Yield: 4 servings

Recipe from Bruce Frankel, Panache Restaurant, Cambridge, MA

We had this for New Year’s Eve a couple of times.  Sad, this is wonderful stuff! Very simple to make, the recipe was featured on the cover of Food and Wine around 1987. Not a perfect substitute, but I converted this to use shrimp and scallops, and it is still great.  See photo below.

• 4live lobsters, 1½ lb each
• – or –
• 1 lb shrimp, and 8 large sea scallops, foot removed 
• 1½-2lb red potatoes, peeled and cut into ¼ inch dice
• 1cup heavy cream
• ½tsp salt
• 6TBS unsalted butter
• 1medium red onion, thinly sliced
• minced fresh chives
• cayenne pepper

Lobster version:  Bring a large stock pot of water to a boil. Fill a large bowl with ice water and set aside. Drop 2 lobsters head first into the boiling water, cover and cook for 3 minutes. With tongs, transfer the lobsters to the ice water and let soak until cool enough to handle. Repeat with the remaining 2 lobsters.

Break off the tail and claws from each lobster. Remove the meat from the claws and knuckles. Split the tails lengthwise in half, leaving the meat in the shell. Remove the light green tomalley from the body, pass through a fine-mesh sieve and set aside.

Remove and discard any dark green matter from the bodies. Coarsely chop the carcasses and place in a large saucepan. Add water to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce the heat and simmer until the liquid is reduced to 1 cup, about 30 minutes. Strain the liquid through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium saucepan, then set the lobster stock aside.

Shrimp version:  Peel and devein the shrimp, reserving the shells and tails.  Place the shells and tails in a saucepan and add two cups of water. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce the heat and simmer until the liquid is reduced to 1 cup, about 30 minutes. Strain the liquid through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium saucepan, then set the shrimp stock aside.

Both: Meanwhile, place the diced potatoes in a medium saucepan and add cold water to cover by at least 1 inch. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook for about 3 minutes; the potatoes should still be very firm. Drain and rinse under cold water; drain well and set aside.

Add the cream and salt to the reserved lobster or shrimp stock. Simmer over moderate heat for 5 minutes. Whisk in 4 TBS of the butter, 1 TBS at a time. Remove from the heat.

In a large skillet or saucepan, melt the remaining 2 TBS butter over moderate heat. Add the onion and cook until softened and translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the potatoes and cook, tossing, for 1 minute. Pour in the cream sauce and add the reserved lobster meat and tail halves or the shrimp and scallops. Simmer until the seafood is cooked through, about 3 minutes; do not overcook. Spoon the chowder into individual soup plates. Add a spoonful of the sieved tomalley to the sauce in each bowl. Garnish each with a pinch of chives and a dash of cayenne.

Wine Suggestion: California Pinot Blanc