Avocado Cups with Butter-Sauteed Lobster and Grapefruit Sabayon Cream

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Summary: This is an absolutely wonderful, elegant starter or side dish. I tweaked a recipe for the grapefruit cream from one for grapefruit sabayon by a food52 cook, Berna.

Yield: serves 2

Ingredients:

  • 2 lobster tails, shells removed, meat chopped into large'ish chunks
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • salt
  • 2 teaspoons white wine if you have it on hand
  • 1/4 cup chicken stock
  • 1½ tablespoon vermouth
  • 1/2 cup freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
  • 2½ teaspoons grapefruit zest
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  • 2 teaspoons whipping cream
  • 1 large, ripe avocado
  • 1 tablespoon chives, chopped

Instructions:

In a small skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat. When melted and foamy, add the lobster, some salt and the wine if you've got it, lower the heat to medium, and cook until the lobster chunks are just opaque, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, pour lobster and juices into a small bowl and chill until ready to use.

While chilling, make the sabayon cream. As Berna instructs, "In a small saucepan, simmer the stock and vodka until reduced by half. Let cool. Combine grapefruit juice, zest and honey in a small bowl. Add to cooled stock mixture."

Then, in a double boiler set over boiling water, place the egg yolks. " Slowly begin to add the stock mixture to the eggs, whisking constantly." Add the sugar, keep whisking, "taking the the bowl on and off the hot water so as not to overcook the eggs." After 5-8 minutes, the sabayon will look creamy and start to thicken. Remove from heat, pour into a bowl and chill for at least 5 minutes.

After at least 5 minutes, whisk the cream into the sabayon. Remove the lobster from the fridge. Halve and seed the avocado and place one half on each of two plates. Divide the lobster and some juices over each avocado half. Then drizzle sabayon cream over each. You will have sabayon cream left over. Make some more seafood!

Divide the chopped chives over each lobster-avocado-sabayon cream dish and serve!