seafood thermidor?

[egbluesuede]

I recently enjoyed dinner at Huey's on River street in downtown Savannah, and had what they called a seafood thermidor. Huey's is more of a New Orleans style restaurant, even though they are in an area that may feature more seafood, low country, southern style restaurants. Anyway, I loved the dish and am trying to find a recipe similar to it, or something that I can start to modify to get close to that dish. It had a rich, cheesy sauce, with shrimp and scallops as the protein, and it was served over linguini noodles.

A lot of traditional lobster thermidor recipes are more of a sauce served over whole lobster, which isn't really what I had. This was more of a pasta dish. I tried a "seafood thermidor" recipe I found on line, but it was very bland, and no where close to what ate.

http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs...

This has a basic cream sauce with a tiny touch of parmesan and paprika, but at least it was made to be served over pasta.

What ingredients could be added to boost the flavor? dijon mustard? cayenne? Sherry? A different cheese? Any suggestions to push me closer to what I had at Huey's? Am I really looking for something closer to a Newburg rather than a Thermidor?

[eclecticsynergy]

I concur about the English mustard, also about the Gruyere and a splash of brandy or dry sherry. Perhaps a pinch of thyme or tarragon as a sort of nod to the New Orleans influence... I'd think about starting the sauce with shallots or leeks rather than mirepoix. You might even consider a subliminal touch of nutmeg, being careful to keep it well below the threshold of perceptibility.

[ursy_ten]

I second the mustard. I had a beautiful lobster thermidor recipe that I was going to share with you, but I can't find it! It definitely had mustard in it. I'm sorry that I don't know where it is - it was a surprise to me that it wasn't in my database!

This is probably going be bug me for aaages...

[egbluesuede]

Thanks.....I'll have to try some dried mustard, and maybe a pinch of cayenne to boost the flavor. There must have been more than just parmesan cheese in the dish I tried though, as the sauce was thick and yellowish. The version I tried with grated parm on top was pretty white.

[ursy_ten]

I had a look at the recipe you linked to - I think that one looks more like a mornay.
But I'm really no expert :)

This is from Wikipedia - confirming our mustard thoughts:

Lobster Thermidor is a French dish consisting of a creamy mixture of cooked lobster meat, egg yolks, and cognac or brandy, stuffed into a lobster shell, and optionally served with an oven-browned cheese crust, typically Gruyère. The sauce must contain mustard (typically powdered mustard).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobster_...

Come to think of it, a dash of cognac or brandy probably wouldn't go astray.

I think my recipe started with a mirepoix - now what is that again... carrot, celery and... onion? But this is strained out before serving.

[egbluesuede]

Thanks for your thoughts. I though about egg yolk to give me more yellow color, but don't want the dairy to get too "custard" like. I agree that gruyere would be a nice addition to the flavor and bump the cheese level up. I think I'll try that the next time. Even if it's not the same as I had at the restaurant.....I love gruyere. That and a little mustard and cayenne, and I'm starting to get closer. BTW - I served mine over a spinach linguini, which I thought was pretty good.

[ursy_ten]

Speaking of eggs, I just found this recipe which includes two egg yolks, so your idea might not be too far off the mark: http://www.lobsterhelp.com/recipes/lo...
Possibly, it could be the whites that might make it too custardy (just guessing)
Interestingly, this version I linked to didn't mention mustard powder, but it does have the mirepoix I spoke of earlier. Anyway, if you look at the photo, you can see that the sauce is quite a yellowy brown colour so it might be closer to what you're looking for.
I would give this one a go, taste it, and possibly add some mustard powder if I felt that this would bring it closer to the one you had at Huey's.
Best of luck!

[egbluesuede]

You know.....this may not be too far off, especially for the type of restaurant I was at. I looked the menu up online, and they refer to it as a lobster thermador sauce. (spelled with an "a") I think the mirepoix will help develop some flavor too. I think I'll try this out next and see if we need to make any adjustments. Thanks!

[ursy_ten]

You're welcome, let us know how it went!

[Plano Rose]

I do have a seafood thermidor recipe that calls for dry mustatd (Coleman's) and cayenne pepper. It also calls for a heavy layer of parmesan on top with a sprinkling of paprika.