Elegant Crémant de Bourgogne Served with Lobster Two Ways #Winophiles

Posted by foodwineclick on November 16, 2018 · 31 Comments

French Winophiles Prep for the Upcoming Holidays with Crémant
As we near the end-of-year holidays, we have many opportunities for celebrations, gifts and even an occasional quiet evening at home. When it comes time to celebrate with French wine, Champagne comes to mind first, but who can afford a bottle of Champagne at every one of those celebratory occasions? Crémant to the rescue! The French #Winophiles are here to help you serve fine bubbly during the holidays without excessive damage to your wallet. Look further down in this post for some great suggestions from our group.

Delicious French bubbly without the wallet draining price: Crémant

What’s Crémant?
Just the facts:

Crémant is French sparkling wine made in the Methode Champenoise, but outside the strict confines of the Champagne region.
Crémant is made in many French wine regions and is usually designated by the name Crémant de “insert region here“. The most popular regions for Crémant are Alsace, Bourgogne, Loire, Limoux. Less often seen, but Bordeaux, Jura and other regions make Crémant.
In the US, Champagne usually starts at around $35 and goes up from there. Crémant is almost always available for $20-25.
Crémant is available in both Blanc and Rosé forms.
Brut is the most popular sweetness level with just a hint of sweetness to balance the acidity and bubbles, just like Champagne.

Domaine Chevrot Cremant de Bourgogne

Domaine Chevrot Crémant de Bourgogne “Les Bulles de Paul” Brut ($26 from Caveau Selections)
This wine comes from the southern tip of the Côte d’Or, and it’s made from 100% Pinot Noir grapes. In Champagne, they would refer to this as a Blanc de Noirs. I had great fun visiting Domaine Chevrot this summer, take a look at my report from my visit here. If you ever visit Bourgogne, plan to visit Domaine Chevrot. They welcome visitors, tell them I sent you!

Eye: Clear, pale lemon, sparkling. Nice fine, persistent mousse.
Nose: Clean, medium intensity nose. Brioche, ripe lemons, lemon meringue
Mouth: Dry, medium intensity. High acidity, tart and delicious. Medium body, medium alcohol. Bright persistent petillance, sharp tart flavors balanced by a touch of sweetness. Light, not austere.

Domaine Chevrot Cremant de Bourgogne with loster two ways

An elegant dinner at home and easy to prepare

Crémant & Lobster
We enjoyed this wine very much with our lobster two ways. I thought it was a good match for the lobster, cleansing acidity, good depth of flavor to match up to the rich lobster. Julie felt the brioche notes didn’t quite match up, perhaps a blanc de blanc or very steely sparkler would have been a better match. In any case, we easily finished the bottle with our dinner!

A Host of Cremant Ideas from the French #Winophiles

Don’t forget about our Twitter chat which starts at 11am EST on Saturday Nov. 17. Follow us under the hashtag #winophiles and join the conversation.

Liz Barrett from What’s In That Bottle is writing “Affordalicious Alsace: Best Bubbles for the Buck”
Jill Barth from L’Occasion will show us “A Festival of French Crémant”
Robin Renken from Crushed Grape Chronicles will publish “A Sparkling Rosé by any other name…just might be a Crémant”
Camilla Mann will talk about a tasting pairing, Lingcod, Legumes, and Domaine Mittnacht Frères Crémant d’Alsace on her blog Culinary Adventures with Cam.
Susannah Gold from avivinare.com will share her post “French Cremant – Perfect Sparklers for the Holiday Season”
Martin Redmond will be “Elevating Weeknight Fare with Cremant d’Alsace” at the Enofylz Wine Blog
Nicole Ruiz Hudson’s post on SommsTable.com will be “Crémants for Going Out and Staying In”
Wendy Klik of A Day in the Life on the Farm is writing “Rustic Elegance; Fall Vegetable Soup paired with Cremant” which sounds perfect for Thanksgiving!
Jane Niemeyer will teach us “How to Pair Crémant d’Alsace and Food” at alwaysravenous.com
Payal Vora’s post at Keep the Peas will be called “Crémant d’Alsace: More Than Just A Sparkling Wine”
Lauren Walsh from The Swirling Dervish will “Add a Little Sparkle to Your Holiday with Crémant d’Alsace”.
Jeff Burrows will be pairing “Elegant Crémant de Bourgogne Served with Lobster Two Ways” at foodwineclick.com
Gwendolyn Alley from winepredator.com is going to be looking at “Crémant Rosé: 4 Affordable Food Friendly Beauties for #Winophiles“
David Crowley from cookingchatfood.com will be discussing the “Best Food Pairings for Crémant d’Alsace”
Rupal Shankar the Syrah Queen will be giving us “Five Reasons to Drink Crémant d’Alsace this Holiday Season”
Neil will be joining us from Eat, Live, Travel, Write with a post entitled “Champagne taste but not a Champagne budget? An exploration of France’s Crémant wines”

Lobster served two ways: lobster risotto and boiled

Lobster in the risotto and on the plate. Too much? I think not!

Lobster Two Ways

Servings: 4
Print

The Lobster risotto recipe is based on a recipe from Saveur magazine, available here. I’ve adjusted ingredient amounts just a bit to match up with my usual risotto ritual. These instructions assume you know how to open a boiled lobster. If you need some hints, take a look here. Finally, you can serve two people with this same recipe. Just buy 2 lobsters. You’ll split 1 lobster and put the lobster meat from the 2nd lobster in the risotto.

Bonus: You’ll have plenty of leftover risotto for another meal of risotto fritto for two! Risotto fritto is really just taking the leftover risotto, smashing it like a big pancake and heating it in a little EVOO in a medium-hot cast iron skillet until it is a nice and dark golden brown. I like to sprinkle it with fresh herbs once it’s on my plate.

Ingredients

4 cups chicken stock (hopefully homemade)
1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
2 large shallots, minced
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 cup arborio or vialone nano risotto rice
1 cup dry white wine (nothing fancy, but one you’d be willing to drink)
3 live Maine lobsters, 1.25-1.5 lbs each
1/4 cup mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 tsp fresh lemon zest, plus
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup chopped fresh arugula
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
If you need it, melted butter for dipping the lobster

Instructions

Put on a large pot of well salted water, bring it to a boil, then reduce to a high simmer
Bring the chicken stock to a simmer on the stovetop
Prep all the risotto components, as the French say: “mise en place”
Bring the large pot of water back up to a rolling boil.
Kill each lobster by placing the tip of your chef’s knife in between its’ eyes. Cleanly and quickly pierce the head shell of the lobster, with a clean cut. The lobster will die instantly. This is more humane than placing a live lobster in boiling water. Cut the rubber bands holding the claws shut. The rubber bands can give the lobster an unpleasant taste if they are boiled along with the lobster.
Place the 3 lobsters in the boiling water. Cook for 18-20 minutes after the pot returns to a boil. Just enough time to make your risotto!
Place your risotto pot on medium heat
Add the Tbsp of EVOO, heat it till it starts to shimmer
Add the shallots and garlic and saute until they are translucent and the garlic is fragrant
Add the rice, stir and saute until it is translucent, about 3 minutes
Add the white wine and stir, let the rice absorb the wine
Adjust the heat on the risotto pot to maintain a high simmer while the rice absorbs the liquid.
Add the stock to the rice, 1/2 cup at a time. Continuous stirring is not required, but stir often. Add stock once the rice has absorbed the prior 1/2 cup. The rice will require around 20 minutes to absorb all the stock.
Once the lobsters are cooked, remove them from the pot and cover two lobsters with foil to keep warm.
Shock the third lobster in ice water, just to make it manageable to harvest the lobster meat.
To serve the lobsters, use a chef’s knife to cut the lobsters lengthwise in half, from stem to stern. Serve 1/2 lobster per person with a mound of lobster risotto. Cremant is a perfect accompaniment to an elegant dish you can make at home.

Filed under French Winophiles, Wine & Food

Comments

31 Responses to “Elegant Crémant de Bourgogne Served with Lobster Two Ways #Winophiles”

Nancy says:

November 16, 2018 at 8:42 am

What an elegant meal for the holidays. The presentation is beautiful. Joe will be happy with the “pseudo-champagne” choice. Thank you!

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- foodwineclick says:
  
  November 17, 2018 at 9:26 pm
  
  Thanks, Nancy! And the lobsters will be 20% off on Tuesdays. Geezers unite!
  
  Reply
Michelle Williams says:

November 16, 2018 at 4:14 pm

Love the pairing and I am digging the short videos. You are getting so fancy! I will say I was afraid those lobsters were going to be alive. Thank you for not showing that part.

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- foodwineclick says:
  
  November 17, 2018 at 9:27 pm
  
  I’m a meat eater, but I’m still a bit shy with the killing part, even with a very large insect.
  
  Reply
  - Michelle Williams says:
    
    November 21, 2018 at 11:09 am
    
    Ha! Me too.
cookingchat (@cookingchat) says:

November 17, 2018 at 7:23 am

I’m not typically a big lobster fan but you make me want to dig in! Especially that risotto. I need to keep Crémant in mind for risotto pairing.

Reply
- Kat Wisnosky says:
  
  November 17, 2018 at 2:03 pm
  
  I’m with you on the lobster, but that photo looks so good I might reconsider. Shellfish is a great pairing. I did butter-poached prawns with a pair of Crémants (one from the Jura and one from the Loire) and it was an outstanding match.
  
  Reply
- foodwineclick says:
  
  November 17, 2018 at 9:28 pm
  
  You can always go with shrimp or scallops if that better reflects your taste. Although, you do live in the Boston area!
  
  Reply
Robin Bell Renken says:

November 17, 2018 at 3:25 pm

Jeff I love the video! And I really like the glass, such a beautiful elegant shape. We found that the Crémant de Bourgogne we tasted was the best pairing with our lobster tails. My lobster dish was, of course, in no way as detailed and involved as your beautiful culinary experience here. I’m keen to try your risotto recipe and perhaps search for another Crémant de Bourgogne to pair it with!

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- foodwineclick says:
  
  November 17, 2018 at 9:29 pm
  
  Thanks, Robin. I’m a big believer in people giving risotto a try. It’s elegant and “fancy”, but so relaxing to make. Definitely worth your time!
  
  Reply
wendyklik says:

November 18, 2018 at 5:32 am

Wow…what a fantastic Holiday pairing.

Reply
- foodwineclick says:
  
  November 20, 2018 at 12:46 pm
  
  Thanks, Wendy. It felt decadent!
  
  Reply
Gwendolyn Alley aka Art Predator says:

November 18, 2018 at 9:51 am

I love lobster and so does my son but my husband not so much however he LOVES risotto so win win win!! This sounds really yummy and a nice holiday special occasion meal … maybe my birthday with a cremant! Thanks for the leftover makeover suggestion too– if we have any!

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- foodwineclick says:
  
  November 20, 2018 at 12:47 pm
  
  Sounds like a perfect birthday treat. And husband can mix something else into his risotto…
  
  Reply
Martin D. Redmond says:

November 18, 2018 at 10:50 am

As I indicated during the chat yesterday, now I’m craving Lobster. Thanks a million Jeff! You Cremant sounds like it’s right up my alley and I’m sure it was delightful pairing with your lobster! Love the video too!

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- foodwineclick says:
  
  November 20, 2018 at 12:48 pm
  
  Thanks, Martin. Lobster and bubbly makes for a special evening!
  
  Reply
Always Ravenous says:

November 18, 2018 at 4:49 pm

Great pairing and holiday dinner. I think I will buy lobster tails instead of the whole lobster, just can’t do it. Love love the video, you inspire me for 2019.

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- foodwineclick says:
  
  November 20, 2018 at 12:49 pm
  
  Thanks, Jane. Lobster tails would be even easier.
  
  Reply
Payal says:

November 18, 2018 at 10:22 pm

Pretty plating and the combination sounds terrific! I can’t expound on how the pairing might’ve been since I’m allergic to lobster so I haven’t had it with wine.

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- foodwineclick says:
  
  November 20, 2018 at 12:50 pm
  
  Too bad you’re allergic. Does that extend to all shellfish?
  
  Reply
theswirlingdervish says:

November 19, 2018 at 8:53 am

That lobster dish is worthy of a special occasion, and the Cremant makes a festive accompaniment. Love the video!

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- foodwineclick says:
  
  November 20, 2018 at 12:51 pm
  
  Thanks, Lauren. It was a fun meal to make, shoot and eat!
  
  Reply
Nicole Ruiz Hudson says:

November 24, 2018 at 2:48 pm

This lobster pairing duo looks swoon-worthy!

Reply
Jill Barth says:

December 7, 2018 at 5:21 pm

I’m so sorry I’m behind on my comments. The event was on our anniversary and time just slipped away. This is such a special post, but you always elevate any food you make. I imagine your kitchen is a place that feels joyful all the time!

Reply