Lobster Cardinal

By John, 15 February, 2013
Description
Lobster Cardinale

This delicious dish plays to the many strengths of perfectly fresh local lobster. 

Lobster Cardinale is very tricky; you will do well to think it through carefully before committing to it for company. A lot of the work must happen at the very last moment, so it could be a disaster to attempt for more than four diners. To be honest, I would want more experience before attempting it for four. 

That raises another issue:  can be a pricey dish to practice with. The lobsters really must be Selects or bigger, and there's the black truffle to deal with. This is a dish best suited to practicing with unabashed and unjudgmental foodie friends!

Yield
2 Servings
Preparation time
1 hour
Ingredients
2 Lobster (cooked, 1.5 - 2 lb)
6 oz mushrooms (cleaned and diced)
1 Black Truffle (shaved)
1 pt Cardinal Sauce
Instructions
  1. Have the lobsters cooked at your fishmonger. You'll have plenty of opportunity to exercise your awesome kitchen-godhead technique without having to waste a burner boiling these doomed crustaceans.
  2. Saute the diced mushrooms in butter with a splash of Madeira or Port. Go for a dark ruddy color.
  3. Dice the claw meat and the knuckles. This is the "red" part of the lobster. Add it to the diced mushrooms in equal parts. The mixture should be dark and reddish.
  4. Use kitchen shears to cut the tail and body exactly in half, Don't cut the meat, just the shell. The goal is to have two half-shells intact for filling.
  5. Mix a few tablespoons of unheated Cardinal Sauce with the mushroom-claw mixture. Spoon it into the half-shells on a baking tray or oven-proof serving platter.
  6. Dip the sliced lobster tail in the Cardinal Sauce and lay them across the mushroom-claw mixture. Set a black truffle slice between each lobster-tail slice.
  7. Dress each filled half-shell with more Cardinal Sauce, and some grated Parmesan Cheese or Gruyere, if you have some.
  8. Broil on high for a few minutes, until the topping is bubbly and golden.
  9. Serve immediately. This is excellent with Champagne!
Source
Escoffier Cookbook