At Fore Street, entrée choices change daily and with the seasons, as would be expected from a chef as well-regarded as Sam Hayward. This pan roast of fish and shellfish is another example of why he’s earned such praise.

Fore Street Chef Sam Hayward image: starchefs.com

Pan Roast of Fish and Shellfish
Brooke Dojny, Dishing Up Maine

5 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 carrot, peeled and thinly sliced
1 leek, cleaned and thinly sliced (white and pale green parts only)
1 spring onion or medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
¾ cup dry white wine
1 bouquet garni (see note)
2 cups fish stock or bottled clam juice
1 Maine lobster, 1½ pounds
1½ pounds assorted fillets of white-fleshed fish such as monkfish, whiting, wolf fish, skate, or hake (use at least 3 varieties), cut into large chunks
1 large ripe tomato, cored, seeded, and cut into large pieces
24 smallish littleneck clams, scrubbed
24 mussels, scrubbed and debearded
12 medium-sized scallops, tough muscle removed from side of each if necessary
¼ cup fresh parsley leaves, chopped
2 Tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh chervil
2 Tablespoons stripped fresh thyme leaves
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat 2 Tablespoons of the oil in a medium-sized saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the carrot, leek, onion, and garlic and cook until just softened, about 5 minutes. Add the wine, raise the heat to high, and boil for 2 minutes. Add the bouquet garni and fish stock, bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer for 10 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 450°.

Place the lobster in the freezer for 10 minutes, if desired. Plunge a sharp knife into the top of the lobster’s head just behind the eyes and split the lobster in half lengthwise, through the tail. Twist off the tail pieces and claws. Remove the digestive tract from the tails and cut the tail halves in half crosswise. Crack the large claws. Put all the lobster pieces, including the body, into a large, deep ovenproof pot. (At Fore Street they use a cazuela—a Spanish pottery vessel—but a large enameled cast iron or other similar ovenproof casserole dish works fine.)

Arrange the fish, tomato, clams, mussels, and scallops over and around the lobster, sprinkle with the parsley, chervil, and thyme, drizzle with the remaining 3 Tablespoons olive oil, and season with the salt and pepper to taste. Ladle the broth and vegetables over the seafood and cover the baking dish.

Bake until the bivalves open, about 30 minutes. (Even if the clams are just cracked open, remove from the oven now so as not to overcook the rest of the seafood. You can wedge the clams open further if you like.)

Remove and discard the lobster body, the bouquet garni, and any unopened clams or mussels. Serve the pan roast directly from the cooking vessel.

Note: For the bouquet garni, tie together 4 parsley sprigs, 4 thyme branches, and 1 bay leaf with kitchen twine. To debeard mussels, pull out the dark threads that protrude from the shell. Do this just before cooking; mussels die when debearded.

Serves 6-8.