hearing about those lobsters reminded me of a lobster bisk that we used to make with all of the leftover shells in a restaurant i used to work at. i don't have a recipe because it was years ago and we only ever made like 50 gallons at a time but i will try to give an overview as i'm sure it could be replecated at home on a much smaller scale. what we would do was take all of the leftover shells and lay them on sheet pans along with carrots, celery, onions and garlic. we would then add big spoonfuls of tomato paste on top and roast it in a hot oven until the shells were roasted and the veg started to caramelize and the tomato paste was heavily browned, almost black.

this was then added to a huge steam kettle with lots of whole peppercorns and plenty of bay leaves,covered in cold water and simmered for a couple of days on low heat, then strained and put aside. then, in a huge tilt braiser we would sautee lots of onions and celery until nice and golden and deglaze with lots of sherry and reduce. we would then add the lobster stock we had previously made, as well as apple juice which might sound a little weird but really added a nice sweetness.

we then added some lobster base, which is basically a concentrated lobster paste, kinda like high class bullion cubes but in paste form. these are used quite frequently in commercial kitchens and come in many different flavors. again, this was slowly simmered for another day or two over low heat, then pureed to incorporate the celery and onions. seasonings were adjusted and the bisk was thickened with a roux(equal parts flour and butter). when it was heated up for service, we would cream it out,add fresh chopped lobster meat and serve. lots of work just for a soup huh?

hopefully in the future i'm gonna play around with a much smaller version at home and try to get some sort of a recipe together and if it turns out good i will share it here.