LOBSTER THERMIDOR
Lobster, in a rich wine sauce, baked in the lobster shell. A traditional dish, named for the French Revolution . . .one cannot but applaud the single-mindedness that could create a new recipe in the shadow of the Guillotine, but perhaps that is why the French remain the masters of gastronomy.
2 cooked lobsters, split in half at the fish market
1 tin condensed cream of mushroom soup
2 T white wine
1/2 cup thin cream
2 T butter
1 tsp grated onion
4 minced mushroom stems (optional)
Grated Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, and 2 more tablespoons butter
Remove all meat from lobsters, including claw meat; reserve the cleaned body shells. Cut lobster meat into small pieces. Melt 2 T butter, add onion, mushroom stems and lobster, and saute for 5 minutes. Combine soup, wine and cream in a double boiler and heat until well blended and smooth, adding some minced parsley if you like. Add lobster mixture, and heat gently for 5 minutes. Then apportion among the lobster shells, sprinkle thickly with grated cheese and dust with bread crumbs. Dot with remaining butter and bake in a hot (450) oven for 10 minutes, or until the top browns.