Mr. Hawthorne Makes Lobster Bisque For Dinner.

Mr. Hawthorne and I went to Harris Teeter today to get a few items for my Christmas baking. And Mr. Hawthorne found LOBSTER on sale. So, for dinner tonight, he's making a lobster bisque.

First, he cut up some bacon and fried it.

And he added some chopped shallots to the bacon.

Chopped a potato.

And here, I have 2 scallions, leftover assorted peppers, and a celery stick.

Mr. Hawthorne minced, diced, and chopped everything. I saved the chopped celery leaves with the green onions for a garnish.

Mr. Hawthorne tilted the pan, so the bacon grease could collect at the bottom.

Then, he mopped up the grease.

He added in the potatoes, and added some white wine.

Now, here's the ticket on the lobster. $7.99 for cooked lobster claws!

And check out what we got. In the bin of big claws, there was a lobster body, which, of course, we wanted.

Check it out.

Here, Mr. Hawthorne is releasing the tail and body meat.

And here's all our lobster meat.

Our lobster was a female. This is the roe, which we added to the mix.

Roe in the lobster meat, ready for our bisque.

Mr. Hawthorne added a bit of butter to his bacon, shallots, and potatoes.

Then some flour, to make a roux.

Cooked it and added in some chopped celery.

Added in milk.

A bit of Old Bay Seasoning.

Then he added in the diced peppers.

And added in the lobster meat.

Salt, pepper, and cream went in.

OK. First taste. Too thin. Not thick enough. And the lobster was ... off. I was disappointed. So we went to work doctoring it. Mr. Hawthorne made a beurre manie - a combination of butter and flour, which he added to the soupy mix to thicken it. I don't think the lobster was properly cooked to begin with. Perhaps a tad undercooked. Even Mr. Hawthorne noted it didn't come out of the shell properly, which is a sign of improper cooking. We cooked it a bit longer, added more sherry and more cream. And then, it was transformed into something sublime and absolutely delicious.

Here's my little spoonful, with a garnish of green onions and chopped celery leaves, and a few squirts of chili-infused oil. You just don't know what you're missing. I was getting ready to write this dish off in the beginning. But our perseverance paid off. If something doesn't work at first, keep at it. Tweaking works.