• Place water, white wine and fish stock into a wide, deep pot or a Dutch oven.
• Place on stovetop over high heat and bring to a boil.
• Place lobsters, topside down, in broth. Reduce heat to medium and cook covered for approximately 6 minutes. With a pair of tongs, turn lobsters and cook covered for another 6 minutes.
• Remove lobsters from broth and put them to side. When lobsters are cool enough to handle, begin removing meat from shell, dicing pieces into 1/2inch cubes. Store lobster meat in refrigerator until later.
• Place lobster shells back into broth, reduce heat to a simmer and cook uncovered for 20 minutes.
• Strain broth through a sieve into a container and store in refrigerator until later. Discard lobster shells.
• Put your pot or Dutch oven back on stove over medium heat.
• Pour in melted butter.
• Once butter is heated up, add onions, carrots, celery and garlic. Saute for 3 to 4 minutes.
• Add cognac or brandy. Cook until alcohol has evaporated.
• Mix in flour, stirring with a heavy gauge spatula or spoon until mixture is blond in color and has a buttery aroma.
• Mix diced tomatoes, paprika, thyme and ground pepper with cold broth from refrigerator.
• Then, pour broth slowly into butter and vegetable mixture. Cook uncovered for 30 minutes under medium low heat, stirring frequently so not to burn.
• Remove bisque from heat.
• Blend small amounts of bisque in blender and then puree. Puree all of bisque and pour pureed bisque back into pot with remaining amount.
• Add chopped lobster meat and heavy cream. Heat to desired temperature. If soup is too thick, thin it by adding milk or water prior to serving.
• Serve hot.

From Red Lobster - Chef's Tip

• Adding a touch of brandy or sherry to stock can bring a wonderful touch to this classic preparation.