LOBSTAH!
Long ago (four years, to be exact) when I lived in New England, I never paid much attention to the bounty of seafood that was available here. I never noticed all the haddock, pollack, and cod to eat nor did I ever think twice about the wonderful clams, scallops, and not to mention, lobster. Coming back from California, all of this seafood was amazing to see. My cravings for lobster finally got the best of me and so starts my lobster adventures…
This may be hard for everyone to believe but, I lived in Massachusetts for 27 years and have only eaten a whole lobster once in my life. Sure I’ve had my share of lobster rolls, lobster pot pie, and lobster salad, but I’ve only had boiled lobster only once! Someone contact the food police! What is even more scary, I’ve never actually cooked a whole lobster. I couldn’t believe that when I realized I spent more than two years in culinary school and managed to never boil a whole lobster.
I had to right the ship (lobster boat?). I had to conquer my apprehension of cooking a whole, alive and kicking, lobster. So it was off to the supermarket to find a couple of lobsters for the Eater and I. It turns out that buying lobster in New England is quite easy, they’re sold EVERYWHERE. You really can’t go to a supermarket and not find lobster in the summertime. Around this time of year they run sales on them, too! I didn’t think it was still possible, but lobster for $6/lb is still a reality in lobster country.
If you’ve never cooked a lobster before, it can be quite scary. In the past, you’d just grab a lively, kicking lobster and throw it in a pot of boiling water. Now I’d like to think that I’m not a cold-blooded killer so I tried to be respectful cooking my first lobsters. I remembered seeing several methods for quickly dispatching the lobsters before cooking them; I even found directions over at The Secret Life of Lobsters.
I know the killing methods of lobsters isn’t exactly something you discuss with your dinner guests, but it is something that every good chef should know how to do. You basically chill them in the freezer for about 20 minutes (keeping them away from the ice cream) and then pull them out and stab them. This doesn’t sound all that glorious, but it is supposed to put them down quickly. For my money, I’d rather get stabbed than boiled alive, so I’m ok with this. Again, be respectful and say some nice words to the lobster before he goes.
Lobster tends to cook quickly and there isn’t much to it. My one and one-half pounders boiled up in about 12 minutes. I served them with the usual lobster side dishes: boiled potatoes and corn with a side of drawn butter. The butter is a must, no skimping here, use the REAL stuff and you won’t be disappointed. The eater was a pro at getting to all of the delicious lobster meat and I followed her queue and had no problems at all. I’d love to describe how to efficiently get to the meat, but alas it all happened so quick and I didn’t take accurate notes…maybe next time!
