I have never been much of a soup person, but oh my goodness this was good! Even though I'm not a big fan of soup, I couldn't take my eyes away from this recipe as I was flipping through my books, so I decided to give it a try. I sure am glad that I did!
I did end up altering the recipe slightly. (I feel like I do that a lot!) I went to Harris Teeter to get the lobster tail only to find out that one 4oz lobster tail was $9.99! Holy crap! I just couldn't bring myself to spend $20 on 8oz of meat, so I ended up getting one 4oz lobster tail and substituted the other 4oz of lobster meat with a can of Bumble Bee crab meat! A fantastic idea, if I do say so myself. The Bumble Bee crab meat was also on sale, so that also helped with making my decision on what to do. At the end of the recipe when I added the lobster to the rest of the soup, at that time I drained the can of crab meat and mixed that in with everything else. SO GOOD!
This was my first time cooking with lobster tail, so I had a little bit of trouble getting the meat out of the shell. My husband came to the rescue though! I had also never used leek before. It took me a few minutes to find it in the store, and I didn't realize until I was reading through the recipe that you only use the white and light green parts only. Good to know! I also got a can of corn kernels instead of getting an ear of corn and cutting the kernels off. The recipe is very easy to follow, but does take some time from start to finish. Totally worth the effort, but make sure you have some time to spare before you get started!
A few notes that the cookbook lists: 1) For best browning, allow the butter to foam up before adding the lobster and cook undisturbed for the first few minutes, and 2) To remove lobster meat from the shell, cut down center of top and bottom of lobster shell with Kitchen Shears; pull shell apart.
Again, I've never been much of a soup person, but this chowder had so much flavor to it - it was delicious! I think substituting half of the lobster tail meat with canned crab meat was a nice touch also! Enjoy!
Lobster & Corn Chowder
Published by The Pampered Chef, Ltd. in 2006.
Prep time: 20 minutes Total time: 45 minutes Yield: 2 servings (about 3 cups)
1 8-ounce uncooked lobster tail (about 10 ounces in shell)
2 tbsp butter, divided
2 tbsp brandy, divided (optional)
1 small leek (white and light green parts only), thinly sliced
1 1/2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 bottles (8 ounces each) clam juice
2 tsp tomato paste
1/4 tsp salt
1 large red potato, cut into 1/2-in. pieces
1/2 cup fresh corn kernels
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
Thyme sprigs (optional)
1. Remove lobster meat from shell; cut into 1-inch pieces. Melt 1 tbsp of the butter in (1.5-qt.) Saucepan over medium-high heat. Add lobster; cook 5-7 minutes or until edges of lobster begin to brown, stirring occasionally. Remove lobster from pan; set aside. If desired, add 1 tbsp of the brandy to pan (if not using brandy, use water); stir to loosen browned bits from bottom of pan using Silicone Sauce Whisk.
2. Melt remaining 1 tbsp butter in same Saucepan over medium heat. Add leek and thyme; cook and stir 1 minute or until slightly softened. Whisk in flour; cook 1 minute. Slowly whisk in clam juice, tomato paste and salt; bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium-low. Add potato; simmer, covered, 5 minutes. Stir in corn; cover and cook 10 minutes or until potato is tender.
3. Stir in cream; simmer gently just until heated through. Remove from heat; add lobster and remaining 1 tbsp brandy, if desired. Ladle soup into bowls; garnish with thyme springs, if desired.
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