Fish Soup

Boil 2-3 liters (approximately 68-100 ounces) of water in a pot. Put lobster head first into boiling water and cook for about 15 minutes until tender. Remove lobster from the pot, let cool, deshell and cut lobster meat into bite size pieces. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a saucepan and fry lobster shells for about 5 minutes. Deglaze the saucepan with broth, simmer about 10 minutes and then pour through a sieve. Collect resulting broth.

Peel potatoes, rinse and cut into bite-size pieces. Peel onion and garlic and dice. Peel carrots and cut into slices. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a pot and saute all vegetables until soft. Add wine and broth and simmer for about 20 minutes. Then puree with an immersion blender and pass through a fine sieve. Heat soup again in the pot. Let simmer or add broth as needed to reach desired consistency. Add cream, parsley and cognac and season with lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Rinse chile pepper, cut in half, remove seeds and ribs and cut into fine strips. Trim mushrooms and cut into slices. Sauté chile pepper and mushroom together in 1 tablespoon hot oil in a frying pan for 2-3 minutes. Rinse fish, pat dry, cut into bite-size pieces and season with salt and pepper. In another non-stick pan, heat remaining oil and fry fish skin-side down for approximately 2 minutes until golden brown. Turn fish over and fry for 1-2 minutes. Add lobster meat, and heat through.