Let's face it... I enjoy food! I enjoy everything about it. Looking at it, smelling it, cooking it and of course eating it. There is a family joke; My mom was... well how should I say it with out sounding mean... well she was an awful cook. She is actually the first to admit it and often laughs about it. So I guess growing up, I needed to fend for myself at times.
Therefore the interest in becoming a chef was strong. I really do enjoy what I do. What makes it special, is when I have guest that say something, write something or somehow describe their experience. It is wonderful to hear what was special about the food I created.
Just a couple of weeks ago, I received an email from someone connected to me from the past. Apparently her parents were at the Yankee Clipper Inn; my first job out of Culinary school back in 1998. What she was looking for was a recipe from something I cooked 11 years ago. Needless to say that special feeling that a chef gets when food is loved increased ten fold.
I am adding her email to this post for you to see. Also the recipe... Enjoy and Thank you Margo... you have brightened my day.
The letter I received:
Carl, Hello there! This might sound odd but I've been on a search and I was wondering if you could help me. My parents stayed at the Yankee Clipper Inn in 1998. Since their visit, they've talked about this restaurant, and their "favorite chef", and the lobster bisque soup appetizer that they had. They've wanted to recreate this bisque ever since their visit and talk about it all the time. They don't have internet at their home, so I thought I'd take on the challenge of finding what they were looking for.
So I emailed the Yankee Clipper and they said that since then, they've changed owners and chefs and wouldn't have the recipe.
So then my mother calls me yesterda
y and says that she found the receipts, info, and even menu from their trip there. She said there were 2 different chefs but the food was so much better the first night, and the chef that night was Carl Kosko.
And that is what brings me to this email. I googled your name and found this B&B and am hoping you might be the same chef from the restaurant at the Yankee Clipper. And if by chance you are, if there would be any way that you would have a recipe for lobster bisque. I would love to print it out and give it to my parents on Christmas as a surprise!
I love to cook and find that memories are in every dish. I know that this recipe would make them so happy. If you are indeed the chef that I've been looking for, if you can help me I would truly appreciate it. M.K. Evanston IL
Ingredients:
1/4 c. minced onion
3 tbsp. butter
3/4 lb. lobster, cooked and cubed
2 plus cups of heavy cream (may have to adjust after simmering bisque)
½ tsp paprika
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. white pepper
1/4 c. sherry or brandy
My days at the “Clipper” (as only we in the know once called it) were special. Who would complain? I had the best employers, great creative freedom, a top notch staff, met great people from all over the world, (including one very special person… my wife) and the view was, well how do I describe it… I guess priceless. The Yankee Clipper Inn was the perfect place for a young Chef to grow.
Here magic was fashioned, with the creative freedom that I spoke of; our work in the kitchen became…art! My goal was to take Yankee Tradition and twist it just enough to bring in the ever changing demands of “gourmet”. All the while keeping the menus geared to that of Coastal New England. The mix… spectacular!
Below you will find one of our recipes. This recipe is an easy one. The flavors are captured from the simplest of ingredients. Be careful though, not to over brown the onion or over cook the lobster. Always save half the lobster and incorporate towards the end of cooking as mentioned in recipe.
Method: Sauté onion in butter in a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat until onion has a golden color. Add ½ of lobster chopped up and sauté for just a minute. Add sherry and deglaze the pan to round the flavors off and reduce sherry to about half.
Then add cream and heat till the stock is bubbly and a bit thickened. You should have at this point captured some of the lobster flavor. If need be, you can adjust cream to your needs. If too thin let reduce if too thick add a drop of water or more cream.
Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed. Add paprika for color and then the remaining lobster meat, I do not like to cut this lobster meat up too fine; I like the rough look of it… more natural when the whole meat from a lobster claw is used as a garnish in your bisque. Make sure the lobster garnish is hot. To further adjust flavor, instead of adding salt, add a bit of chicken bouillon.
This was a simple recipe that we made to order. With this particular recipe, I have loaded the bisque up with lobster; the amount is adjustable to your needs as long as you have enough in the beginning to draw some of the flavor out. As long as you have all ingredients ready, the whole cooking time should take no longer than 10-15 minutes. If you feel that your lobster meat is getting over cooked, you can remove it and place back in at the end.
The letter I received:
Carl, Hello there! This might sound odd but I've been on a search and I was wondering if you could help me. My parents stayed at the Yankee Clipper Inn in 1998. Since their visit, they've talked about this restaurant, and their "favorite chef", and the lobster bisque soup appetizer that they had. They've wanted to recreate this bisque ever since their visit and talk about it all the time. They don't have internet at their home, so I thought I'd take on the challenge of finding what they were looking for.
So I emailed the Yankee Clipper and they said that since then, they've changed owners and chefs and wouldn't have the recipe.
So then my mother calls me yesterda
y and says that she found the receipts, info, and even menu from their trip there. She said there were 2 different chefs but the food was so much better the first night, and the chef that night was Carl Kosko.
And that is what brings me to this email. I googled your name and found this B&B and am hoping you might be the same chef from the restaurant at the Yankee Clipper. And if by chance you are, if there would be any way that you would have a recipe for lobster bisque. I would love to print it out and give it to my parents on Christmas as a surprise!
I love to cook and find that memories are in every dish. I know that this recipe would make them so happy. If you are indeed the chef that I've been looking for, if you can help me I would truly appreciate it. M.K. Evanston IL
The Recipe:
Yankee Clipper Style Lobster Bisque
Ingredients:
1/4 c. minced onion
3 tbsp. butter
3/4 lb. lobster, cooked and cubed
2 plus cups of heavy cream (may have to adjust after simmering bisque)
½ tsp paprika
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. white pepper
1/4 c. sherry or brandy
My days at the “Clipper” (as only we in the know once called it) were special. Who would complain? I had the best employers, great creative freedom, a top notch staff, met great people from all over the world, (including one very special person… my wife) and the view was, well how do I describe it… I guess priceless. The Yankee Clipper Inn was the perfect place for a young Chef to grow.
Here magic was fashioned, with the creative freedom that I spoke of; our work in the kitchen became…art! My goal was to take Yankee Tradition and twist it just enough to bring in the ever changing demands of “gourmet”. All the while keeping the menus geared to that of Coastal New England. The mix… spectacular!
Below you will find one of our recipes. This recipe is an easy one. The flavors are captured from the simplest of ingredients. Be careful though, not to over brown the onion or over cook the lobster. Always save half the lobster and incorporate towards the end of cooking as mentioned in recipe.
Method: Sauté onion in butter in a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat until onion has a golden color. Add ½ of lobster chopped up and sauté for just a minute. Add sherry and deglaze the pan to round the flavors off and reduce sherry to about half.
Then add cream and heat till the stock is bubbly and a bit thickened. You should have at this point captured some of the lobster flavor. If need be, you can adjust cream to your needs. If too thin let reduce if too thick add a drop of water or more cream.
Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed. Add paprika for color and then the remaining lobster meat, I do not like to cut this lobster meat up too fine; I like the rough look of it… more natural when the whole meat from a lobster claw is used as a garnish in your bisque. Make sure the lobster garnish is hot. To further adjust flavor, instead of adding salt, add a bit of chicken bouillon.
This was a simple recipe that we made to order. With this particular recipe, I have loaded the bisque up with lobster; the amount is adjustable to your needs as long as you have enough in the beginning to draw some of the flavor out. As long as you have all ingredients ready, the whole cooking time should take no longer than 10-15 minutes. If you feel that your lobster meat is getting over cooked, you can remove it and place back in at the end.
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