Need a good no, great lobster recipe

poach it in butter. It's that simple.

Quote:

Originally Posted by phatch 

poach it in butter. It's that simple.

I really have to try that next time I make lobster. 

I usually buy a tail, steam or boil it until almost cooked, then take it out, melt some butter, put pressed garlic and chopped parsley, then fleur de sel and ground black pepper. Cut the lobster in two lengthwise, put the halves in a small baking dish, smear with garlic butter and under the grill for a few seconds. Serve it right out of the grill. 

Alternatively boil/steam it until fully cooked, serve with melted garlic butter on the side. 

Butter poaching is simple if you know how to do it.  If not, not so simple.

If you're dealing with a whole, live lobster, you have to start the process by steaming it for 3 minutes, shocking it in ice water, then breaking it into manageable pieces either out of the shell or with the shell broken so the butter can get to the meat.  Always remove the membrane from the tail.

You can certainly butter poach frozen lobster tails, but I prefer grilled -- or better yet, started in butter and finished on the grill.  Remember to remove the membrane from the tail before cooking.  To serve grilled lobster tail, remove the tail from the shell, "fluff it" slightly by partially splitting it, butterfly style, and put it back on the shell so it sits on top.

Lobster has to be cooked right.  Too well done or too raw are disasters.  You want firm and opaque, but not rubbery or stringy.

BDL

I like to poach the tail meat in lobster butter made from the shell.  If you want something impressive and straight forward, you could always aim for a classic like lobster thermidor.

@ Chasinelk,

I have a Lobster recipe which is quite a bit different from the ones in your replies.

It should be on Page 2 or Page 3 of Recipes as I published it on Cheftalk in October 2011  ...

It is " Indian " in roots, coconut, mango, vanilla, curry  ... Lovely ... Check it out. Aromatic and delicious and simple ... the key when u have to do something for 1st time ...

Happy Holidays.

Margcata.  

How much work are you willing to put into impressing m'lady? If you don't mind fussing with lots of ingredients, you might try Heinz Beck's Lobster Medallions wit Avocado---decadent jewels that will have her in the mood before you serve anything else.

If this sounds good I'll post the recipe.

This may be too easy, but when we steam lobster, I put a fair amount of wine in the water, and then prepare as normal.  We've been very happy with that preparation.

You don't need a recipe for lobster - at least for live ones. 

The  lobster is the thing!

Steam it just to done, serve with melted butter and some lemon.

Leave it alone, already

Mike

Sounds like your prepping Escargot!

I cook my lobsters sous vide at 140F. Not boiling or steaming at 212F,  the 70F degrees difference makes a stunning difference in tenderness and juiciness.

The only thing is, at 140F the Tomalley will not be changing color and you will need to cook that separate to make it turn red.

If you don’t have a sous vide cooker, you can try the “Ghetto sous vide” or”Redneck sous vide” (I didn’t invent those terms) method. Just use a big pot of hot water and a thermometer to monitor the temperature.

Have fun.

Dcarch

When you cook lobster, for me, the less means more..here´s my recipe for you:

Poached lobster tail with cauliflower-tarragon puree

Separate lobster tails from other body, spear it with wooden needle to keep straight shape and poach in chicken stock with saffron and allspice berries until it is cooked (8 min should be OK). While it is cooling down, you can make fast cauliflower puree with tarragon. Just put some cauliflower bulbs with little onion, salt white pepper to the pot, pour water just to cover them and cook until very soft. Then blitz in the blender, strain through sieve to gain very tender, thick and smooth puree. Pour whipping cream in and bring it gently to the boil once again. Mix tarragon in. Melt some butter, chop one clove of garlic, squeeze few drops of lime juice and mix in. Take lobster meat out of a shell, cut on 1 cm thick slices, put every piece on one spoon of puree and pour with garlic butter on the top. That´s easy, straightforward and tasty as hell! :)

This is quite a rich dish but I like to serve my "lobster Thermidor" in cold wintertime as a starter, so I only use small lobsters for this. It's incredible how people seem to love this preparation (so do I). You need to boil the living lobsters first, or, if possible, let your fishmonger do it for you according to your instructions.

In case you boil them, use a large pot in which the lobsters fit and can be totally submerged in water. Bring the water to a vigorous boil, only then put the lobsters in, head forward and make sure they are submerged instantly. Cook for around 5 minutes, depending on the size of the lobsters. Adding all sorts of veggies to the cooking water of lobster is passé, we go for pure lobster taste. Plunge the lobster in icecold water to stop the cooking process.

Cut the lobsters in 2. Very important; remove the estomach in the head section and the digestion canal running along the spine!!! Keep the soft bits in the head and the greenish stuff to add to the sauce, they are packed with flavor, the green stuff will turn red in the sauce. Remove the claws and take the meat out. Cut all meat from tail and claws in bitesize chunks, set aside. Keep the empty shells!

Make a roux with equal amounts of butter and flour. Add cold milk, bit by bit, and a little fish stock or chickenstock to make a nice sauce. I use the juice of steamed mussels that I keep in my freezer for occasions like this, instead of fish stock. Also, I would strongly advise to use chickenstock instead of imo too funky tasting fish stock. Add the soft stuff you found in the heads of the lobsters, add a little gruyère cheese, add chopped parcely and a pinch of cayenne pepper, s&p. Let cool a bit and finally add the lobster meat. Fill the empty shells with that mixture, sprinkle some gruyère on top and let color under your ovengrill for the shortest time possible.

Enjoy!

BTW, happy new year, ChefTalkers...  and lots of cooking pleasure in 2012!

Looks great Chris.

@ Chasin

When it comes to lobster, butter poached is the way to go. It is such a tender sweet meat that you want to enjoy the delicacy of it. Chef BDL mentionned the best way to serve it. Flying shell and cracking shellfish with juices squirting all over will not come across as the most romantic meal. (yes, that way can be romantic but not on a first)

Petals.