What happens when a world-class chef--Jean Georges Vongerichten, to be exact--writes a cookbook with a culinary minimalist, the New York Times food columnist Mark Bittman? The answer is Simple to Spectacular, a book that presents more than 250 recipes in a unique way. Here's the drill: a few-ingredient "core" recipe is offered
If you like, garnish this complex-flavored dish with a variety of parboiled vegetables, like carrots, turnips, and fennel. And serve it with plenty of white rice. You will want an excuse to eat all of the sauce.
If you want to use lobster-cooking liquid in place of the stock, start by steaming the lobsters, following the timing given below but using only 2 to 3 inches of boiling water in the pot. After removing the lobsters, reduce that cooking liquid over high heat until you have 2 cups.
Servings: 4
Time: 45 minutes
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
1 stalk celery, peeled and chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
2 large shallots, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
2 teaspoons fenugreek seeds
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
Zest of 1 orange, removed in strips
2 cups slightly sweet white wine, such as a German Auslese or a French Coteaux du Layon
2 cups chicken, fish, or vegetable stock or lobster-cooking water (see headnote)
Salt and cayenne pepper
Four 1 1/2 pound lobsters
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, or to taste
Place 1 tablespoon of the butter in a wide skillet or saucepan and turn the heat to medium. Add the onion, celery, carrot, shallots, garlic, fenugreek, coriander, and orange zest and cook, stirring, until the vegetables soften, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the wine, turn the heat to high, and reduce the mixture until just about 1/2 cup liquid remains. Add the stock and reduce again until about 1 cup liquid remains. Strain, pressing on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible, and set aside. (You can do this a day in advance if you like; refrigerate.)
Bring a large pot of water to boil and salt it well. Poach the lobsters for 2 min-utes, then remove. Pull off the claws (use a towel to prevent burning yourself) and return them to the water for 4 minutes more. Run the tails and bodies under cold water; when the claws are done, run them under cold water as well.
Remove the meat from the claws and tails (along with any roe, which will be black); the tails will still be pretty raw, which is how you want them. Cut into serving pieces.
Rewarm, the sauce, add the lobster pieces to it, and turn until cooked through and hot, 2 to 4 minutes. Transfer the lobster toa warm place and stir the remaining 1 tablespoon butter into the sauce. Add the lemon juice and salt and cayenne to taste. Spoon over the lobster and serve.
