Chef’s Recipe: Poached Lobster Tail with Cauliflower and Lobster Butter Sauce by Michelin-starred Chef William Drabble

Try your hand at recreating this sumptuous starter from one of the smallest Michelin-starred restaurants (only nine tables) in the world, Seven Park Place at St. James’s Hotel and Club. Executive Chef William Drabble has worked in some of England’s most influential Michelin-starred hotels and restaurants, before joining St. James’s Hotel and Club,  launching ‘Seven Park Place’ in September 2009 and winning a coveted Michelin-star a year after, and retaining it ever since.

Try his recipe for Poaches Lobster Tail with Cauliflower and Lobster Butter Sauce, or alternatively enjoy a variation of this starter in the truly intimate setting of Seven Park Place. If you are a Luxury Restaurant Club member you will currently receive a 10% reduction from the total food and drink bill. Download the Luxury Restaurant Guide free app – the fine dining app to discover all the best UK restaurants  – and see details on how to join here.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 4 x 400g native Lobsters
• 1 x large Onion
• 4 x carrots
• 3 x celery sticks
• 1 x small leek
• 4 x garlic cloves
• 6 x Thyme sprigs
• 6 x Tarragon sprigs
• Olive oil
• 5 x tbsp Brandy
• 2 x tbsp tomato puree

Method

For the Lobster:

Place the lobster in the freezer for half an hour. In the meantime, put a big pan of water on to blanch the lobsters and have a big bowl of ice water ready to submerge the lobsters into.

In another pan sweat down in olive oil the onions, carrots, celery, and leek until soft, then add the tomato puree. Cookout a little longer and put to one side.

Once the water is boiling, place the lobster onto a chopping board and kill it using a big sharp knife, cutting straight through the brain, then remove the tail and claws and place the tails into boiling water (about 20 – 30 seconds only) until the shell starts to turn red and the tail turns up. Remove the lobster tail from the boiling water and plunge straight into iced water.

Put the claws in the water, reboil it and then leave them to cool down in the liquid. Remove the tail meat from the shell and place it in the fridge.

Crush all the lobster bones, put the pan with the sweated vegetables back on the stove, heat up then add the lobster shells to the pan and cook until the protein has started to set.

Add a little Brandy and reduce, then add water, just enough to cover the bones and add the Thyme. Bring up to the boil and cook for 10 minutes, then add the Tarragon and cook for a further 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and leave to stand for a couple of minutes. Pass through a fine chinois into a small pan and bring back to the boil then put to one side. This is your lobster stock.

Take the claws out of the water and remove the meat from the shell. Put this to one side in the fridge as this can be used for a salad or something else, or use to make this dish into a main course portion.

For each portion take 100ml of lobster stock and add 10g of butter. Reduce this very quickly until it starts to thicken, then whisk in 1 dessert spoon of cream for each portion and put to one side.

With the remaining stock poach the lobster tails, just make sure you have enough stock to cover the lobster tails. To poach the tails, bring the stock up to the boil and drop in the lobster tails then remove from the heat and leave to poach for 4 minutes. Remove, rest for a couple of minutes then slice in half.

Serve on caramelised cauliflower and cauliflower puree with the lobster butter sauce.

For the Caramelised Cauliflower: 

Take one large cauliflower and section up into florets. Cut the florets into slices about 2-3mm thick. Put all the nice ones to one side and use the not so nice ones for the puree.

Blanch the slices of cauliflower in boiling salted water until 1/2 cooked then refresh in iced water then drain. To serve, caramelise in butter.

For the Cauliflower Puree:

Chop up all the cauliflower trimmings nice and small and place into a pan. Add a little salt and enough water just to cover. Boil very quickly until all the water has just about gone, then add a little double, cream and boil for a couple of minutes until it starts to thicken slightly. It will burn easily so you need to keep it moving in the pan. Puree in a liquidiser and pass through a fine sieve.

To serve the dish, place caramelised cauliflower in a round on the bottom of the plate. Puree in the centre then poached lobster tail on top of that pour the butter sauce over the top of that and serve immediately.

Seven Park Place by William Drabble, St James’s Hotel & Club, 7-8 Park Place, St James’s, London, SW1A 1LP

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