Roast Lobsters with Vanilla Sauce (Homards Rotis a la Sauce Vanille)

Preparation

1. Step 1

   Preheat the oven to 525 degrees.

2. Step 2

   Put one tablespoon of the butter in a saucepan and add the shallots. Cook briefly, stirring. Add the wine and the two 2-inch lengths of vanilla bean. Cook down, stirring, until the wine is almost evaporated. Add the fish broth and cook down over high heat, stirring, until reduced by half.

3. Step 3

   Add the cream and cook the mixture about two minutes, to about one cup. Split the remaining piece of vanilla bean and add it.

4. Step 4

   Strain the sauce through a fine sieve, pressing with the back of a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to extract most of the juices from the solids. Discard the solids.

5. Step 5

   Return the sauce to a saucepan. Add salt and pepper and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and swirl in two tablespoons of butter.

6. Step 6

   Place the live lobsters close together in a casserole and place in the oven. Bake 15 minutes.

7. Step 7

   Meanwhile, pick over the spinach to remove and discard any tough stems or blemished leaves. Pick over the watercress to remove the leaves. Discard the stems.

8. Step 8

   Heat the remaining two tablespoons of butter in a skillet and add the spinach and watercress. Cook, stirring, until wilted.

9. Step 9

   Split the hot lobsters lengthwise down the center. They will not be fully cooked at this point. Arrange the halves split side up on a baking dish and return to the oven for about one and one-half minutes.

10. Step 10

    Crack the claws and arrange them in another baking dish. Bake about two minutes.

11. Step 11

    Remove the meat from the lobster tails. Spoon the spinach into the center of a serving dish. Arrange the lobster tail meat over the spinach. Arrange the cracked claws around in a symmetrical pattern. Garnish, if desired, with one lobster carcass split in half. Spoon some of the sauce over the lobster tails and serve the rest on the side.