Lobster salad with asparagus, new potatoes and...

Lobster salad with asparagus, new potatoes and chervil butter

Years ago after a tradeshow in Cannes, a couple of friends and I decided to drive along the Corniche. In the historic little village of Gassin overlooking St Tropez, I had a lobster salad that I can remember to this day – and this thing I remember was that it was studded with little chervil leaves, giving a perfect hint of aniseed flavour to the dish.

The warm weather has made my kitchen herb container burst into life in the last few weeks, with chervil one of the herbs doing well in amongst the thyme and two types of basil.

So when I spotted a big lobster claw on Seafayre’s stall at the Marylebone Farmers Market, it seemed like the time to create something with that same combination of lobster and chervil.

The claw was from a beast of a lobster, and provided a really generous amount of meat.

For two people: one giant lobster claw, or a cooked lobster, 6-8 new potatoes (preferably Jersey Royals), eight spears of asparagus, a lemon, two tablespoons of butter (at room temperature), a handful of chervil and a tiny dash of white wine or white vermouth.

First crack your lobster and remove and shred the meat, and set aside. Boil or steam your potatoes and while you’re doing this, juice the lemon, add the same amount of wine or vermouth and reduce this by half in a small pan. Turn off the heat and set aside. When the potatoes are nearly done, steam the asparagus.

Assemble the dish with sliced, warm new potatoes, sliced asparagus, and the lobster meat on top. When it’s all ready, finish the sauce by warming the lemon/wine reduction and whisking in the butter until you have a sauce the consistency of double cream. Add the chervil, adjust the seasoning and then pour all over the salad.