Category: Main Dishes

Origin: France

 

For how many people: 4

Preparation time: 20 min

Cooking time: 30 min

 

Story of the recipe or story of the chef:

Being extremely busy as the creative director of the Ingie Paris line and managing director at the Etoile Group, I have to admit I don’t spend a lot of time cooking. Nevertheless, I really enjoy doing it whenever I have something special to celebrate with my family and close friends. Lobster Thermidor, for example, is my best recipe and serves the basis for many good memories. I learned it from my mum and it reminds me of her every time I prepare it. She was an amazing woman, extremely chic and sophisticated in any situation, even at home while cooking, and she’s still my source of inspiration today whenever I have to visualize the woman I would like to dress with my Ingie Paris collections.This dish marks all of the festive days of my life.

Ingie

 

List of ingredients:

• 2 lobsters
• 2/3 cup of olive oil
• 2/3 cup of white wine
• 1 cup of lobster, fish or chicken stock
• 1 tbsp to 2 tbsp of chopped tarragon
• 2 egg yolks
• ¾ cup of heavy cream
• 1 tbsp dry mustard
• 3 tbsp sherry
• 1 cup of béchamel sauce: 4 tbsp butter + 3 tbsp flour
• ½ cup of lobster or fish stock
• 1 cup of milk
• A pinch of nutmeg
• Sweet or hot paprika to garnish
• 2 or 3 shallots, finely chopped

 

Preparation Mode:

1.    Preheat the oven to 200 °C/Gas 6. With a large, sharp chef’s knife, split the live lobsters in half lengthwise. Start with the head side and work the knife back toward the tail. Starting with the head end kills the lobster instantly.

2.    Brush the lobsters with olive oil and bake in the oven for 15 minutes.

3.    Make the béchamel sauce: Melt the butter and add flour and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the stock and stir well to combine. Let this come to a simmer, then slowly add the milk, stirring all the while. Let this come to a simmer, then add some salt and pepper to taste, then the nutmeg. It’s very important not to let this boil.

4.    Remove the lobster from the oven and let it cool. Then remove the meat (don’t forget the meat in the body!) and chop coarsely.

5.    In a small frying pan, add the wine, sherry, lobster stock and the tarragon and boil it down until it is thick, almost a glaze. Add this glaze to the béchamel sauce and stir well to combine.

6.    Mix the cream with the egg yolks, then slowly add some of the béchamel-glaze mixture to the cream, stirring all the time. When you get approximately ½cup of the hot mixture into the cream, pour it all back into the rest of the béchamel-glaze mixture. What you are doing here is tempering the cream-egg mixture, so you don’t get scrambled eggs in your sauce. Again, do not let this boil.

7.    Add the dry mustard and some salt to taste. When the sauce is thickened, add the lobster and mix well.

 

My top tips:

Fill the empty lobster shells with this mixture and brown in a 190˚C/Gas 5 oven for a few minutes. You can, of course, eat the Thermidor outside of the shells in little bowls or with egg noodles. In either case, sprinkle a little paprika over the top at service.