Lobster Bisque Dip

What's that quote about not knowing something from Shinola? It appears that Dave's Gourmet [note: I'm not including the link to the website] didn't care much for my wonderful, original lobster bisque dip when I entered his sauce/dip/salsa/or whatever contest, in hopes of earning a whole bunch of purported royalties. Just the same, I'm pretty sure you will enjoy my concoction, as a number of friends did, when I rolled it out New Year's Eve.

This dip is a twist on the old classic lobster bisque—think of it as an elegant cousin to clam dip. It would get any cocktail party started, delighting an intimate number of guests, when served with kettle-cooked potato chips or something of the lattice variety for dipping. If you’re not inclined to toil over the bisque, skip all that and simplify by purchasing a can of the stuff, incorporating one cup into the cream cheese. Do mix freshly chopped lobster meat into the dip and finesse the rest of it with a lobster garnish should you choose, along with the other optional toppings.

Lobster Bisque Dip
Ingredients
1 ¼ lb. cooked Maine lobster shell carcass, broken apart, with meat chopped
1 TB Old Bay seasoning
1 14.5 oz. can of diced tomatoes, strained
1 TB each garlic, thyme, rosemary and sage, chopped
2 TB olive oil for shells, 1 TB olive oil for herbs
Black pepper and white pepper to taste
1 8 oz. package softened cream cheese
1/4 teaspoon sriracha (or more, if you like it hot!)

Garnishes (optional)
1 small can of corn, strained
½ mango, ¼” diced
Chopped lobster meat
1 minor tin of paddlefish caviar

Method

1. Set oven to 425 degrees.
2. Toss the broken lobster shells with the Old Bay and sauté them stovetop with olive oil in a hot skillet, turning every now and then until your shells are warmed, fragrant and raring to go, about 15 minutes. Set aside.
3. When oven is up to heat, roast the tomatoes until they wilt, roughly 10 minutes.
4. Back to the stovetop burner, gently sauté garlic, thyme, rosemary and sage in the oil in their own pan, stirring occasionally, on medium heat for about 5 minutes until wilted and duly fragrant as well.
5. Return the pot of shells to the stovetop, add the sauteed herbs, roasted tomatoes, dashes of black and white pepper to taste and cover with cold water, simmering on medium heat for about an hour.
6. Discard the shells and strain the broth, pressing down on the solids. Take two cups of the liquid and reduce it to one cup. Let cool before putting in the refrigerator for at least an hour, probably two, so everything can have a good chat.
7. While the broth is cooling, do this: dry roast your corn in a separate skillet for a few minutes, cool and refrigerate; take care to chop your mango and refrigerate; mash the sriracha into the cream cheese.
8. Mix together the cup of simmered down broth and cream cheese mixture and add in half of the lobster meat. Let sit in the refrigerator overnight.
9. Find a fine, uniting serving bowl, carefully put the dip into it and top with a small blessing of the mango, a dash of the corn kernels over that, the rest of the lobster meat and a little spoonful of inexpensive paddlefish caviar over that. Give it time to adjust to room temperature and then enthrall your guests!