Bisque of Lobster

Plunge into boiling, salted water, twelve pounds of small, live, well washed lobsters; cook them for twenty-five minutes, then drain; break their shells, and extract all the meat. Pound the lobster meat with its equal quantity of boiled rice; season with salt and red pepper, then dilute it with fat broth or lean, should the bisque be desired lean, strain through a sieve, and again through a tammy. Heat it up without allowing it to boil, add a pint of bechamel (No. 409), and half a pound of lobster butter (No. 580); stir well the bisque until the butter is thoroughly melted. Color a lobster bisque a deeper red than the crawfish. Crusts of brioche, a quarter of an inch square, and dried in the oven may be served at the same time.