I knew some people from out East(living in Ont though), once in a while they'd make some Lobster Chowder, OH-EM-GEE was it ever good.

Oh Yes, Chowder. That's an entirely different thing. heh heh heh.
Family chowder recipes are like a coat of arms around these parts. Probably comparable to the family feuds over barbecue recipes in the southern states.

And yes I realize it's almost the same thing. In fact, one seaside restaurant which I used to love had menu items that looked something like this.

Seafood Bisque:
A delightfully creamy seafood melody of lobster, clams, scallops, and two varieties of the freshest, white fish of the day.....................$850.00

Seafood Chowder:
A delightfully creamy seafood melody of lobster, clams, scallops, and two varieties of the freshest, white fish of the day.....................$8.50


My understanding that is with a bisque you puree the vegetables while with a chowder, they are left cut into chunks. Oh and lets not forget the most essential chowder ingredient of all (after seafood), "bacon". Still, it was always fun to hear somebody new read the menu out loud and get puzzled by the two items until the waitress would have to explain that it was a joke.

In my experience, a bisque is usually reddish and smooth (probably due to tomato), while a chowder is whitish and chunky.

Agreed. Although I had a green bisque once. I had to keep telling myself that it tasted better than it looked. Even more memorable was the first time my wife and I experienced a red bisque. It was enjoyable but lacked much flavor except the vegetable. but I'll never forget that after the dinner party, my wife asked me why anyone would go to all the trouble of heating up their V8.

I guess it is all of this that accumulated into an irresistible urge to cut into this post and make fun of bisques. No offense intended.