Lobster Brain Bisque

If sauce making is a labor of love, then soup making is a simmering pot of love. What is more comforting that a bowl of soul warming soup on a cold rainy day? Day one of soup making was spent over steamy pots of black bean soup and unctuous cream of mushroom soup. While both of these soups were tasty, I had some issues with the preparation/plating of both. The black bean soup had all the makings of a great soup, but unfortunately the end product was pretty dumbed down. We simmered black beans with lots of great ingredients, but when the soup was ready to go we filtered off the cooking liquid, and pureed the solids with just enough of the cooking liquid to get the desired constancy. While texturally this method worked great, the remainder of all those yummy spices went down the drain, leaving us with a soup that only had faint chili notes and a vague smokiness from the cumin. Even the chipotle crème fraîche we used as a garnish fizzled, when it should have packed an extra punch. So sad.

On the other hand, the cream of mushroom soup was everything it should have been; it was mushroomy, oh so creamy, and a little sweet from a touch of marsala. The only thing that irked me was the garnish- julienned button mushrooms. Really? First of all, I think button mushrooms are the lamest mushroom out there, the black sheep of the mushroom family. Compared to the meaty portobello or the sublime shiitake, button mushrooms are pretty watered down. Second, other than color - the whiteness of the mushrooms was a nice contrast against the soup - and the nice height they brought to the plate, the mushrooms didn't add to the taste of the dish. I think that there are other garnishes out there that could have both heighted the flavor of the dish as well as made it visually appealing. But, I am but a student, and I do as I'm told.

Day two of soups was, if possible, sadder than the day before. To be fair, the New England clam chowder was quite good; it was creamy, slightly salty from the bacon and the briny goodness of the clams, offset with a kick of heat from some tabasco, topped with some fried clams that were so good I could have eaten hand full’s of them.

On the other had there was the shrimp bisque... dom dom dom. Oh the horror! Let me preface this by saying that when we were making stocks a couple of weeks back we made a lobster stock which smelled so God awful that it turns my stomach just thinking of it. That stock was destined to be the base of this soup. I should have know it would be nasty, but I kept holding out hope that it would turn into something great, that it would be greater than the sum of its parts. It started out fairly benign, sautéing some shrimp shells with some mire poix (onion, carrot, and celery) and tomato paste, but then chef had us throw in a couple of lobster heads for "added flavor". To this ill fated concoction was added some brandy and white wine (which should help, right?), flambéed (how cool is that!), doused with lobster stock (the beginning of the end), and allowed to simmer (because we need to meld and concentrate the flavors, right?...NOT!). While my nose kept telling me "this is going to be bad, this is going to be bad", I still hoped that in the end all would be well. How delusional was I! After simmering, we then pureed the contents of the pot- shells and heads too, we've got to extract as much flavor out of the ingredients as possible - and then strained. To this we were suppose to add a touch of cream and season with salt, pepper, and cayenne. Unfortunately/fortunately I accidentally added my milk and cream destined for the clam chowder to my bisque. Even diluted, the soup was probably one of the most vile things I have ever eaten. Imagine what a big pot of fish brains would taste like and you have the essence of this soup- Lobster Brain Bisque. Even the addition of all that milk and cream couldn't have saved it. But, being the good culinary student that I am, I seasoned that sludge to the best of my ability, fished it with some shrimp (what a waste of perfectly good shrimp) and plated it so that it at least looked like it tasted good. So the lesson of the day: lobster stock is not your friend.