Whole lobster with gratin of spinach, Espelette pepper and grain mustard

  • medium
  • 2
  • 2 hours 30 minutes
Not yet rated

Martin Wishart's whole lobster recipe really is the epitome of luxurious dining. The delicate meat of the whole lobster is served with a rich hollandaise cream sauce, and plated with dramatic effect.

First published in 2015

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Lobsters

Fish cream

Hollandaise sauce

To serve

Equipment

  • Fine chinoise

Method

1
To prepare the lobsters, bring a large pan of salted water to 90°C. Insert the tip of a sharp knife into the head of the lobster and cut vertically straight through the middle of the lobster - this will kill it instantly
2
Repeat with the other lobster and remove the tails and claws. Reserve the heads for other dishes
3
Making sure the water is at 90°C, add the claws to the water and cook until the water temperature drops to 80°C, then add the tails
4
Cook for 6 minutes, then drain the tails and claws. Crack the claws and carefully remove the meat, keeping the claws as intact as possible. Remove the meat from the tail in one piece and set aside until ready to serve
5
For the fish cream, add the butter to a pan and cook the shallots gently for 1 minute, without colouring. Pour in the white wine and reduce until it reaches a glaze-like consistency - you should be left with approximately 2-3 tablespoons of liquid
6
Add the fish stock and reduce by half, until you are left with 125ml of liquid. Stir in the cream, bring to the boil and cook for 1 minute
  • 250ml of fish stock
  • 150ml of double cream
7
Pass the sauce through a fine sieve, season with salt and set aside
8
For the hollandaise sauce, place the shallot, thyme, vinegar and peppercorns in a pan and bring to the boil. Reduce the liquid by 3/4, pass through a fine sieve and set aside
9
Add the clarified butter to a separate pan and heat gently until it reaches 32-40°C. Keep it at this heat until required. Add water to another pan and bring to the boil
10
Add the egg yolks to a large, stainless steel bowl with 1 tablespoon of the vinegar reduction and 1 tablespoon of water. Set the bowl over the pan of boiling water and whisk vigorously, until the volume has doubled in size - this should take 2-3 minutes
11
Once doubled in size, remove from the heat and use a ladle to gradually add the warm clarified butter in a thin, steady stream, whisking continuously as you pour
12
Once you have added all of the butter, season the sauce with salt and a squeeze of lemon juice. Cover with cling film. If not using immediately, store the sauce at 22-26°C and use within 2-3 hours
13
Slice each tomato into quarters, remove the seeds and use a 3cm round cutter to cut circles from each quarter
14
In a saucepan, gently warm 150ml of the fish cream, but do not bring to the boil. Remove from the heat, add the Espelette pepper, mustard, parsley and hollandaise to the cream and whisk together until the hollandaise is fully incorporated
15
Onto each heatproof serving plate, arrange a portion of spinach. Slice each lobster tail into 6-8 pieces and place it on top of the spinach, then place 4 tomato discs on top of the lobster tail. Use scissors to trim the shells from the head and flippers of the lobster
16
Place the shell from the head at the top of the tail and the flippers at the end of the tail, then spoon a generous amount of the sauce over the lobster meat
17
Take 4 of the cooked potatoes and cut each one into 3 even slices, then arrange the pieces either side of the tail. Place the plate under a hot grill for 2-3 minutes or until the sauce has glazed to a light golden brown colour. Serve immediately with the remaining new potatoes
First published in 2015

Although steeped in the techniques of the classical French kitchen, Martin Wishart’s culinary imagination has a distinctly contemporary edge.

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