Joe Beef is one of my favorite restaurants in Montreal. Unfortunately I don't get up there as often as I would like so sometimes I have to try my best to imitate some of my favorite dishes. This is one of them. It's actually not as difficult as it seems to make.
Into salted boiling water, add a whole live lobster. Cook for about 12 minutes and then let cool until easy to handle. In the meantime, in a separate pot bring salted water to a boil. Cook some thick pasta for about 10 minutes or al dente and strain.
Break the lobster down and keep the body for the sauce. Into a pan heat 1 tbs butter, add 2 cups cream or half and half, fresh tarragon (or dried if not available), and a good splash of brandy. Cook that down for a couple minutes and add the body of the lobster and 1 cup of pasta water. Reduce heat to low and let that reduce down until desired thickness. Strain sauce and discard the rest.
Put the sauce back into the pan, add the lobster meat, warm for about a minute then toss in the pasta. Toss to coat and garnish with fresh parsley.
