Dear Sun Spots: Enjoy your column every day. It is very informative. I would like to find a recipe for a good lobster stew like the one served at Rolandeau’s Restaurant and Village Inn Restaurant. I have checked many cookbooks and cannot find a recipe that suits us. Your help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. – No Name, Lewiston.

Answer: In addition to responses from readers, you and your family might like to try the following lobster stew recipe featured in the Cook of the Week column:

Lobster stew ingredients:

Stock: 2 tablespoons olive oil; 2 ribs of celery, chopped; 1 medium onion, chopped; 4 (at least) lobster bodies; 6 cups of water; peppercorns, to taste (at least 1 teaspoon); 1 bay leaf. Method: In a large pot, heat olive oil. Add celery and onion and sauté two to three minutes. Remove and discard stomachs from lobster bodies (the small, soft sack directly in back of head). Break up the bodies with a hammer or rolling pin and add to pot. Sauté five minutes. Add six cups of water, peppercorns and bay leaf. Bring to a full boil and then turn to a low boil and cook, uncovered, until stock has reduced to about 4 to 5 cups. Strain stock through a fine sieve.

Stew: Get some lobsters (the more the better, at least two to four) and cook them up. Then take all the meat out and set aside. Save some of the water the lobsters were cooked in. You may want to add it to the stew.

Ingredients for stew: lobster meat; shallots (1 to 2) and scallions (5 to 6), chopped fine; ¼ cup butter; 1 cup heavy cream; 1 cup half-and-half; 1 cup milk; paprika (to taste); white pepper (to taste); ½ cup butter; pinch of nutmeg; sherry (add this by the teaspoonful when you sit down to eat. A little goes a long way and adds a wonderful flavor). Method: Sauté shallots and scallions in ¼ cup butter for one to three minutes. Then add lobster meat, stock, paprika and white pepper, and sauté a little longer with a pinch of nutmeg. Then dump all this into a double boiler and add milk and cream, and let it heat up over low heat.

Chef’s notes: First, you have to make some lobster stock. It’s the secret to a great stew. I usually let the stew heat for at least half to one hour (after adding milk and cream).

Dear Sun Spots: I am looking for an address to write to Patrick Dempsey. Thank you. – Theresa, No Town.

Answer: In addition to responses from readers, try contacting Dempsey through his public relations firm at: Henry Eshelman, Baker-Winokur & Ryder Public Relations, 9348 Civic Center Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90210, (310) 278-1460 or at (310) 248-6109. You can also try reaching Eshelman via e-mail at heshelman@bwr-la.com.

In the meantime, you might be interested in noting that Dempsey is a Maine native, born in Lewiston in 1966 and raised in Turner and Buckfield. He attended Buckfield junior and senior high schools before transferring to St. Dominic Regional High School. His acting credits include roles in: “Iron Jawed Angels,” “The Emperor’s Club,” “Sweet Home Alabama,” “Corsairs” and “Scream 3” to mention a few. He recently earned a Golden Globe Award nomination for his work as Dr. Derek Shepherd on ABC’s medical drama “Grey’s Anatomy.”

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