This section is from the book "The Epicurean", by Charles Ranhofer. Also available from Amazon: The Epicurean, a Complete Treatise of Analytical and Practical Studies on the Culinary Art.
Prepare a court bouillon (No. 38), and in it cook two lobsters each of two pounds; drain them for a few minutes; detach the tails from the bodies, and keep them warm in a little of their broth. Cut some peeled truffles into thin slices an eighth of an inch thick, and three-quarters to one inch in diameter; set them in a bain-marie with a little melted glaze ( No. 402) and Madeira wine. Slice the lobsters' tails and claw meat, and fry the pieces in butter; moisten with a pint of cream, reduce and season highly, then thicken with egg-yolks, cream and butter. Dress and garnish the dish with round apple croquettes one inch in diameter, and cover the entire top with the prepared truffles.
Cut into twenty-four pieces the tail parts of four cooked lobsters; season them with salt and mignonette. Heat well in a sautoire four ounces of butter, and two gills of oil, add to it the pieces of lobster, and saute them over a brisk fire, adding four ounces of onions, and two small bunches of parsley garnished with garlic, cloves, and bay leaf; moisten with half a bottleful of red wine, and two gills of espagnole sauce (No. 414): put in some chopped mushrooms, and the pulp of one lemon; suppress the parsley and bay leaf, and serve the remainder in a dish with finely shred chives strewn over the top.
Cut cooked lobsters in slices one-quarter inch in thickness, saute in fresh butter, moisten with cream, let simmer for a few minutes, and before serving, thicken the lobster with cooked yolks of eggs, crushed with double the amount of butter, then press through a fine sieve, seasoning with red and white pepper and add a little good sherry.
Cut a few fresh mushrooms into large dice, and cook them with butter and lemon-juice; poach a few dozen large oysters, cut them up into three-eighths of an inch squares, and strain their broth. Cook twelve ounces of picked rice in some fish stock ( No. 195), mixed with the oyster and mushroom broths, and a coffeespoonful of re 1 pepper (No. 168); have it when done, the consistence of a Creole Keep in boiling water seven or eight small spiny lobsters, each one weighing ten ounces; drain, and detach the tails from the bodies; put the latter back into the water to cook for ten minutes longer then drain and pick out all the creamy parts. Split each tail in two lengthwise, both meat and shells, keep all the water running off from the meat, and fry these halved tails in a sautoire for five or six minutes with some oil and chopped shallots; season, and dredge over a little red pepper; moisten them to their height with good court bouillon (No. 38) and white wine, add some mushroom peelings, a garnished bunch of parsley, a lemon pulp, and two chopped tomatoes, and allow the liquid to boil rapidly for five or six minutes, then drain off the halved tails, so as to take out the meats and keep them warm.
Strain the lobster broth, stir into it the water reserved from the meats, and reduce it to a half-glaze, then thicken it. first with a little veloute sauce (No. 41")), and afterward with a thickening of egg-yolks, cream, and two or three spoonfuls of the creamy parts; butter the sauce off the fire without ceasing to stir. After the rice is done to perfection, pour over it a few spoonfuls of hazelnut butter (No. 567), and let it smother for five or six minutes; stir in the oysters and mushrooms; dress this rice into a vegetable dish, smooth the surface dome-shaped, and in the center stick standing three or four large crawfish; around these dress the half tails almost upright, and cover over with a little of the sauce, serving the surplus in a sauce-boat. Should the spiny lobsters have to be replaced by small ordinary lobsters, then the lobster claws must be substituted for the crawfish and be stuck into the summit of the dome.
•
 
Continue to: