Sweet Corn Bisque with Butter Poached maine Lobster

Recipe by Shawn Olah, Executive Chef at Highlands Falls Country Club, Highlands, North Carolina, USA
Image by Diana DeLucia

Ingredients

Sweet Corn Bisque

• 4 ounces Clarified Butter
• 8 cobs of Fresh Sweet Corn (kernels removed/reserve ½ cup corn kernels)
• 2 Yellow Onions (diced)
• 1 medium Celery Stalk (diced)
• 1 Leek (chopped with top and base of leek removed)
• 3 Garlic Cloves (chopped)
• 1 ½ cups Chardonnay
• ½ cup Cream Sherry
• ¼ cup Basmati Rice
• ¼ cup Granulated Sugar
• 2 cups Water
• 2 cups Chicken or Vegetable Stock
• 1 cup Heavy Cream – 40% Butterfat
• 1 pinch Red Pepper Flakes
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 2 Fresh Thyme Sprigs (remove from stem and chop)
• Salt and White Pepper (to taste)

Butter Poached Lobster

• Two 8 ounce Maine Lobster Tails
• Four 6" Wooden Skewers
• Beurre Monte (See recipe)

 
Beurre Monte

• 2 Tablespoons Water
• 1 pound Cold Unsalted Butter (cut into cubes)

Yukon Gold Potatoes

• 2 Large Potatoes
• Kosher Salt
• Parsley (chopped)
• Unsalted Butter
• Salt and Pepper (to taste)

Garnish

• Shaved Baby Radish
• Micro-Basil (The Chef's Garden)
• Popcorn Shoots (The Chef's Garden)
• Chervil Oil
• Butter Sauteed Corn
• Fennel Frond
  
  

 
Preparation

Sweet Corn Bisque 
On medium heat, begin to sweat the onions, leeks, garlic, and celery in clarified butter using a medium soup pot. Sauté until the onions are tender and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add sugar, stirring to avoid clumping. Once the sugar is melted, add in the thyme, bay leaf, and red pepper flakes. Pour in the basmati rice, mixing for 1-3 minutes to evenly coat and heat the rice grains. Once heated, add the Chardonnay and stir consistently to ensure the rice does not stick to the pot. Allow the rice to absorb about half of the wine. Continue by adding the corn, water, and stock,  then lower the heat to a light simmer for about 30 minutes or until the rice and corn kernels are tender. Pour in the heavy cream and reduce for about 5-8 minutes. Once reduced, remove soup from heat. Blend the soup in a blender until smooth and place in the soup pot to season and reheat. With the heat on low, season the soup with salt and white pepper as needed.
 
Beurre Monte
Over medium heat, bring the water to a simmer in a small saucepot. Add in the cubed butter slowly, continuously mixing with a whisk. Once the butter is completely melted, bring the butter to a temperature of 155°F-160°F and hold.
 
Butter Poached Maine Lobster
Using scissors, carefully cut the underside of the lobster shell and pull the shell open to expose the lobster meat. Carefully remove the meat from the shell, breaking the shell away as needed to avoid tearing the flesh. Placing the base of your hand on top of the lobster tail, push a skewer lengthwise through each side of the lobster tail to keep it straight during cooking. Place the lobster tail in the beurre monte for about 8 minutes or until the temperature of the lobster reaches 140°F. Gently remove the skewers and slice the lobster tail for plating.
 
Yukon Gold Potatoes
Peel and brunoise the two potatoes. Lightly blanch for about 30 seconds in salted simmering water and cool in an ice bath. Strain and allow potatoes to drain. Lightlysauté the potatoes in butter with salt, pepper, and chopped parsley before plating.

Assembly

Using a small spoon, place a spoonful of each sauteed corn and diced Yukon potatoes in the bottom of your serving bowl. Next, slice the lobster tail in half, leaving half of the tail whole and slicing the other half into medallions. Place the remaining full piece of the tail protruding from the base of the bowl, upwards towards the rim. Lay the warm lobster medallions on the rim of the bowl, opposite side of the larger piece, leaving space to fill between with other ingredients. Chef Note: I also chop or dice any lobster meat from trimming and slicing the lobster, placing it in the bowl with the corn and potatoes. Alternate the warm corn and potatoes in between the lobster medallions, placing the ingredients with intention and keeping them neat. Garnish the ingredient layout with shaved radish, popcorn shoots, fennel fronds and micro-basil. Using a petite soup pitcher, slowly pour the soup over the ingredients in the base of the bowl. Lightly drizzle chervil oil over the soup just before serving.
 
Wine Match

Failla Sonoma Coast Chardonnay 2018

The par-3 15th hole, perched on a rock ledge nearly underneath the 100-foot waterfall is created by the headwaters of the Cullasaja River above. It is this hole that Ron Whitten, Golf Digest Senior Editor of Architecture, described as “the most memorable par three in golf”.