LOBSTER CROQUETAS
It’s a mistake to cook these for other people, as they will always ask for them again! Totally delicious – but very time-consuming. Think of them as Lobster Thermidor in a crunchy deep fried parcel.
Ingredients Serves 4 as a starter
2 small lobsters
1 tbl spoon butter
2 small shallots
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup lobster stock
salt and pepper
1/2 tea spoon Dijon mustard
sprigs tarragon
1 tbl spoon brandy
1 tbl butter
1 tbl plain flour
1/2 cup full fat milk
1/2 cup of grated gruyere.
plate of plain flour for rolling
plate of beaten egg
plate of panko breadcrumbs for rolling
fresh bottle sunflower or other deep frying oil
Place lobsters in the freezer and after they are comatose, dispatch humanely with sharp knife. Boil your lobsters for 7 minutes and cool immediately. Remove the meat in small chunks and set aside.
Fry the shallots in half the butter very slowly until soft. Season with salt and pepper. Add the white wine and lobster stock and bubble fairly vigorously until it has reduced to a pale brown sticky sauce.
Make a béchamel with the butter flour and milk and stir until very thick – add shallot sauce and add the gruyere, followed by the sprigs of tarragon.
Warm the lobster by placing in a slightly greasy pan and give a quick flambe in the brandy. Mix freshly flambeed lobster into sauce and cool until it is as solid as possible.
Use an ice cream scoop or a soup spoon to ladle matching sizes of the lobster mixture into small balls. Roll each ball in the flour followed by the beaten egg followed by the breadcrumbs.
You can place on a tray on greaseproof paper and cool again in the fridge shape ready to cook. I quite often prep them the day before.
Heat the sunflower oil until piping hot and use a chip fry pan to deep fry the croquettes. It needs to be hot enough to sizzle – but not so hot it makes the coating brown too fast – you want the croquettes hot through to the centre. You can do more than one at a time. When cooked, rest them in a colander over another saucepan next to your stove so they don’t cool down completely. Put a couple of sheets of kitchen towel over the top to keep warm but not steamy.
If your oil begins to froth uncontrollably – sorry – you need to start again with a fresh batch of oil. So try to cook your croquettes as swiftly and efficiently as possible!
We promise they will be much loved.