Lobster strudel with antiboise

IN ADVANCE

1. To make the strudel pastry, add the flour, salt, water and 50 ml of the sunflower oil to a bowl. Mix the ingredients together with your fingertips to form a dough. Remove the dough from the bowl and leave behind any loose dough remnants in the bowl. Place the dough on a floured surface and knead for about 15 minutes to form a smooth, elastic dough.
2. Pour some of the 100 ml of sunflower oil into a clean bowl and roll around until the edges are coated with a layer of oil too. Turn the dough into a ball, place in the bowl and pour the rest of the sunflower oil on top of the dough. Press the dough down firmly to cover it with the sunflower oil. Cover the bowl with cling film and allow the dough to rise in a warm place of about 30°C for around 2 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, for the court bouillon, chop the vegetables into large chunks. Crush the peppercorns and cardamom pods. Put all the ingredients in a large pan, add 4½ litres of water and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down low and allow to reduce gently for approx. 30 minutes.
4. Pour the court bouillon through a sieve.
5. To prepare the filling, bring a large pan of the court bouillon to the boil and prepare a large bowl of cold water. The bouillon should be boiling as you add the lobster, therefore only cook one lobster at a time. Add the lobster and boil for 4 minutes. Scoop the lobster out of the pan, immerse in the cold water and then boil the next lobster.
6. Halve the lobsters lengthwise and remove the intestines. Remove all the lobster meat from the shell halves. Crack open the legs and the claws and remove the meat. Chop all the lobster meat into large chunks.
7. Peel the shallots and cut them into thin half rings. Chop the fennel into thin strips. Clean the leek, peel the carrot and cut the vegetables into thin strips.

Method

1. Ignite the charcoal in the Big Green Egg and heat, with the convEGGtor and the Stainless Steel Grid, to a temperature of 180°C.
2. Place the Cast Iron Skillet on the grid. To make the filling, melt the butter in the skillet. Add the shallot, the fennel and the curry powder and allow to stew for a few minutes. Add the strips of leek and carrot and allow to stew for approx. 4 minutes until the vegetables are supple, but not entirely cooked; stir every now and then and close the lid of the EGG after each action.
3. Remove the skillet from the EGG, spoon the vegetable mixture onto a plate and allow to cool in the fridge. Finely chop the tarragon leaves and mix together all the ingredients for the filling apart from the lobster.
4. Heat the EGG to 250°C. Place a large, smooth cloth on your worktop and dust with flour. Remove the strudel dough from the oil and place the dough on the cloth. Dust the dough and a rolling pin with flour. On the worktop, roll out the dough into a sheet that is about 1 cm thick. Then extend the dough further by placing the palms of your hands underneath the dough and using your hands to carefully extend the dough to create a large, very thin sheet of about 80 cm wide.
5. For the dough, melt the butter. Spread the vegetable mixture of the filling over the underside of the dough. Keep approximately 10 cm of the dough free in the centre and on the sides. Spread the lobster meat over the mixed vegetables. Drizzle half of the melted butter onto the filling and the dough and sprinkle with the panko and the flaked almonds.
6. Using the cloth, roll up the dough until the dough has been rolled twice around the filling. Shape the roll using your hands and roll up further. Slice through the dough in the middle and chop any somewhat thicker edges off the sides and fold the sides of the dough tightly under the strudels, so that the dough provides an airtight seal for the filling.
7. Lightly dust the cold Baking Stone with flour and place the lobster strudels on top. Coat the dough with the rest of the melted butter and place the stone on the grid. Close the lid of the EGG and bake the strudels for 8-10 minutes until golden brown.
8. Remove the lobster strudels from the EGG and cut each roll into four equal pieces. Spread the antiboise over the plates and place the strudel on top. Garnish with the marsh samphire, fennel and fennel leaf you have set aside if you wish.

TIP

Does it seem difficult to make your own strudel pastry or are you running short of time? You can also use filo pastry instead. Wrap the filling in several layers of pastry and make sure that you always drizzle some of the melted butter and sprinkle panko and the flaked almonds on top.