When it comes to producing an outstanding feast with flair, French dishes come to mind often. We have some fantastic seafood in South Africa, so why not combine South Africa’s local ingredients with French flair and expertise to produce culinary perfection? Lobster thermidor is lobster or crayfish flesh cooked in a rich wine sauce, then packed and browned back into a lobster shell. Due to the high cost of the materials and the long preparation required, Lobster Thermidor is often reserved for special occasions.
Lobster thermidor tips
Because lobster meat is fairly delicate when cooked, even if you undercook it during the boiling stage, it will be cooked further in the sauce. The sauce is a thick wine sauce with cayenne and paprika spices. Not only does it complement the rich sauce, but the scarlet speckles mix well with the crayfish’s red shell. Serve it over a bed of rice and a light salad topped with garlic and lemon butter.
Do you have a big event coming up and like creating delicious dishes? Lobster thermidor is rich and wonderfully delicious.
Lobster thermidor recipe
Course: Main
Cuisine: French
Difficulty: Easy
Servings: 4 servings
Prep time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Total time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Ingredients
-
5-6 frozen lobster tails
-
butter
-
½-½ cup cream
-
lemon juice
-
salt
-
paprkika
-
cayenne pepper
-
1 tbsp sherry
-
250 g mushrooms
-
1 onion or leeks, chopped
-
celery, chopped
-
1-2 cloves garlic
-
1 cup chicken stock
-
breadcrumbs
-
Parmesan or cheddar cheese
Method
- Boil tails in fast boiling salter water 20 minutes, until tender.
- Remove flesh from tails and chop up meat about size of an almond.
- Melt butter in a pan and fry the garlic, onions and celery until tender and lightly browned.
- Remove from pan. Add more butter to and saute sliced mushrooms, adding salt, pepper and squeeze of lemon juice.
- Stir-in 2 tablespoons of flour, a some pepper, cayenne, celery salt and paprika. Slowly add chicken stock, stirring constantly.
- Slowly add cream and continue to stir. Cook until a fairly thick sauce is achieved. If sauce is too thick, slowly add some milk until it’s correct.
- Add the lobster meat and cooked onions. Remove from stove and add sherry. Stir well.
- Fill shells with the mixture.
- Cover with breadcrumbs, grated cheese and a sprinkle of paprika.
- Place the tails in oven-proof dish in 200°C oven until cheese is melted and crumbs browned.
- Serve on a bed of rice and a light salad.