Lobster Consomme With Lobster Mousse Noodles

This soup is inspired by a dish made by "Spike" on "The Next Iron Chef - 2012". I think he had 30 minutes to make a lobster dish... but believe me you have to be a pro to do this in 30 minutes! I was hoping they would post the recipe online because when I saw it I knew I had to make it. I did not have that luck and even worse I could not even find a video of the challenge online. I had to resort to my memory of what he had done and then finding similar recipes on which to base mine.

So here is my Lobster Consomme with piped Lobster Mousse Noodles.

Step 1: Ingredients

Lobster Consomme:
2 - 1 1/4-pound fresh lobsters (Tail & Claw meat removed)
1 large carrot, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
2 bay leaves
10 black peppercorns
Water to cover

Meat from one lobster tail (sliced)
1 chopped green onion

Mousseline Noodles:
Fresh meat from two Lobsters
3 whole eggs
Salt and pepper

Step 2: Prepare the Lobster

To make the consomme we need the lobster shells and chopped and cleaned. I had asked my butcher to kill the lobsters for me as I was not going to be just boiling them whole. Once home I started by cutting off the tail and then slicing the body in half front to back. I then separated the claws and removed the "guts". I am not a lobster expert so I am sure I removed more than what I needed to but I always get confused as to what green bits are good and what is bad.

Once chopped I removed the tail meat and then the claw meat by cracking the shell with the back of a cleaver and then scooping out the raw meat.

The meat from one tail will be used sliced directly in the soup and the rest of the meat will be blended to make the noodles.

Step 3: Consomme

In stockpot, combine lobster shells, onion, carrot, tomato, celery, bay leaves, peppercorns and enough water to cover.

Bring stock to a simmer (not a boil) and continue simmering for 1 hour, checking that the liquid doesn’t boil.

Scoop out the lobster shells and the vegetables with a strainer.

Run stock through cheesecloth into a heat proof bowl. Rinse the cheesecloth repeat. Do this one more time but this time lay a paper towel over the cheesecloth to trap the finer particles.

Put the consomme back in the cleaned stock pot and reduce by 1/3 over high heat.

Step 4: Piped Lobster Mousse Noodles

In all my internet searching I could not find a recipe for the "piped lobster noodles" that Spike made on the show. The closest I could find was "Lobster Mousseline" which seemed to use the same ingredients but instead of piping into noodles they spooned the mixture into a type of dumpling. I (once again) threw caution to the wind and gave it a go...

Puree the lobster meat in a blender. 

Add the eggs, one by one until a smooth mixture forms.

Season with salt and pepper.

At this point I realised that the mixture was a bit runny and would not pipe as a solid stream so I added two table spoons of corn starch to thicken it and it was the right consistency.

At this point (of course) I could not find my piping bag, but did find my meat injector. The hole on the bottom was the perfect size for a thin noodle so I filled it up with the lobster mousse mixture and squirted a stream into a pot of boiling water.

As soon as the mixture hit the boiling water to "solidified" and the egg & lobster cooked into a soft noodle!

Step 5: The Presentation

To finish the dish reheat the lobster consomme to boiling.

Slice the reserved Lobster tail and place in the bottom of a bowl.

Thinly slice a green onion and place on top of the lobster.

Place the lobster noodles in the bowl.

Just before serving pour the hot consomme over the lobster. This will cook the thin lobster slices but still keep them tender by the time you eat the soup.

This is a very spectacular dish for a special occasion and the consomme can be done the day before so when your guests arrive you just have to make the noodles and put everything in the bowl. Your guest will be amazed!