Civet of Lobster from Tony Bilson's Recipe Book by Tony Bilson

Ingredients

• 1 bay leaf
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• 400 g ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 3 sprigs thyme
• 12 peppercorns
• 500 ml red wine (use wine similar to that being served with the lobster)
• 50 ml cognac
• 1 tbl tomato paste
• 24 mushroom caps, de-stemmed (add stems to the mirepoix)
• 50 g butter
• 24 shallots, peeled
• 200 ml chardonnay
• 1 onion, diced
• 6 cloves garlic, crushed
• 150 g butter
• 100 g mirepoix
• 6 lobsters, weighing 450 g each cream