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Lobster Sauce (Make a Hollandaise as for meat)
Make a Hollandaise as for meat and a cupful of finely chopped lobster meat, rub the coral to a paste with a tablespoonful of melted butter, a tablespoonful of lemon juice, one or two drops of Tabasco sauce, and a half teaspoonful of Worcestershire sauce. Mix thoroughly with the Hollandaise while hot.
A compound sauce rather than a standalone recipe: it assumes you already have a hollandaise standing hot, and turns it into a lobster sauce for poached fish, shellfish or vol-au-vents.
- Keep the heat lowThe hinge is temperature. Hollandaise breaks above roughly 180F, so hold it in a bowl over warm (not simmering) water while you fold in the lobster and the flavourings. Adding cold butter-and-coral paste to a hot sauce off the heat is safer than warming the finished sauce to bring it together.
- "Hollandaise as for meat"The phrase refers back to the book's own hollandaise, presumably the plain emulsion of egg yolks, lemon and melted butter rather than a herbed or shallot-reduction version. As a working quantity, reckon three yolks and about 6 oz butter for a sauce that will carry a cupful of lobster meat.
- The coralCoral is the dark green roe of a female lobster, which turns coral-red when cooked. It is rarely sold separately now, and a supermarket lobster tail is unlikely to carry any. If you have no coral, a teaspoon of tomato paste or a good pinch of sweet paprika worked into the butter gives the colour, though not the sweetness.
- Cook the coral firstRaw roe tastes metallic and will not set properly in a warm sauce. Press it through a sieve and cook it gently in the tablespoon of melted butter for a minute or two until it turns red and smells nutty, then cool slightly before adding.
- Lobster meatA cupful of finely chopped meat is roughly the yield of one 1 1/4 lb lobster, already cooked. Chop it small: large pieces sink and tear the emulsion when you stir.
- Seasoning scaleTwo drops of Tabasco and half a teaspoon of Worcestershire are restrained amounts, meant to lift the sauce rather than flavour it. Taste before you add more.
- EggsThe yolks in a hollandaise are rarely taken much past about 160F, and often less. If serving anyone elderly, pregnant or immune-compromised, use pasteurized eggs.
- Yield and useAround two cups of sauce, enough for four to six servings over poached halibut, sole, or scallops, or spooned over hot oysters. Make it immediately before serving; it will not hold long and does not reheat.