While we were travelling in Canada, I asked David Loftus – who took the fantastic photograhs for this book – to name his favourite fish dish. ‘Omelette with lobster’, he said. It’s a really simple dish if well made and extremely tasty if the best ingredients are used. It also seemed a particularly apt choice as it’s just how David takes his photographs. He uses natural light without flash and doesn’t try to enhance the appearance of things. Even working within these constraints, he still manages to take the best photos in the world. The next morning I decided to surprise him so, as the sun was rising, I cooked David a lobster omelette on a barbecue in the snow outside his hotel window. Unfortunately he never got to taste it. He was momentarily distracted by the glorious sight of the sun rising over the ice and at that exact moment the hotel dog snatched the omelette and ran off with it. I need to make one for David again soon.
Ingredients
- 500 –600-g/1 lb 2-oz–1 lb 5-oz live lobster or 200 g/7 oz
- cooked lobster meat
- 2 litres/3½ pints/8½ cups court bouillon (see here), or
- enough to cover the lobster, or salted water
- 8 slices of bread
- 12 eggs
- 2 tbsp cream or milk (optional)
- handful of chives, finely chopped
- groundnut (peanut) oil
- salt and pepper
- If using a live lobster, render it unconscious by placing it in the freezer for 1 hour. Remove and leave it for 15 minutes to come to room temperature. Bring the court bouillon or salted water to the boil in a large pan and cook the lobster for 8 minutes. Rinse lightly under cold running water. Break off the tail and remove the meat.
- Crack the claws and dig out the meat with a lobster pick (see here). Cut all the meat into large chunks, divide into four portions and set aside.
- Toast the bread in a toaster on medium heat. To make the first omelette, crack three eggs into a bowl and beat with a whisk. If you prefer, beat all twelve eggs together and divide them when you start to fry. Add the milk or cream, if using, and season with salt and pepper.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of groundnut (peanut) oil in a frying pan (skillet) over a high heat and pour in the three beaten eggs. After 30 seconds turn the heat down and cover the pan. As soon as the eggs are set on the bottom, shake the pan gently back and forth to release them from the pan as this will make serving easier.
- When the surface of the omelette is not quite set, top with one portion of the lobster meat and one-quarter of the chives. Cover the pan again and cook for a further 1 minute. Grind over a little pepper, remove the omelette from the pan and cook three more omelettes in the same way.
- Serve the omelettes with the toast.
