Lobster Thermidor ala Madness

After much research for a new Valentine's Day dinner idea, we landed on one that turned out absolutely delicious, but boy did it a take a while to prepare. It is called Lobster Thermidor, a classic French meal, though we've incorporated our own chili peppers into the mix for a spicy twist. There are quite a number of steps in making this recipe and it is time consuming, though it's not overly difficult and is certainly worth the effort. Just ask Jalapeno Miss.

Ingredients

• FIRST STEPS
• 1 16 ounce lobster tail
• 10 dried chili piquin
• 8 ounces mushrooms
• 1 small yellow onion, sliced
• 1 large carrot, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried parsely
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 10 peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon dried chipotle
• 2 cups water
• 2 cups white wine
• salt to taste
• SAUCE PREPARATION
• 5 tablespoons butter
• 6 tablespoons flour
• 1 tablespoon dried mustard
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup heavy cream + 1 tablespoon heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon chili powder of your choice
• LOBSTER SAUTE
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup Mexican beer
• FINALE
• 1/2 cup shredded Mexican style cheese
• 2 tablespoons butter, chopped

Cooking Directions

1. To a large pot, add water, wine, chili piquin, onion, carrot, celery, thyme, parsely, peppercorns and chili powder. Bring to a boil.
2. Add lobster tail and cover. Reduce heat to medium, ensuring water maintains a steady boil. Cook 20 minutes and remove lobster.
3. Meanwhile, heat a large pan to medium heat and add mushrooms 1 tablespoon butter, lime juice, chipotle pepper and salt. Cook about 10 minutes.
4. PREPARE YOUR SAUCE: Drain the mushroom juices into the large pot of vegetables/steaming juices. Retain the mushrooms. Be sure that you have already removed the lobster. Bring to a boil and reduce to about 2 cups. Strain into a saucepan and simmer. Discard the vegetables.
5. Heat a separate large pan to medium and add 5 tablespoons butter. Melt and add flour. Stir to form a roux. Whisk in the vegetable/steaming juices from the other pan. Heat about 1 minute then remove from heat. Stir in 1 tablespoon heavy cream.
6. Slice your lobster tail in half lengthwise and remove the meat. Keep shells, as you'll be using them to serve. Slice lobster into about 1/2 inch chunks.
7. In a mixing bowl, combine dried mustard, egg yolks, 1/2 cup heavy cream and chili powder. Mix well and add it to your sauce.
8. Heat sauce again slowly about 2 minutes, stirring often to thicken. Add more cream or water to thin if needed. Taste and adjust seasonings with chili powder as needed.
9. Heat a sauté pan to medium and add 3 tablespoons butter. Melt until foamy.
10. Add lobster and sauté about 5 minutes. Add Mexican beer and boil about 2 minutes, reducing liquid by about half.
11. To the lobster mixture, add mushrooms and about 2/3 of the sauce. Mix well.
12. Spoon lobster-cream mixture into the halved lobster tail shells and top with remaining sauce. Cover with cheese and chopped butter slices.
13. Preheat oven to 425 degrees and bake lobster tails for 15 minutes, or until cheeses are nice and bubbly on top.
14. Serve!