INGREDIENTS:
(4 servings)
¾ pound haricots verts or thin green beans
1 teaspoon unsalted butter
1½ teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 cup hot
Maine Lobster Stock – recipe follows
1 Tablespoon minced fresh tarragon
1 Tablespoon minced fresh chives
4 cups boiled long-grain rice, preferably jasmine
DIRECTIONS:
In a medium saucepan of boiling salted water, cook the haricots verts over moderately high heat until tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and keep warm.
In a small bowl, work the butter into the flour to form a paste, then whisk the paste into the hot Maine Lobster stock. Bring to a boil over high heat, whisking constantly. Reduce the heat to low, add the Maine Lobster meat, tarragon and half of the chives and stir until warmed through.
To serve, arrange the rice in a ring on a platter. Spoon the Maine Lobster and sauce in the center. Arrange the haricots verts around the rice and garnish with the remaining chives.
For
Maine Lobster Stock:
2 each 1½ pound live
Maine Lobster
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 small carrot, coarsely chopped
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
¼ cup
Cognac
¾ cup dry white wine
2 large Italian plum tomatoes, finely chopped
3 fresh flat-leaf parsley sprigs
1 fresh thyme sprig or ¼ teaspoon dried
1 bay leaf
1 pinch salt, to taste
1 pinch freshly ground pepper, to taste
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Plunge in the Maine Lobsters head first, cover and simmer over moderate heat for 17 minutes. Transfer the Maine Lobsters to a large bowl and let cool for about 1 hour.
Working over the bowl to catch the liquid, detach the Maine Lobster tails from the bodies. Using kitchen shears, snip through the soft underside of the tail shells and remove the meat. Twist off the claws, crack them open and remove the meat. Pull out and discard the intestinal vein that runs down the tail. Cut the Maine Lobster meat into ½" pieces and add to the bowl. Discard the sand sac behind the eyes and chop the shells and head into 1" pieces.
Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy, nonreactive saucepan. Add the onion and carrot and cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until lightly colored, about 3 minutes. Add the Maine Lobster shells and garlic and cook until fragrant, about 3 minutes longer. Add the
Cognac and ignite with a match. Cook until the flame burns out, about 1 minute.
Add the wine, tomatoes, parsley, thyme, bay leaf, ¼ teaspoon salt and 5 cups of water to the saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer over moderately low heat,
stirring occasionally, for 50 minutes. Pass the stock through a fine strainer into a large clean saucepan and discard the solids. Add any liquid from the Maine Lobster meat and boil over high heat until reduced to 1 cup, about 15 minutes. Season the stock with salt and pepper. (The recipe can be prepared to this point up to 4 hours ahead. Cover and let the Maine Lobster meat and stock stand separately at room temperature. Rewarm the stock before proceeding.)
