[41]
]Heat in a sautépan one and one-half oz. of butter and as much oil, and insert the pieces of lobster, well seasoned with salt and cayenne. Fry until the pieces assume a fine, red colour; entirely drain away the butter, and add two tablespoonfuls of burnt brandy and one-third pint of Marsala or old Sherry.
Reduce the wine by two-thirds, and wet the lobster with one-third pint of cream and one-half pint of fish [fumet]
. Now add a faggot, cover the sautépan, and gently cook for twenty-five minutes. Then drain the lobster on a sieve, remove the meat and cut it into cubes, and finish the sauce by adding the creamy portions put aside from the first. Boil so as to ensure the cooking of these latter portions; add the meat, cut into cubes, and verify the seasoning.
N.B.—The addition of the meat to the sauce is optional; instead of cutting it into cubes it may be stewed and displayed on the fish constituting the dish.
[97—SECOND METHOD (WITH COOKED LOBSTER)]
The lobster having been cooked in a Court-bouillon, shell the tail and slice it up. Arrange these slices in a sautépan liberally buttered at the bottom; season them strongly with salt and cayenne, and heat them on both sides so as to effect the reddening of the skin. Immerse, so as to cover, in a good Sherry, and almost entirely reduce same.
When dishing up, pour on to the slices a leason composed of one-third pint of fresh cream and the yolks of two eggs. Gently stir, away from the fire, and roll the saucepan about until the leason is completed.
Originally, these two sauces, like the American, were exclusively composed of, and served with, lobster. They were one with the two very excellent preparations of lobster which bear their name. In its two forms lobster may only be served at lunch, many people with delicate stomachs being unable to digest it at night. To obviate this serious difficulty, I have made it a practice to serve lobster sauce with fillets or [Mousselines] of sole, adding the lobster as a garnish only. And this innovation proved most welcome to the public.
By using such condiments as curry and paprika, excellent varieties of this sauce may be obtained, which are particularly suited to sole and other white Lenten fish. In either of these cases it is well to add a little rice “à l’Indienne” to the fish.