Warm Rock Lobster Salad with Orange Butter Sauce

By corlear

La Salade de Langouste au Beurre d'Orange

Preparation: 55 minutes
Cooking: 40 minutes
Ease: Somewhat difficult
Cost: Expensive

Shopping: I prefer violet Provençal artichokes. They are eaten when still young and small and the choke has barely developed. Break off the stem level to the base (where the leaves begin). If the artichoke is very fresh it should brek off cleanly along with any fibrous strands.

The mixed salad can be comprised of radicchio, mâche (lamb's quarters), chicory,romaine and escarole. The ideal choice would be to find a real Provençal-style meselun: a mixture ofyoung, tender leaves of the same lettuces, combined with small leaves of unusual lettuces and herbs such as arugula, chervil, curly endive, purslane, etc.

The rock lobster can be replaced with lobster. Either way, it would be in your interest to order them in advance at the fish store. Accept them only if they are alive.

Ingredients

• bouquet garni:
• 6 small violet artichokes
• 3 handfuls mixed lettuce
• 3 very ripe medium tomatoes
• 3 rock lobsters or lobsters, about 1 lb each, or 1 large lobster, about 3 lbs
• 2 oranges
• salt
• pepper
• 12 tablespoons butter
• 6 pinches chervil leaves
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 thyme sprig
• 2 parsley sprigs
• a fe chervil stems

Details

Servings 6

Preparation

Step 1

Several hours in advance: Bring 1 gallon salted water to boil.

Break off the artichoke stems. Wash the artichokees, then plunge them in the boiling water. Cover and let boil for 20 minutes. Pull on a leaf; it will detach easily when the artichokes are done. If not, continue cooking.
Meanwhile, wash the lettuces.

Bring 1 generous quart water to a boil. Put in the tomatoes for a few seconds. Refresh the tomatoes under cold running water. Peel off the skin. Cut the tomatoes in half crosswise and gently press on eachhalf with your hands to extrat the seeds. Cut the peeled, seeded tomatoes into small cubes and set them aside on a large plate.

When the artichokes are cooked, set them upside down so the water can drain off. Pull off the leaves and cut out the chokes. Using a stainless steel knife, cut the artichoke bottoms into thin slices. Set aside on the same plate as the tomatoes.

Heat 1 gallon of generously salted water with teh bouquet garni. At the first boil, put in the live lobsters. Cover and continue to boil for 8-10 minutes from the tiem the water returns to a boil.

Meanwhile, peel the oranges, trimming off the pith and sliding a sharp knife along the side of each membrane that separates the sections to the center of the orage. Do this over a bowl to catch the juice and orange sections. Pour the juice into a saucepan. Reduce the juice over moderate heat until only 2 tablespoons remain. Set aside, leaving it in the saucepan.

When the lobsters are cooked, separate the heads from the tails. Cut through the thin underside of the tails lengthwise using kitchen shears. Remove the tail meat and cut it into thin slices. Crack the claws and remove the meat as well. Store the rock lobster meat in a cool area, but not in the refrigerator.

30 minutes before serving: Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Place the washed, drained and dried lettuces on 6 slightly warm plates. Arrange the artichoke slices over the lettuces. Scatter the tomato cubes, and place 2 orange sections on each plate. Arrange the rock lobster slices, overlapping them, on top, dividing the meat equally among the plates. Salt and pepper lightly.

Reheat the reduced orange juice. Add the cold butter, cut into small cubes in 3 or 4 batches, briskly whisking over high heat. As soon as the sauce is emulsified, take it off the heat and add a pinch of salt and a grind of pepper.

Place the garnished plates in the oven for 2-3 minutes, just enough to slightly warm all the ingredients. Nap each plate wtih the hot range butter and sprinkle with chervil. Serve immediately.

Chef's tip: To peel the oranges, first cut off the peel at teh top and bottom so the fruit is exposed. Place the orange upright on a cutting board on one of the flat cut ends. Run the knife from top to bottom and cut the skin and pith off in strips, barely cutting against the fruit.

Improvise! To make this delicious dish more economical, replace the rock lobster or lobster with dungeness crab, spider crab, or lobsterette (langoustine).