Pan-fried Lobster, Spinach, Potato and Mandarin Emulsion
Michael Nizzero – Michael Nizzero Consulting Ltd
View Member ProfilePan-fried Lobster, Spinach, Potato and Mandarin Emulsion by Michael Nizzero using the Crustastun
Michael is Roux-trained and became Premier Sous-chef at The Ritz from 2015-2017. He also won a Michelin star in France at L’hostellerie la Briquetterie (Champagne region) – He was actually the youngest Michelin-starred chef in France at that time at the age of just 28 years old.
Michael loves this dish as it is classic and very seasonal and celebrates the delicate flavour of the sustainable Cornish lobster with citrus notes of the mandarin.
Michael said
“Its time to make big changes. 2020 has pushed us to make huge changes in our lives, so its great to be encouraging my chef peers to consider more humane methods of dispatching decapod crustaceans in the kitchen with the Crustastun.”
Ingredients
Serves 2
• 1 whole lobster
• 2 mandarins
• 30g reduced mandarin juice
• 10g reduce lobster bisque
• 100ml béarnaise reduction
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp of tomato paste
• 1 carrot
• 1 stick of celery
• 1 tomato
• 1kg of new potatoes
• 500g baby spinach
• 50ml brandy
• 200ml double cream
• 200g clarified butter
• 100g fresh butter
• Salt and pepper to season
Method
FOR THE LOBSTER:
Dispatch the lobster ethically using the Crustastun. Once stunned you may then blanch it for 2 minutes in boiling salted water. Plunge into an ice bath to refresh.
The shell is used to make a bisque. Prepare the lobster by cutting it in half, keeping the tail shell on. In a pan, melt the butter and fry the lobster for 1 minute on each side. Remove the meat from the shell.
FOR THE SAUCE:
Separate the egg yolks from the whites, place yolks in a thick-based saucepan, add the
béarnaise reduction and make a sabayon then emulsify with the warm clarified butter.
Add 200ml of double cream, reduced mandarin juice and the reduced lobster bisque. Transfer the sauce into an ISI bottle with 2 cartridges.
FOR THE GARNISH:
Cook the potato (skin on) in salted boiling water. Once cooked, remove the skin and crush with fresh butter. Slice raw baby spinach julienne and prepare the mandarin in segments.
TO FINISH:
On a plate, place the crushed new potatoes at the base, add the mandarin segments, the lobster and finish with the mandarin béarnaise espuma. Finish the dish with grating of mandarin zest.
