Homard à la New-burg

This dish may be prepared in two ways—with raw lobster and with the latter cooked some time beforehand. The second way is the more correct, but the first, which is less troublesome to prepare, is more suited to the work of large establishments.

948—HOMARD A LA NEW-BURG (with raw lobster)

Cut up the live lobster, and fry it in oil and butter as explained under “Homard à l’Américaine.” When the pieces of lobster are stiffened and coloured, clear them of all grease; swill the sautépan with one tablespoonful of burnt brandy and one-half pint of Marsala.

Reduce by a third; season, and add two-thirds pint of cream and one-sixth pint of fish _fumet_. Cover and set to cook for fifteen minutes.

Take out the pieces of lobster; withdraw the meat therefrom, and keep it hot in a covered timbale. Thicken the sauce with the reserved intestines and coral of the lobster, which should be chopped in combination with one oz. of butter.

Set to boil a second time; rub the sauce through tammy, and pour it over the pieces of lobster.

949—HOMARD A LA NEW-BURG (with the lobster cooked)

Cook the lobster in _court-bouillon_. Remove the shell from the tail; take the meat therefrom, and cut it into regular slices. Lay these slices in a liberally-buttered sautépan, season strongly, and heat the slices on both sides until the outside membrane acquires a fine red colour.

Moisten with enough Madeira to almost cover the slices, and reduce the moistening almost entirely. When dishing up, pour a leason, composed of one and one-quarter pints of cream and two egg-yolks, over the slices. Stir gently on the side of the fire until the thickening has been effected by the cooking of the egg-yolks, and serve in a lukewarm timbale.

950—HOMARD A LA PALESTINE

Cut up the live lobster and toss it in butter with a _mirepoix_ prepared in advance, as for crayfish intended for potage bisque.

Moisten with two-thirds pint of white wine, one pint of fish _fumet_, and three tablespoonfuls of burnt brandy. Cover and cook for fifteen minutes.

Now detach the sections of the tail and the claws; withdraw the meat from them, and keep them hot in a small covered saucepan with a little butter. Pound the carapace and remains of the lobster in a mortar; fry them in four tablespoonfuls of very hot oil, and add thereto an ordinary _mirepoix_, cut very fine. Moisten with the cooking-liquor of the lobster, and set to cook for one-quarter hour. Strain through muslin; leave to stand for five minutes, that the oil may rise to the surface, and then completely remove it. Reduce this liquid to one-quarter pint; thicken it with the reserved creamy parts of the lobster, rubbed through tammy, and two tablespoonfuls of fish velouté, and finish this sauce with two and one-half oz. of curry butter.

Arrange a border of pilaff rice (No. 2255) on the dish intended for the lobster; set the pieces of lobster, kept hot, in the centre, and coat these with a few tablespoonfuls of curry sauce.

Serve the remainder of the sauce separately.

951—MOUSSELINES DE HOMARD

In the matter of crustaceans, the term _mousse_ stands, as a rule, for a cold preparation, whereas the term _mousseline_ is only applied to warm dishes. The special _mousselines_ or quenelles of lobster are made with a _mousseline_ forcemeat, the recipe for which I gave under No. 195. This forcemeat is prepared with the raw meat of the lobster.

As with the other crustaceans, their meat produces forcemeat which is somewhat too flimsy to be spoon-moulded, and it is preferable to poach it in special well-buttered quenelle- or _dariole-moulds_.

_Mousselines_ are poached under cover in a moderate oven.

All the garnishes and sauces given in respect of salmon _mousselines_ may be applied here. The reader will therefore refer to:—

Mousselines de Saumon Alexandra (No. 798).

Mousselines de Saumon à la Tosca (No. 799).

952—SOUFFLÉS DE HOMARD

For lobster _soufflés_ the same forcemeat is used as for the _mousselines_; but, unlike the latter, it is poached in the half-carapaces of the lobster, the meat of which has served in its preparation. The procedure is as follows:—First cook the two half-carapaces carefully, that they may not lose their shape in the process.

After having drained and dried them, fill them with _mousseline_ forcemeat and surround them with strong, buttered paper, which should be tied on with string, and should overreach the edges of the carapaces by one inch.

The object of this measure is to prevent the forcemeat from spilling during the poaching.

Lay the two garnished carapaces on a tray containing just enough boiling water to moisten its whole surface. Put the tray in a moderate oven or in a steamer, and allow from fifteen to twenty minutes for the _soufflé_ to poach.

This done, carefully drain the two carapaces; remove the paper holding in the forcemeat; dish them on a napkin, and surround them with bunches of very green, curled-leaf parsley. Serve separately a sauce in keeping with the preparation; _i.e._, a Normande, a White-wine, a Diplomate, or a Béchamel finished with lobster butter, &c.

N.B.—The above constitutes the model-recipe of lobster _soufflé_, and I need scarcely point out that the latter may be varied almost indefinitely in accordance with the fancy of the cook and the taste of the consumer.

Thus the forcemeat may be garnished with truffles in dice, slices of lobster, milt, or poached oysters, &c., which garnishes may also be laid on the _soufflé_ when it is finished. I therefore leave to the operator, who should now see his way quite clearly, the task of imagining the various possible combinations, a description of which would but unnecessarily delay the progress of this work.

953—COLD LOBSTER WITH VARIOUS SAUCES

Cook the lobster in _court-bouillon_, and let it cool in the latter. Drain it, sever the claws, and break them open in order to withdraw their meat. Split the lobster into two lengthwise, remove the intestines and the queen, and dish it on a napkin. Lay the claws on either side of it, and surround it either with curled-leaf parsley or with a few hearts of lettuce.

Send to the table separately one of the derivative sauces of the Mayonnaise (Nos. 122 to 132).

954—ASPIC DE HOMARD

Under “Aspic de filets de soles” (No. 915), I pointed out the preparatory principles of an aspic; in this case, therefore, I shall only refer to the various details very cursorily.

Let a thin coating of white fish jelly set on the bottom of an aspic-mould incrusted in ice. The reader is reminded of the great care that must be observed in the preparation of an aspic jelly, that the latter be limpid, succulent, and just sufficiently firm not to break when withdrawn from the mould. Decorate the bottom of the mould with bits of truffle, poached white of egg, lobster coral, capers, and tarragon leaves.

The decorative design cannot be described; it must be left to the taste and fancy of the operator; all I can urge is that it be as regular and symmetrical as possible.

Fix the decoration by means of a few drops of jelly; then cover the whole with a thickness of one inch of the same jelly, and leave the latter to set. Upon this layer of jelly arrange rows of thin slices of lobster meat and slices of truffles placed alternately and slightly overlapping. Now add enough jelly to cover these slices, and continue filling up the mould with varying layers consisting respectively of jelly (one inch thick) and the slices above described.

When about to serve, dip the mould in hot water; dry it, and turn out the aspic upon a dish covered with a napkin.

955—CÔTELETTES DE HOMARD ARKANGEL

Prepare a _salpicon_ of lobster meat in dice combined with its weight of caviare, the whole quantity being in proportion to the number of _côtelettes_ required.

Thicken the _salpicon_ with an equal quantity of lobster _mousse_ (No. 956), and at once garnish some moderately oiled cutlet-moulds with the preparation. As soon as the latter has set, turn out the cutlets; coat them with a fish chaud-froid sauce, finished with lobster butter; and deck each with a fine, grooved slice of truffle. Glaze them with cold melted jelly, and keep them in the cool until required to be served.

Arrange them in a circle on a round dish; garnish the centre with chopped white jelly, and serve a Russian salad separately.

956—MOUSSE DE HOMARD

Cook the lobster in a few tablespoonfuls of previously-prepared fine _mirepoix_, one half-bottle of white wine, and a small glass of burnt brandy. Leave to cool in the cooking-liquor. Now split the lobster in two, with the view of withdrawing its meat. Finely pound the latter while adding thereto, little by little, one-third pint of cold fish velouté per lb. of meat. Rub through a sieve; put the resulting purée in a vegetable-pan lying on ice, and stir for a few minutes. This done, add a little good fish jelly, melted and cold, and one-third pint of barely-whipped cream. Taste; rectify the seasoning, and warm it slightly with cayenne.

957—MOUSSE DE HOMARD MOULÉE

When the _mousse_ is intended for moulding, it is well to decorate and “clothe” the mould with fish jelly some time in advance. I have already explained that to “clothe” a mould with jelly, all that is needed is to pour therein a few tablespoonfuls of melted jelly, and then to rock the utensil on ice. By this means a thin even coating sets on the bottom and sides of the mould, which, when the moulding is turned out, swathes the latter in a transparent film.

This “clothing” of jelly may be made more or less thick, according to the requirements, by simply using more or less jelly, and by proportionately lengthening or shortening the time for rocking the mould.

When the mould is clothed, decorate the sides with large slices of very black truffle dipped in melted jelly, that they may stick.

This done, fill the receptacle with the prepared _mousse_ (see the preceding recipe), and leave to set in the cool.

For the turning out of the mould and the dishing of the moulding, proceed as for the aspic.

958—PETITES MOUSSES DE HOMARD

For these small _mousses_, use little _cassolettes_ or silver timbales. First let a thin layer of jelly (one or two tablespoonfuls, according to their size) set on the bottom of each utensil, and then surround the latter with bands of white paper, the ends of which should be stuck together, and should reach one inch above the brims of the _cassolettes_. The preparation of _mousse_ may now be placed in the _cassolettes_ in a sufficient quantity to overflow the brims, so that, when the paper is removed, their appearance is that of small _soufflés_.

When the _cassolettes_ have been garnished, put them aside on ice or in a refrigerator until they are served.

959—HOMARD A LA GRAMMONT

Split the lobster open lengthwise down the middle. Withdraw the meat from the tail; trim it, and cut it into regular collops. Coat the latter again and again with aspic jelly, that they may be well covered with it; decorate each with a slice of truffle, and glaze it with the same aspic.

Also coat with jelly as many very white poached and dried oysters as there are collops.

Now take the creamy parts and the meat of the claws, and pound them finely with one tablespoonful of cold Béchamel sauce; rub through a sieve, and, with the resulting purée combined with melted fish jelly and cream (see lobster mousse No. 956), prepare a _mousse_ “au paprika” of a decided pink colour.

Fill the two half-carapaces to their edges with this _mousse_, and leave it to set on ice.

When about to serve, lay the collops, glazed with jelly, upon this _mousse_, and place an oyster between each pair. Dish the two garnished half-carapaces, back to back, upon a napkin, and put the heart of a lettuce in the middle, and a bunch of curled-leaf parsley at either end.

Serve a mayonnaise or other cold sauce separately.

960—HOMARD A LA PARISIENNE

Tie a lobster to a little board; stretch out its tail to the fullest extent; cook it in _court-bouillon_, and leave it to cool in the latter.

When it is quite cold, with the help of scissors, carefully cut a strip of the shell from the back of the head to the tail. The aperture left by the removed strip of shell ought to be sufficiently wide to allow of the meat of the tail being removed without breaking it. Having emptied the tail, refill it with salad leaves, and return the strip of shell (upside down) to its place. Cut the meat of the tail into even collops, and lay on each a roundel of truffle stamped out with the fancy-cutter, and dipped in half-melted jelly. Then coat these slices, which should be on a dish, again and again, with cold melted jelly until they are well covered with it.

Now break the claws and remove their meat, as also that remaining in the carapace, and cut both meats into dice. Take the creamy parts, and rub them through a sieve.

Prepare a small vegetable salad; add thereto the meat dice, and cohere the two with a mayonnaise sauce combined with melted jelly and the creamy parts rubbed through a sieve. When the salad begins to set, owing to the jelly contained in the mayonnaise, garnish twelve small artichoke-bottoms with it, arranging the salad in them in pyramid form. Set a bit of truffle on each pyramid, and sprinkle the salad with melted fish jelly in order to make it glossy.

_Dishing._—Dish the lobster on a cushion of buttered bread on which a _julienne_ of lettuce has been stuck, or on one of carved rice. The cushion should have the shape of a wedge, in order that the lobster may lie at an angle of about 45°, with its head raised, when laid upon it. Arrange the slices (slightly overlapping one another) along the back of the lobster, beginning at its head with the smallest of them, and progressing down towards the tail, gradually increasing their size.

Surround the lobster alternately with artichoke-bottoms garnished with salad, and quartered hard-boiled eggs, or halved hard-boiled eggs (set upright with their yolks facing outwards).

Border the dish with very clear jelly in large cubes or triangles, etc.

961—HOMARD A LA RUSSE

Proceed exactly as above with regard to the cooking of the lobster, the extraction of the meat, and the cutting of it into slices. Coat the slices with mayonnaise sauce combined with melted jelly; or, better still, with a white fish chaud-froid sauce combined with the lobster’s creamy parts rubbed through a sieve.

Decorate each slice with a bit of coral and two little chervil leaves; coat them again and again with cold melted aspic, and put them aside in the cool. “_Clothe_” ten _dariole-moulds_, and decorate the bottom of each with a slice of truffle. Also prepare ten hard-boiled eggs.

Prepare a Salade Russe (without meat); add to this the remains of the lobster meat cut into dice, and thicken with mayonnaise and melted aspic, mixed. With this thickened salad fill the _dariole-moulds_, and leave to set in the cool.

_Dishing._—Set the lobster on a cushion, after the manner of the preceding recipe. Trim the slices, and lay them, as before, on the lobster’s back, taking care to graduate their sizes. Surround the lobster with the small moulded salads, and alternate these with the hard-boiled eggs. The latter should be cut in two at a point one-third of their height above their base; their yolks should be removed, the space filled with caviare moulded to the form of a pyramid, and, this done, the eggs should be set upright.

Border the dish with roundels of very clear fish jelly, stamped out by a fancy-cutter, and lay a bit of truffle upon each.

N.B.—(1) The moulds of salad must, of course, be dipped in hot water before being turned out.

(2) The lobster may also be served “à la Néva,” “à la Moscovite,” “à la Sibérienne,” &c., but these preparations are only minor forms of “Homard à la Russe” under different names.

Changes may be effected in the preparation by altering the constituents of the salad and its dishing. It may, for instance, be made in small cucumber or beetroot _barquettes_, while the caviare, instead of being laid in hard-boiled eggs, may be served in little pleated cases.

As these preparations, however, are based neither on fixed principles nor on classical rules, I shall refrain from giving them.

962—MAYONNAISE DE HOMARD

Proceed as for Mayonnaise de Saumon—that is to say, garnish the bottom of a salad-bowl with _ciseled_ lettuce leaves, and season them moderately.

Upon this salad lay the remains of the lobster, and upon the latter place the thin slices of the tail. Cover with mayonnaise sauce, and decorate with strips of anchovy fillets, capers, olives, hard-boiled eggs, roundels of pink radishes, the hearts of lettuce, &c.

N.B.—I have already pointed out the futility of prescribing a decorative design. As a rule, the matter is so intimately connected with the taste and fancy of the individual, and the products used for the purpose lend themselves to such indefinite variation, that I prefer merely to enumerate these products, and to leave the question of their arrangement to the artistic ingenuity of the operator.

963—SALADE DE HOMARD

See “Salade de Saumon” (No. 810). As the preparation and seasoning of the latter are identical with those of the dish under consideration, all that is needed is to replace the salmon of recipe No. 810 by the collops of lobster.