Lobster Relleno with Champagne Sauce and Fennel Salad ►
Chef Janos Wilder creates an elegant version of chilies rellenos with lobster-studded cheese filling, fennel salad, and a champagne sauce. The beer batter would be just as wonderful with “ordinary” chilies rellenos.
Ingredients
- Fennel Salad
- Baby Fennel Bulbs - 1, diced
- Red Onion - 1/2 medium, chopped (1/2 cup of onion)
- Fennel Frond - 1/2, minced
- Aioli (fresh garlic-laced mayonnaise) - 2 tablespoons
- Lemon Juice - 1 lemon
- Kosher salt to taste
- Freshly ground pepper to taste
- Champagne Sauce
- Lobster Stock - 1 cup
- Brut Champagne - 2 cups
- Shallots - 2, chopped
- Garlic Cloves - 2, chopped
- Heavy (Whipping) Cream - 3 cups
- Rellenos
- Lobsters - 4, cooked, meat removed; meat from 4 claws reserved intact
- Scallions - 3, chopped
- Black Beans - 1/2 cup, rinsed
- Chipotl Pepper - 1/2 teaspoon, chopped
- Queso Blanco - 3 ounces (alt. grated jack cheese)
- Cream Cheese - 3 ounces, softened
- Anaheim Chilies - 4, roasted, peeled, and seeded
- Anaheim Chilies - 2 raw
- Beer Batter
- All-Purpose Flour - 1-1/4 cups
- Egg Yolks - 2
- Beer - 1
- Egg Whites - 6, beaten to soft peaks
- Kosher salt to taste
- Freshly ground pepper to taste
- All-Purpose Flour - 1 cup
- Clarified Butter - 1/2 cup, for frying
- Fennel Fronds - 4
Instructions
To prepare the salad: Toss the fennel and red onion together. Mix the minced fennel with the aioli and lemon juice; toss this dressing with the fennel and red onion. Season with salt and pepper. Chill until ready to use.
To prepare the sauce: Combine the champagne, lobster stock, shallots, and garlic in a saute pan or skillet and cook over medium-high heat until reduced to 1/2 cup liquid. Add the cream, reduce the heat to medium, and reduce the mixture again until only 1-1/2 cups of liquid remain. Strain through a fine-meshed sieve. Keep warm.
To prepare the rellenos: Set aside the reserved claw meat. Roughly chop the remaining lobster meat and mix with the scallions, black beans, chipotles, and garlic. Blend the queso blanco and cream cheese together. Fold the lobster mixture into the cheeses. Stuff the roasted chilies with the lobster mixture.
To make the batter: Put the flour in a bowl and make a crater in the center. Add the egg yolks and beer. With a whisk or a mixer with a whisk attachment, beat the mixture together, whisking enough to begin developing the gluten in the flour; the batter will become slightly elastic. Gently fold in one-third of the egg whites and blend until smooth, then fold in the remaining egg whites. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
To finish the rellenos: Preheat the oven to 425 F. Put the flour in a shallow dish. Heat the butter in a large ovenproof saute pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Roll the rellenos in the flour, then dip in the batter. Fry until golden on all sides, basting with the hot butter. Do not let the rellenos touch in the pan; cook in batches if necessary. When the rellenos are puffed and lightly browned, put them back in the pan and place in the oven for 2 to 4 minutes, until the cheese begins to melt.
To serve: Place a 1-1/2-inch ring mold on each of four oval serving plates. Pack with fennel salad, then lift the molds. Spoon sauce around the plates. With a large slotted spatula, place a relleno on each plate. Lay one of the reserved lobster claws against the fennel salad on each plate. Garnish with fennel fronds.
