Lobster Custard With Caviar

Photo: flickr user avlxyz

Ingredients

1 cup milk

1 cup cream

1/2 cup Lobster Stock see below

Salt to taste

Freshly-ground black pepper to taste

1 doz eggs

1 ounce Beluga or other caviar

2 pounds rock salt (optional)

1 pound mixed spices including fresh bay leaves

and peppercorns (optional)

Shells from 2 lobsters

5 black peppercorns

1 bay leaf

1 parsley sprig

1 garlic clove

1/2 onion

5 cups water

Preparation

Note: The custard is cooked in egg shells, and an egg carton is the perfect thing to hold them upright in the water as they poach. It must be a cardboard, rather than a plastic, carton.

Make the Lobster Stock: Put lobster shells, peppercorns, bay leaf, parsley, garlic, onion and water in saucepan and bring to boil. Lower heat to simmer and cook until liquid is reduced to 2 cups, about 2 hours. Strain liquid into clean pot and simmer until reduced to 1 cup, about 1 hour.

Bring milk and cream to boil with Lobster Stock. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Take 3 eggs and cut off tops of small ends with kitchen shears or sharp knock of large knife. Put yolks and whites in bowl. Set empty shell cups aside. Stir small amount of hot cream mixture into eggs in bowl to temper them. Then stir eggs into remaining cream mixture. Strain through fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth.

Cut tops off remaining 9 eggs as above. Reserve shell cups; yolks and whites may be reserved for another use. Clean egg shells and carefully remove interior membrane with your finger. Once membrane is removed, shells will be very brittle. Rinse shells in warm water.

Place shells back in egg carton, then place carton in large casserole pan. Fill pan with water just until level reaches 1/4 of way up side of eggs. Fill shells with custard. Cover and bake at 275 degrees until custard sets but is still soft, 40 minutes.

Remove from oven and place custard-filled eggs on bed of rock salt decorated with spices. Top with caviar and serve.

This recipe yields 12 servings.