Iron Chef Jackson

Pardon my absence... I meant to write about this earlier in the week, but I've been in a Nyquil-induced coma for two days with the crud. Yes, the seasonal grunge made a visit to our house this week and knocked me on my butt for about 48 hours straight. Now poor Derek has it, so hopefully he'll start feeling better soon. I have a feeling the germs might have come from our weekend adventures in Katherine's kitchen... read ahead to see where I'm going with this.

Sunday night we were treated to a very special meal at Katherine’s house. Our friend Jason just moved back to Mississippi after spending a few years in South Carolina, where he was working at the Ritz Carlton as a chef. He’s working at Walker’s Drive-In in Fondren now, and we convinced him to cook for us on his only day off. But bless his heart, he should win some kind of food network competition. It was THAT good.

We requested seafood bisque since soups really are his specialty. Well, he and Katherine went on a scavenger hunt all over Jackson trying to find all the ingredients. I think they succeeded in finding everything but vermouth or brandy, even after an attempt at ordering it from a bar and sneaking it into Katherine’s purse in a Ziploc bag. Finally, about four hours later, five live lobsters and a small fortune’s worth of other fresh ingredients were ready to be transformed into some tasty lobster bisque. When I say he made everything from scratch, I’m not exaggerating. I may butcher this process, but I’ll try my best to give a decent play-by-play.

First the lobsters were roasted in the oven, and then he made the lobster stock (like chicken broth or chicken stock) from a bunch of vegetables, white wine, sherry, spices, tomato paste and shells that were basically stewed together.

After scraping the impurities off the top of the stew (as John is demonstrating in the photo above), he drained the stock and then added more water to cook and drain it again in order to capture the flavor and produce as much stock as possible. After he was satisfied with the right amount of pure stock, he added heavy cream to give it a thicker consistency. Once the lobster meat was sautéed in butter and spices, it was time to serve up the bisque. This may sound like a fairly simple project, but the whole process took about 4 hours of straight cooking time.

Through the entire cooking demonstration, all four of us "students" - Katherine, Derek, John and I - shared the same tasting spoon. What were we thinking? Especially after Katherine was talking about how everyone at her office had been sick last week. Needless to say I think we've all shared in the joys of the crud this week.

In the end, the lobster bisque was like heaven in my mouth. Derek made some jalapeno cornbread to go along with it, and it was honestly one of the best meals I’ve had in a very long time. I now have a new appreciation for any kind of bisque served at a restaurant. I know there’s an easier way to make it, but this was the “from scratch” way, and we were very impressed. We are happy to welcome Chef Jason to Jackson (and to our about-to-be-formed supper club)! Next time we just won't share the same spoon. :)