Lobster thermidor

Put the lobster in the freezer for 20 minutes to half an hour to knock it out.

In a large pot combine water, dry white wine, celery, carrot, thinly sliced onion, peppercorns, thyme, parsley sprigs, dried tarragon and bay leaves; simmer 15 minutes, then bring to a rolling boil.

Kill the lobster with a knife pushed down through the opening behind the head, through the eyes.

Put the lobster on the vegetables in the pot, cover with a tight lid and boil 12 to 15 minutes for a 1.5 lb lobster (20 minutes for a 2 lb one). Remove the elastic bands.

Clean the mushrooms, remove the stems and quarter caps and stems.

Melt butter in a pan, add the mushrooms, salt and lemon juice and stew slowly for 10 minutes.

Bring the lobster pot back to a boil; strain the lobster cooking juices and the mushroom juices through a sieve into a saucepan and simmer. Keep the mushrooms aside.

Melt butter in a saucier, add flour and cook slowly 2 minutes without browning to make a roux.

Beat in just over a cup of the simmering cooking juices, bring to a boil and cook 1 minute to a veloute.

Film the top with heavy cream, cover and set aside.

Split the lobster in half lengthwise with scissors, keeping the shells intact.

Scrape the green tamale into a sieve set over a bowl; remove the intestinal tube and the sand sack behind the eyes.

Remove the tail and claw meat, keeping the claw meat whole for serving; dice the rest into cubes.

Pass the tamale through the sieve into a bowl; add egg yolk, heavy cream, dry mustard and a pinch of cayenne.

Bring the veloute back to a simmer, loosening it with leftover cooking stock and bringing it to a boil.

Whisk some hot veloute into the tamale and yolk mixture, combine and pass everything through the sieve.

Bring to a boil and cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Off the heat, season with salt and white pepper and thin with a couple of tablespoons of heavy cream. Film the top with a spoonful of cream.

Melt butter in a frying pan over moderate heat until foaming; add the lobster meat and stir about 5 minutes until rosy.

Pour in the cognac (it flames), then boil 1 to 2 minutes, shaking the skillet, until reduced by half.

Fold in half of the cooked mushrooms and two thirds of the sauce off the heat.

Set the shells on a shallow pan (a pizza pan), heap the lobster mixture into them with a large piece of claw meat on top, and cover with the remaining sauce.

Top with Parmesan and dot with butter.

Bake at 425F until the top browns and the sauce bubbles, 10 to 15 minutes; optionally finish under the broiler.

Garnish the corners with whole parsley leaves and lemon slices, then chopped parsley.