Tag Archives: lobster recipe

Try Our Memorial Day Holiday Barbecue Grilled Lobster Recipe

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The Memorial Day Holiday barbecue is often viewed as the traditional start of summer, that time of year when the beach, boats, friends and family all beckon to start the beginning of a great season.  Why not try something special for Memorial Day 2013 by serving fresh Maine lobster  cooked on the grill using our super-easy grilled lobster recipe.

Grilling whole lobster adds a lot of flavor.  The grill brings out the sweet taste of the

Fresh Maine lobster on the grill

Grilled whole Maine lobster

lobster meat but also adds a whole new dimension of flavor that you won’t get if you steam or boil the lobster.  Grilled lobster also complements nicely any other seafood on the grill as well as meats and grilled vegetables. Grilling whole lobster is fast and easy and will be a crowd pleaser.  So let’s get started.

First, you must start with fresh Maine lobster from your fish market or favorite lobster delivery service.  Be sure to ask for hard-shell lobster as opposed to soft shell, or “new shell” lobster.  Soft-shell lobster meat is often to stringy to hold together on the grill and won’t taste nearly as good. Hard-shell lobster is best.

Grilled Lobster Recipe

Grilling lobster adds a lot of flavor. Try this whole lobster recipe at your Memorial Day Holiday barbecue. Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound butter
  • 1/2 cup fresh basil chopped and pressed firmly into cup
  • salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
  • 4 (1.25 pound) whole lobsters (hard shell)
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil

Preparation:

Combine the butter, basil, and salt and pepper to taste in a food processor and blend until smooth. Pack the mixture into a medium ramekin, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Split the lobsters in half lengthwise. Bring the knife down through the tail, making sure to cut just through the meat and to leave the shell connected.

Lay the lobster open, leaving the two halves slightly attached. Break the claws and legs off and crack slightly with the knife handle. Place the claws and legs on the grill over medium low heat and cover with a pie pan. Cook the claws and legs for 4 to 5 minutes per side.

Next brush the lobster bodies with the oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Place them flesh side down on the grill over medium heat. Grill 7 to 8 minutes. Remove the lobsters and slather with all the basil butter.

Why not also add Steamers to your Holiday Barbecue?
Fresh Steamers and Little Necks

Cooked basket of Maine Steamer Clams

Maine Steamer Clams with Butter

Tender Sword Fish Steaks

As we all travel this Memorial Day Weekend 2013 to be with friends and family and sit down to enjoy our meals, be sure to remember our veterans and those service members still serving so far away.

© Lobsters-Online 2013

Springtime: Opening Season for the Waterfront Lobster Roll

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Finally, April is here.  The time of year when many of our favorite waterfront clam and lobster shacks begin to open again for the season … and the famous New England lobster roll recipe is again on the menu.  There is nothing that says sunshine and sea as the taste of a specially prepared, fresh lobster roll on a toasted New England bun.


Cape Cod, Ipswich, Massachusetts and the Maine seacoast are world famous for the lobster roll made with freshly caught lobster.  The lobster meat, cooked to sweet perfection, is served overflowing a top loading bun.  Add a side of chips, a cold beer and a sunny table, and you’re there.  The recipe may vary a bit from town to town but it always begins with freshly caught lobster.

A lobster roll from the Clam Box, Ipswich, MA

This longing for the opening of lobster-shack season was made all the more interesting when recently it was learned that Chuck Hughes, owner of  the Garde-Manger Restaurant in Montreal,  was named Food TV  Iron Chef of America, in part because of his preparation of a good old Maine lobster roll.   That’s right.  The judges went crazy for his lobster roll!


For those of you who share our passion for the lobster roll but can’t go to Maine or Cape Cod, we decided to share Chef Hughes winning lobster roll recipe.  We have only few hints to add. 


The lobster must be fresh and healthy, so only order from a reputable lobster online dealer.  Ask for a couple of females so that you can collect the lobster roe to make lobster butter.  Boil the lobster in a large pot of salted water and take care not to over cook.  Overcooking will make the meat tough.  When opening the cooked lobster, cut the meat into large chunks.  And finally, make sure to pick a quality, top-loading bun.


Remember, it’s all about the lobster!


Here is Chef Hughes recipe, adapted from his cookbook Garde-Manger:


Lobster Roll
Serves 4


For an added Iron Chef twist, feel free to add a smidgen of chopped dill.


4 lobsters, weighing about 1 1/2 pounds (675 grams) each


2 tablespoons (30 mL) best-quality mayonnaise


2 scallions, cleaned and finely chopped


Salt and freshly ground pepper


4 hotdog buns


Lobster butter (recipe follows)


In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the lobsters for 6 minutes, and then plunge them into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process.


Shell the lobsters and cut the flesh into large pieces. Combine the lobster with the mayonnaise and green onions. Season the mix to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and chill until ready to serve.


When serving: Butter the buns with the lobster butter, and toast them in a fry pan until golden. Divide the lobster mix among the four buns and serve immediately.


Lobster Butter
Makes 1 pound (450 grams)


Lobster butter keeps refrigerated for one month, or can be frozen for up to three.


1 pound (450 grams) unsalted butter, softened


Roe from one female lobster


In a large fry pan, melt the butter and whisk in the (roe) eggs. The butter will be red. Pour into a container and keep refrigerated until ready to use. 

LobsterOnline.Com 2013

Authentic Lobster Seafood Paella Recipe for Any Occassion

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We first encountered seafood Paella on the Mediterranean coast where the Valencians prepared the authentic rice dish with clams and mussels still in the shells and served the meal sizzling hot from a paella pan.  The dish had been cooked over a hot wood-fire grill which gave the Bomba rice a delicious, smokey crunch.

Once back home, we “Americanized” the recipe by adding ocean fresh Maine lobster to the traditional clams and mussels creating a spectacular Lobster Seafood Paella.

Valencian Seafood Paella is a wonderful dish known all through the Mediterranean as a traditional peasant meal cooked over a wood fire grill and served from the pan. The presentation is spectacular and the recipe delicious and easily scaled for any size dinner party. The wonderful presentation of the lobster, shellfish, rice and vegetables create a dish suitable for any occasion. While the wood fired grill is the traditional cooking method, any outdoor grill or indoor stove top can be used.

Seafood Paella with Maine Lobster
Seafood Paella with Maine Lobster

Ingredients for dinner for four (scale for more people):

  • 4 1-Pound Lobsters (or  larger)
  • 2  pounds Medium Shrimp
  • ½ cup Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
  • 2 medium Spanish Onions, peeled and chopped
  • 6  cloves Garlic, peeled and chopped
  • 2  pounds Ripe Plum Tomatoes, chopped
  • ½  Red Bell Pepper, chopped
  • ½ cup Dry White Wine
  • ¼  cup  Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice
  • 1 ½  cups Parsley Leaves, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
  • 1 teaspoon Salt
  • 2  cups Bomba (Calasparra) Paella Rice (or other light brown, small to medium light grain rice)
  • 1 tablespoon Crushed Saffron
  • 20  Fresh Littleneck Clams washed and scrubbed
  • 20  Fresh Mussels, scrubbed and beards removed
  • 1 ½ Cups Fresh (Or Frozen) Green Peas

 

Directions:

  1. In a large kettle, bring 6 quarts of salted water to a rolling boil.  Blanch the lobsters two at a time over high heat.  Cook until bright red — about 6 minutes. Transfer lobsters to a plate and set aside.
  2. In the same kettle, add shrimp and cook until pink — about two minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and let cool in a bowl.
  3. When cool, peel the shrimp and add the shells to the boiling water. Place the peeled shrimp aside and cover.
  4. Twist the tails and claws from lobsters. Use a large chef’s knife to cut the lobster tails in half lengthwise.  Crack the claws with the knife. Remove sac from bodies. Set the lobster aside and cover.
  5. Reduce heat to low and simmer shrimp-shell mixture to make two quarts of fish stock for paella, about 30 minutes (Add water if necessary) Strain liquid and set aside.
  6. When fish stock is ready, warm olive oil in 13-inch paella pan (15-inch if available)  over medium heat.
  7. Add onion and garlic to pan and sauté five minutes until onion is translucent.
  8. Add tomatoes, peppers, lemon juice, and white wine and simmer about one minute. Stir in pepper and salt. Stir in parsley.
  9. Stir in 1 quart fish stock and add rice. Stir in saffron. Heat to boiling, reduce heat and simmer until all the liquid is absorbed, about 15 to 20 minutes.
  10. Add a second quart of fish stock.  Stir in clams, mussels, shrimp and lobster (tails, claws and bodies). Stir in peas.
  11. Stirring occasionally, cook until all the clams and mussels are open, about five to seven minutes.  Discard unopened clams and mussels.
  12. Bring paella pan to the table and place on a heat-safe pad and serve immediately.

If you like this Lobster Seafood Paella recipe you may also wish to try our Boston Style Lobster Fra Diavolo recipe, the king of all spicy lobster dishes.

© Lobsters-Online.Com 2013

 

Steaming or boiling lobster. Which is best?

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Steaming or boiling lobster?  That is the question.
With the great anticipation of the return of the outdoor cooking (bye bye winter),  lobster chef’s everywhere will soon be back to pondering the same old question.
Whether “tis better to boil or steam a live lobster.  What’s the best lobster recipe?
Boiling a Maine lobster is the easiest way to cook and serve a whole lobster and a boiled lobster is easier to pick clean. When you have that large picnic or party and the kettle is kept full all day with lobster, boiling is just so much easier.  But steaming a lobster often yields the best results for eating.
15 quart kettle for steaming lobster

16 quart kettle for steaming lobster

Here’s why:  steaming is a more gentle process of cooking the meat and it preserves more flavor and tenderness. Steaming a lobster is also more forgiving on the chef since it is harder to overcook a lobster in a steam pot.  For true lobster lovers, steaming is the way to go.
So let’s get started.
First step is to order some freshly caught, hard shell Maine lobster.  Hard shells are recommended as the lobsters are usually stronger and healthier and the hard shell lobster will have the most meat. 
Then choose a big four to five-gallon kettle or pot with a tight lid.  This size pot should be able to easily handle up to eight pounds of lobster.  Remember, don’t crowd the lobster into the pot or you will get uneven results.  It is best to have the right size pot.
Add two to three inches of sea water to the cover the bottom of the pot.  If you don’t have access to the Atlantic Ocean, don’t worry.  Use filtered fresh water and add lots of sea salt:  one to two tablespoons per quart.
Place a steaming rack inside the pot and use high heat to bring the water to a rolling boil.  If you wish, you may remove the rubber lobster claw bands.  Place the live lobster one at a time and head first into the pot and cover.  Start timing the lobster and do not overcook.
Hard Shell  Weight*
Steam:
1 pound
8-10 minutes
1-1/4 pounds
10-12 minutes
1-1/2 pounds
12-14 minutes
1-3/4 pounds
15-17 minutes
2 pounds
16-18  minutes
2-1/2 pounds
18-20 minutes
3 pounds
20-30 minutes
5 pounds
35-45 (or more) minutes

*Reduce time by 3 minutes for soft shell lobster.
Half way through the allotted cook time, open the lid and move the lobster around in the pot.  It is important to shift the lobster so they all cook evenly.  If necessary, you may add a little more water but no more salt is required.
The most important step for all lobster chefs is determining when the lobsters are done.  The first rule, do not to overcook the lobster.  A lobster shell will be bright red when fully cooked and the meat white. 
So what’s the best way to tell when the lobsters are done?
Care must be taken with large lobster as they will be red but they may not be fully cooked.  And a lobster in the top of the pot may not have cooked as fast as one at the bottom.
One popular practice is to give one of the lobster antennae a good pull while the lobster is still in the steamer pot.    If the antenna pops off, it is a good sign the lobster is done.  Another step is to use tongs to remove one lobster and cut a small slice at the bottom of the tail.  If the meat is fully changed form translucent to white, it’s done.  Note: The lobster will continue to cook for a minute even after it’s taken out of the pot, so again, do not overcook.
Allow steamed lobster to drain for a minute. You may pierce the body and tail with a knife to help drain the water.  Then serve the lobster right away with a side of melted butter and a slice of lemon.   To make eating fun and easy, serve with lobster bib and steel cracker accessory kits.
© Lobsters-Online.Com 2013