This is NYC’s Strangest Michelin Star Dish

[dramatic orchestral music]

I am Chef Daniel Boulud at Cafe Boulud at Maison Barnes.

We would like to make you the chobster,

a love affair between the chicken and the lobster.

[dramatic orchestral music]

[bell dinging]

First, I'd like to introduce Chef Romain Paumier,

Executive Chef here at Cafe Boulud at Maison Barnes.

And we are both from Leon.

We were talking about a recipe

from our homeland, Poularde aux Ecrevisses.

She's a casserole of chicken and crayfish.

[bell dinging]

Here we do roast chicken and lobster,

our iconic dish at Cafe Boulud at Maison Barnes.

[upbeat music]

So we have a beautiful chicken from Pennsylvania.

The chicken get some seasoning and herbs around,

and also garlic inside.

And then we put the head of the lobster

that we have broke down.

Chicken love to be stuffed with something

that's gonna give wonderful flavor inside.

If you're gonna present your chicken on the table,

I think it's better if you truss it.

It will help the breast be more plump

and also keep the legs tied to the chicken.

I'm passing the needles on the bottom

between the wings and the breast,

and I'm going right under the corner of the legs.

And you don't want to pierce the breast.

That will release too much juice and get it too dry.

If you're gonna pay a lot of money

for your chicken in a restaurant,

you don't want a chicken to be massacred by a trussing.

The chicken has been brined for 20 minute,

then we let it dry overnight.

So we have some thyme, some sage, garlic,

some bay leaf to flavor the chicken while it's roasting.

And of course, we cover nicely a chicken

with a lot of butter.

I like the butter to start slowly melt over the chicken,

and then it will be used to baste the chicken as well.

[gentle music]

Voila.

You can watch TV here.

[gentle music]

I am putting just a little toothpick here

to hold the tail straight.

And I have a hot court-bouillon here.

It is just aromatic bouquet garni, little bit of lemon.

And let it put like this gently

on the corner of the stove now.

Poaching the lobster very gently

and very slowly to just partly cook the lobster.

And then the lobster will be finished

with the chicken after.

[gentle music]

While the lobster is lightly poaching, we are gonna start

to roast some of the wings for making sauces and jus.

And here just breaking them so it's a little bit easier.

And of course the neck as well.

We have a base of sauce Americaine

that we make in large quantity,

but we are fortifying the sauce with, of course,

chicken and lobster.

[pan sizzling]

Some salt and some espelette pepper.

Putting a little bit of herbs also inside.

We put a little bit of black peppercorn, garlic.

There's already tomato preparation

inside the Americaine sauce,

but I am adding tomato paste here

to really fortify also the flavor of tomato.

So this got flambe with cognac.

Are you ready?

Be careful.

Will give a complexity, aroma, and acidity, and tannin.

So this is not to be cooking for hours,

but just to refortify that base we had already made.

So you see our chicken jus

is a little bit more concentrated.

So, of course, you could do a dish of chicken

and lobster together.

But we feel that the best accompaniment

and combine the most the chicken

and the lobster flavor together is the sauce Americaine.

So the sauce starting to reduce well.

Now adding some cream

to the preparation will smooth the taste of the sauce.

A delicate harmony between the lobster and the chicken.

Voila.

Mm.

It is lightly spicy.

There's a lot of complexity in it and a lot of finesse.

So the sauce is getting drained finally.

Look how beautiful this sauce Americaine is.

So we're gonna reduce it a touch more when we plate it.

But that's a very good base here.

[upbeat music]

Let's break down the lobster, the claw.

[knife tapping]

So the tail, break the bottom like this,

and then open wide and break the top.

Voila.

For the knuckle, you can use a lobster cracker,

but the back of a knife is also very good.

You just have to be careful.

[knife tapping]

Voila, one knuckle.

And here is our lobster.

The lobster is getting closer and closer to the chicken.

And of course with that,

you can keep that to make your sauce Americaine.

You see the gill here?

You want to take it out because this is bitter.

Voila.

[upbeat music]

At Cafe Boulud at Maison Barnes,

when you order the chobster,

we presented to you before we carve it,

and of course serve it to you.

Chef Romain found in a flea market a brass lobster.

So now we have this beautiful presentation

with a little bit of thyme.

[gentle music]

Here I have the lobster that was poached

and it's warm up with lobster butter

to keep the lobster warm and happy.

And we'll finish the dish in the dining room.

[upbeat music]

Cafe Boulud at Maison Barnes is composed

of the main dining room of Cafe Boulud

and salon and private room of Maison Barnes.

So the chobster will be presented in the armor.

I like to remove the legs first,

and, of course, make sure we take also the bottom

of the legs here with what we call the sot-l'y-laisse,

which is the chicken oysters.

So the breast, we lift the breast after lifting the legs.

Now I'm taking the stuffing, the lobster body, the herbs,

and the garlic inside my duck press here.

So now I am pressing to extract the umami of lobster

and this will be added to the sauce

and giving it a last boost of flavor.

So for the presentation, beautiful breast of chicken,

beautiful lobster finished in the lobster butter,

and the sauce.

Voila.

This is one of a kind dish in America.

Chicken is very delicate.

Lobster is very delicate too.

Every bite, you have a little bit of lobster,

you have a little bit of chicken,

and you dip it into the sauce.

[gentle music]

The chicken has been cooked with the aromatic

and the lobster inside.

And when you eat the two together, you can taste everything.

It's really magical.

[gentle music]

Mm.

[gentle music]

I may have an idea that I will do a chicken farm

by the sea in Maine.

And the chicken can come

and have conversation with the lobsters

and suddenly start to create a relationship.

So when they get into the chobster moment,

they already feel like they know each other,

they like each other.

I think I'm gonna write the children books

about the chicken and the lobster.