Huge Lobster tails

personally i would not stuff it, but rather take the meat out of the tail and do lobster thermidor, or medallions with a nantua sauce or a tempura...i like my lobster either simple(grilled with lots of lemon and butter), or totally decadent in a rich sauce. if i were to make a stuffing i think it would be a simple vegetable saute....zucchini, summer squash, leeks...that sort of thing....in butter and white wine or vermouth or even sherry..... then there is always a crab stuffing! hope this helps

joey

I'm trying to figure out how anyone can call a 10-14 ounce lobster tail "huge".

Quote:

Originally Posted by IceMan 

I'm trying to figure out how anyone can call a 10-14 ounce lobster tail "huge".

 

Iceman..........for some people a 10-14 ounce lobster tail IS a lot of meat.

I have the same thing at work.

I split them down the natural divide remove the meat from the shell, and skewer them. I

'll butter and lemon the skewers then grill them over maple wood.

My Friday menu this week calls for Lobster Egg Foo Young with Chinese Fried Rice.

I agree I would take out meat make a thermidore or newburg then stuff it back in shell and finish in oven or under broiler. This is one way to stretch it.  10 to 14 ounce tails are a lot to eat for woman but not men. Your talking wholesale here approx $16.00  cost each for good ones.

Redvan,

I don't think Iceman knows what a huge lobster is......we had a lobster party awhile back and my brother brought me something to cook for him. Needless to say, the lobster barely fit in the cooler.

My father, showing just the claw size.

Thats my brother, he stands 6'3 and the fan on the lobster tail is down here....it was quite something, I named the little guy "tiny".

He was not happy in this cooler.

Petals.

LOL, Red, the tail was at least a foot and a half long. The entire lobster weighed in at 10 pounds and it cost my brother $ 200.00.

The meat was over and abundant and extremely sweet. One claw fed 4 woman. The men at the tail. My mother made a lobster stew and a bisque the following day.

You weighed one at 14 oz, that IS alot. ......

My brother likes to shock me sometimes and get a good laugh ......I nearly collapsed when he said there were 5 more in the coolers....(he was kidding)....  You should see the shrimp.....

Petals.

I had a 11 pounder on my outside deck on a leash . All the kids in neighborhood came to pet it 

Hey All,

Place outside of Buffalo NY called Friars Table (I have no affiliation, FTR) has 3-5lb tails on the menu.

S-t-r-e-a-c-h-i-n-g lobster, how about serving it like cracked conch?, personally love it with artichoke lemon caper burre blanc.

Have served lobster and grits, as part of a seafood medley, with scallops, shrimp and crab over fresh pasta, or as a deconstructed lobster/seafood ravioli. Think perfectly prepared seafood between fresh pasta sheets and your choice of complementary sauces, like a light Alfredo, alavodka, burre blanc, and roasted red pepper parma rosa.

Cheers!

EDG

I    was    making    a    joke. 

Now I could very well be wrong ... but the last time I was in Maine there were all sorts of "street vendors" selling live lobsters, fresh or cooked right there, that had tails of at least a pound on average.   Also, speaking as the Neanderthal that I am, whenever I decide to eat "huge" lobster tails, that is the only thing I want; lobster tail.  You can keep any sides, or wrap them up for me to enjoy later.  I'm really myopic with tunnel-vision in that instance.  I'm funny like that. 

hi red,

my thinking at first glance is that you simply had too much roux to begin with and that your second step should have been to add some sherry before adding your egg/cream mixture. you did add sherry right?  it's essential to newburg sauce. newburg sauce is fairly simple and straightforward made easier by starting with a bechamel. i personally prefer not to use a roux but to reduce the sauce at each step. it takes a bit more time, patience and whisking, but the end result is a smoother, silkier, creamier and a smidgen lighter maybe. i heat butter, add sherry, cook a few minutes to reduce a bit, add cream and reduce, add seasonings(nutmeg, cayenne, s&p), stir, add a splash of brandy,maybe some smoked paprika, stir then SLOWLY add the egg yolk/cream mixture....whisk constantly til thickened, adjust s&p...add lobster pieces and heat through. i have read recipes where the whole thing is made in the same pot starting with the lobster pieces to be cooked in butter first, the sherry then added, then egg yolk/cream mix, then cream, final splash of brandy and you're good to go.....not a long process, but you must be attentive!

what seasonings did you use? nutmeg, cayenne and s&p are also essential. smoked paprika adds some color and a hint of smokiness....just curious, how did you serve it?

joey

when you make your seafood newburg, i would maybe start your sauce with shallots....they just add that perfect little something....also, it is wonderful over a wild rice pilaf.....do hope this all helps

yes red, i would be more than happy to share my newburg sauce recipe with you. i will pm it to you in the next day or two unless you need it sooner. i promise you it will curl both you and your wife's toes!.....yeah, the problem with the beg, borrow or steal method of using multiple recipes is that it can get very confusing especially if or when something unexpected happens or things start to head south quickly. i do it, but i know how to do it. you may find it easier, less stressful and in the end have better results to just pick one recipe and go with it for the first go round.....change or tweak later after you've gotten an understanding and feel for what the dish is. i must add though that you should be commended for not giving up or giving in, but pressing on.  even though your sauce was nowhere near a newburg, it was however not only palatable but palatable enough for a second request from the mrs.   that should count for something and it should also make you feel good......right on!

joey

Red,

I make my sauce pretty much the way is written here on this site, its not too heavy, simple to make.

http://www.ricardocuisine.com/recipes/2205-island-lobster-newburg

Petals.

ps. you would never believe how escoffier used to make it. My how times have changed .

chefpetals, 

lobster newburg is an american dish no?  it's origin being Delmonico's  restaurant in new york city....interesting story behind it as to how the name evolved from ' lobster wenberg' for the man who originally created it, to 'lobster newberg' (newburg) who Mr. Delmonico's chef perfected it.....as with most things it started with an argument of who should be given the credit for it!  but i am curious, what were the changes escoffier made to the dish? and why?

joey

how did you cook that beast of yours by the way? on the grill? geez, how long did that take? i would have died a happy woman had i a seat at your table! oh my, all that butter!!!!!

Very interesting history from that restaurant Joey. Here is what Escoffier had to say on his way of cooking it, the other recipe (which I did not post) has the addition of egg yolks for cooked lobster. I can scan it and post it later on if anyone is interested. As for “tiny” , poor fellow, we enjoyed him with clarified butter, no garlic, it was succulent and sweet. The bisque was the highlight.

Here is the recipe:

The Escoffier Cook Book: A guide to the fine art of cookery.

96- Newburg Sauce,

First method (with raw lobsters).- Divide a two lb. lobster into

Four parts. Remove its creamy parts, chop them finely with two oz.

Of butter, and put aside.

Heat in a saucepan one and one half oz. of butter and as much

Oil, and add the pieces of lobster, well seasoned with salt and

Cayenne. Fry until the pieces assume a fine red color; entirely drain

Away the butter, and add two tablespoons of burnt brandy and

One-third pint of Marsala or old sherry.

Reduce the wine by two-thirds, and douse the lobster with one-third

Pint of cream and one-half pint of fish fumet. Now add a

Herb bunch, cover the saucepan, and gently cook for twenty five

Minutes. Then drain the lobster in a sieve , remove the meat and

Cut into cubes, and finish the sauce by adding the creamy portions

Put aside from the first. Boil so as to ensure the cooking of these

Latter portions; add the meat, cut into cubes, and test for the sea-

Soning.

N.B.- The addition of the meat to the sauce is optional; instead

Of cutting it into cubes it may be cooked and arranged on the fish

Constituting the dish.

97- Newburg Sauce with cooked Lobster……has egg yolks in sauce, you will see other changes to the dish.

Its nice to get information on a dish, especially this one with the name.

Petals, will do.

@ Red: Don't let this dish confuse you and it's history. The wording in the recipe is a translation from the original French cook book.

thank you petals for always taking the time,

i am really more curious about Tiny though...how did you go about killing him? sharp knife in the back of the head to sever his vein?  how did you crack his paws(claws)? and his beautiful tail...how did he lose that? no quick twisting off that sea monster's tail.  how did you get the meat out?  did you cook it a bit first to make it easier?  i read recently that to save the coral and tomalley from lobsters, they must be cut up alive....oh dear......who got that job? i guess Tiny would not have had eggs though. finally my friend, i can only imagine how divine that bisque must have been......

joey

Joey,

The men in my family are fishermen, we all grew up on the waterfront and its been very much a part of my life. As a young child I used to go on the boat and watch my father and brothers fish, I never had a problem watching them catch/kill/clean , and that goes for  cow/lamb/deer/duck/partidge/quail  etc. All that to say, stuff like that does not bother me. If it did , I would not be able to do what I do for a living.

When it came to taking his life, it was my father who did it the humane way & with respect to life, and it was done in seconds. one jab to the four point center of the head and down the front. He twisted off his claws & tail.   Getting the meat out was a different story, a hammer ! Because nothing else worked. The tail , well that was easy.

We did not grill ,we boiled the lobster up in a big pot outside ,  the fireplace my father built years ago.

It's never a good thing to give something your about to eat .....a name. My father once named a young bull after his......but thats another story.

Some folks put the lobster in head first in boiling water....others freeze it ....what do you do ?

Petals.

Not exactly sure going by the picture, but looks like tiny was a female.

Cheflayne,

I checked the swimmerets and they were hard and staight, in fact when it was hung upside down we noticed it more. There were no eggs in it....

When buying lobster, I much prefer to buy the males. Some say the meat of the female is sweeter....I think they are the same.

This summer we put some lobster on the grill.......it is just about  impossible to cook a lobster evenly that way. The claws and tail cook first and the rest....well....no. Unless there is a trick I don;t know about.

Petals.

what do i do petals? a sharp knife between the eyes with a quick twist. i am more experienced in cooking caribbean(spiny) lobsters than maine. caribbean lobsters have no claws, have really huge antennae and razor sharp barby bodies.  in my sailing days in the west indies the captain(my husband) would dive for lobster with a string mop in tow. the lobster's legs and antennae would get entangled in the mop strings so then he could easily pull them out of their hiding crevices. on night dives the ocean floor was literally a carpet of lobsters on the move...easy pickins there...i always thought we would have made a mint selling the 'lobster mop'!!  oh well...

cooking wise because we had so much of it at our disposal we ate it every possible way we could think of...the meat is sweet but not as luxurient as maine lobster. it can stand up to stronger spices so curries, chowders, stews, fra diavolo, creole, patties or simply split in half and grilled with lemon butter. eggs benedict with lime hollandaise was always a guest favorite. i loved it all!

back to the newburg sauce itself... i looked through half a dozen cookbooks and no two lobster newburg recipes were alike. some used eggs, some not, some were cooked in a double boiler like a sabayon, some over direct heat. some with a roux, beurre manie, or just a reduction(my method). some with sherry,cognac,or madeira. some steamed, poached or boiled the lobster, some used it raw sauteeing it in melted butter. some nutmeg, some tabasco, some cayenne. no wonder red was confused...it's confusing!  funny, it just always seemed like such a simple straightforward recipe for me...who knew there could be that much difference in one recipe.

soo, my question for anyone is, is there a class for this sauce? is it a veloute, a sabayon, a classic white sauce or simply a cream sauce?

joey