Lobster Newburg
One of the best-known international seafood dishes is Lobster Newburg. Many people believe it to be a French dish but it was, in fact, the creation of a Mr. Wenburg, a former head chef at Delmonico's in New York. The first letters of the name Wenburg have been transposed to give Newburg. as is so often the cse, you will come across this dish made with a variety of ingredients and by a variety of methods. The following recipe has now become something of a classic.
Ingredients
2 1 3/4lb Live Lobsters
Coral and Liquid from the lobsters
3 qts Court-Bouillon
1 cup Reduced Fish Stock
1 cup Heavy Cream
6 tbsp Olive Oil
5 tbsp Brandy or Cognac
5 tbsp Dry Sherry
2 tbsp Butter
2 tbsp All Purpose Flour
To Taste Salt and White Pepper
Preparation
Clean the lobsters. Heat the court-bouillon to a rolling boil in a large pot. Place one lobster headfirst into the pan and remove after 3 minutes. Repeat with the second lobster, once the water has come back to a rolling boil.
Using a heavy, sharp knife cut each lobster into fairly large pieces. Discard the intestinal vein and reserve the corals and the liquid produced.
Heat the olive oil in a pan. Quickly fry the lobster, turning continuously, and season. Pour off the oil. Add the brandy and sherry and reduce by two-thirds. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cream and reduced stock. Cover the pan and simmer, over a low heat, for about 15 minutes.
Remove the lobster from the pan. Remove the meat from the shells and place it in a serving dish. Keep hot. Mix the butter, corals, lobster liquid and flour to a smooth past. Whisk this into the sauce, a little at a time, and simmer for at least 10 minutes. Reduce further, if necessary, until creamy. Then strain it over the lobster.
Instead of the mixture of butter, coral, liquid and flour, other recipes mix Béchamel sauce and egg yolk into the Newburg sauce. This gives a good consistency, but cannot compare with the flavor given by the coral and lobster liquid.