Butter poached lobster question

I made a poaching liquid to poach lobster meat in out of shallots, white wine, chicken stock and butter.
I cooked the raw lobster meat in it, and now I have a ton of the poaching liquid left over.
Does anyone know if I can re-use it? What a shame to throw it all out.

By the way, I do realize this has nothing to do with BBQ but I couldn't find any answers on line.
So I am hoping someone here might know.

Goodness gracious...Sauce Bercy for sure! There are poeple who would commit heinous crimes to get their hands on that stuff without all the cooking (myself included). The chicken stock is a bit odd for a fish bercy sauce, but I'm sure Kevin could add his .02 about reducing it down to make a sauce for fish.

So thats what it is called!
I saw it made on "Simply Ming" cooking show, so I tried it. It was labor intensive, ( hand mixing 2 lbs of butter) but it was the most incredible lobster I have ever had.
I would love to get some more lobster and re use the sauce, but don't want to risk getting sick.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by michele p:
(2 lbs of butter) </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Ahh, ya gotta love French cooking.

Because the poaching mixed is brought up to a fairly low temp and maintained there for poaching, this could pose safety problems at re-use. The potential for problems could be minimized were you to take the poaching medium up to pasteurization temps when you were finished poaching, then rapidly cool the mixture before chilling thoroughly.

Better, imo, and what I do, is to plan another recipe to be made immediately following poaching. The obvious comes to mind of course if poaching shellfish: a chowder or bisque, especially the latter as there are all those shells waiting to be used. If, instead, the shells get used for the bisque base as soon as they are available, one can easily segue into making the bisque, do the straining/simmering while the poached shellfish is being consumed (pasteurization occurs at that point), then finish the soup after dinner, cool quickly, chill.

If after your cook above you cooled the poaching mixture fairly quickly, it's possible the mixture could be safely used again but there is no way of knowing for sure. I'd say if it was cooled quickly it is likely fine, but there's no 100% certainty. Should you wish to use it again, at the very least take it up to 160, stirring constantly at that point and checking the temp to be sure that all parts of the mixture are at least 160, then cool to your poaching temp. This would decrease the likelihood of vegetative pathogens, but not those, if any (and there might not be), that are heat resistant. If the mixture was not cooled quickly after its first use, discard it.

I will discard it. I did not cool it down quickly enough.
Thanks for the tip for next time though. I won't let it go to waste again!

Michelle
I thought that my recipe for scallops in champagne and cream was decadent until I read this post. I have got to try your recipe, can you post it here for me. Whilst I may not do Lobster (its about $35-$40 per kilo and tails are about $60 per kilo) there is other seafood I can adapt it to.

Regards

Phil,
Believe it or not, the lobster was not "heavy" tasting at all. I was quite surprised.
This was the absolute best lobster I have ever had.
You cook it low and slow at 120 degrees. The following links are for the poaching liquid and the 2nd is for recipes using the poaching liquid.

http://www.ming.com/simplyming/showrecipesSeason3/ButterPoachingTechnique.htm

http://www.ming.com/simplyming/showrecipesSeason3/ButterPoachedLobster.htm

Let me know if you try it!

Thanks Michelle

It is a bit like my scallops recipe, only I don't use butter I use fresh thickened cream and am not heavy on the garlic

Tasmanian Scallops with Champagne
This dish is cooked on the side burner of your Gas BBQ Grill or using a wok or deep frypan on your Weber with direct heat. Once you have eaten scallops this way you will be spoilt for life. Trust me!

1 kg fresh Tasmanian scallops
1 bottle of brut Champagne or good quality, dry, sparkling Chardonnay.
300 ml fresh cream
1 shallot (chopped)
1 chicken stock cube

Let the scallops stand in the fridge for a few hours. Drain off all moisture before cooking.
Pour about 1/2 a bottle of the champagne in a deep frypan or wok and bring to the boil. Add the scallops and bring back to the boil and simmer for 2 minutes, turn the scallops continually. The scallops should just be turning white in the middle.
Remove and drain the scallops and set aside. Bring the champagne back to the boil and slowly add the; stock cube, cream and shallot, simmer for about 10 minutes until the mixture has reduced to half. Add the scallops again and heat through (about 1-minute).
Serve immediately on a bed of rice. Serve the unused champagne as the accompanying drink.
For a different taste use 1 - 2 cloves of garlic instead of the shallot. Do not use more than 2 cloves of garlic as the secret of this dish is in the taste of the champagne and scallop with the infusion of the cream.

Can't wait to try it! Thanks for sharing.

phil, thanks for posting your recipe over and over. i am being sincere since i just did it! i first saw it when searching for wok recipes. i did a stir fry months ago and wanted to try something else. it was great and none too rich. the only mod i made was to use angel hair pasta instead of rice.

of course i can't wait to try the posted lobster recipes now. and since my birthday is in june, i just might treat myself. i just don't know if i can cook those live buggers yet. i assumed you used live lobsters, michelle?

thanks all for sharing!

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Phil Hartcher:
Thanks Michelle

It is a bit like my scallops recipe, only I don't use butter I use fresh thickened cream and am not heavy on the garlic

Tasmanian Scallops with Champagne
This dish is cooked on the side burner of your Gas BBQ Grill or using a wok or deep frypan on your Weber with direct heat. Once you have eaten scallops this way you will be spoilt for life. Trust me!

1 kg fresh Tasmanian scallops
1 bottle of brut Champagne or good quality, dry, sparkling Chardonnay.
300 ml fresh cream
1 shallot (chopped)
1 chicken stock cube

Let the scallops stand in the fridge for a few hours. Drain off all moisture before cooking.
Pour about 1/2 a bottle of the champagne in a deep frypan or wok and bring to the boil. Add the scallops and bring back to the boil and simmer for 2 minutes, turn the scallops continually. The scallops should just be turning white in the middle.
Remove and drain the scallops and set aside. Bring the champagne back to the boil and slowly add the; stock cube, cream and shallot, simmer for about 10 minutes until the mixture has reduced to half. Add the scallops again and heat through (about 1-minute).
Serve immediately on a bed of rice. Serve the unused champagne as the accompanying drink.
For a different taste use 1 - 2 cloves of garlic instead of the shallot. Do not use more than 2 cloves of garlic as the secret of this dish is in the taste of the champagne and scallop with the infusion of the cream. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Reardon
OK I see now what you were saying. I have posted this recipe in a post about woks in Weber Accessories. It is my favourite wok recipe.

Michelle, I am off to the markets on Saturday and am going to see if they have any Fresh Lobsters - generally they are pre-cooked.

I will let you know how I go.

Regards

If one wanted to use a live lobster for this how would it be done. A swift chop to remove the tail or a plunge into boiling water just long enough for death? Thanks

OFF WITH IT'S HEAD
Knife along the centre inside of the tail crack the back of the tail open, remove the flesh. Keep the head and tail shell for stock. After boiling, remove any remaining meat to add to the stock after straining.

Regards

If you're prepping for poaching do not put the lobster in water. Quick-kill by plunging your knife into the spot where the creases meet--about 1-1.5 inches toward the tail from the eyes. To do this hold the lobster flat on the cutting board (you can freeze it for 10-15 min first to slow its metabolism if you wish), position the tip of your knife at the crease, as noted, blade edge facing away from the tail, then plunge the knife straight through to the cutting board in one quick movement. Rock the edge toward the board, cutting through the lobster between the eyes. Split for cleaning or separate the tail off first, then split for cleaning, prep, etc.

Thanks Kevin. I knew there was a quick kill method, but for the life of me I couldn't remember how to do it. Thanks for jogging my memory. B