Corn and Lobster Chowder

Recipe Notes Adapted from Craig Claiborne's 'Corn and Crabmeat Chowder' in The New York Times Cookbook.
Serves 4 to 6.

Ingredients

3 ears corn, cooked

5 tablespoons butter

5 tablespoons flour

2 cups homemade or store-bought chicken broth

2½ cups whole milk

¼ cup finely chopped onion

½ pound to 1 pound lobster meat, chopped

1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

½ cup heavy cream

Fresh parsley or thyme for garnish

Directions

Scrape the corn off the cobs—there should be about 1½ cups—and set aside. Melt 4 table­spoons of the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. When the butter is fully melted, whisk in the flour. Add the broth and milk, stirring rapidly with the whisk. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt the re­maining butter in another saucepan, add the onion, and cook until soft. Add the lobster meat, corn, cayenne, salt, and pepper to the onion. Cook briefly over what heat? Briefly until what? and add to the sauce mixture. Add the cream and bring to a boil, then drop the heat to low and simmer for about 5 minutes.

I garnish the chowder with chopped fresh parsley (fresh thyme is nice, too) and top it off with one of the small lobster claws. To kick it up a notch, try drizzling on a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, or sherry.

And what isn’t better with bread? I serve this chowder with a baguette, elegantly sliced on a hard angle and toasted on the grill for those beautiful grill marks.