Do you know how to cook lobster

How to cook lobster...............the grilled recipe

2007-09-05T21:44:00.000-05:00

Grilled Lobster With Grapefruit Salsa

Here's another great recipe I got from Karen in OC, a member over at recipezaar.

25 min 20 min prep

INGREDIENTS for the Grapefruit Salsa
2 pink grapefruits
1/4 cup olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 teaspoon pickled ginger, finely chopped
1 roasted red pepper, finely chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons fresh mint, finely chopped
1 1/2 limes, zest of, grated
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon sherry wine vinegar
1 pinch cayenne pepper
kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper

INGREDIENTS for the Lobster
4 (1-1 1/2 lb) lobsters
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon mint tea leaves, ground to a powder
sherry wine vinegar (can substitute white wine vinegar if need be)

Serves 4

1. Prepare the salsa:
2. Slice off both ends of the grapefruit right down to the flesh.
3. Stand each grapefruit on a cutting board and, using a serrated
knife or sharp paring knife, cut away the peel and white pith
from top to bottom in strips, following the curve of the grapefruit.
4. Working over a bowl to catch the juices, slice between the membranes
of the fruit with a sharp paring knife to release the segments.
5. Transfer the grapefruit segments to another bowl, and set the fruit
and the juice aside.
6. In a large skillet or sauté pan, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over
medium-high heat.
7. Add the shallot, garlic, pickled ginger, roasted red pepper,
cilantro, mint, and lime zest, and sauté for 3 minutes, or until
the shallot has softened.
8. Remove from the heat and add the grapefruit juice, lime juice,
honey, and vinegar. Let cool.
9. Transfer the grapefruit-juice mixture to a small bowl and add the
grapefruit segments, cayenne, the remaining 2 tablespoons oil, and
salt and pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate.
10. Prepare the lobsters:
11. Prepare a hot fire in a grill. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of
water to a boil. Plunge the lobsters headfirst into the pot and
cook for just 2 minutes. Remove from the water and let cool slightly.
12. Pull off the lobster tails, crack the shells or cut them open,
and remove each tail in one piece. Run a metal or wooden skewer
lengthwise through each tail to keep it flat, and set aside.
Pull off the claws and crack them open so that the meat will be
easy to pull out (do not remove the meat). Brush the lobster tails
and claws with the olive oil and sprinkle with the mint tea.

how to cook lobster....the steamed recipe

2007-09-05T20:25:00.000-05:00

Steamed Lobster with Truffle Beurre Fondue
from Caviar, Truffles, and Foie Gras by Katherine Alford

So now that you know how to cook lobster by steaming them, here's another great
recipe from Epicurean.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, diced

3/4 to 1 ounce fresh black winter truffle

1 1/2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon canned truffle juice (optional)

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Four 1 1/4-pound lobsters

So, now you know how to cook a lobster by steaming it here is another
really good recipe form Epicurean.

1. Put the butter in an airtight container with the truffle and refrigerate
for 2 hours or overnight.

2. In a small saucepan, heat the water over medium heat. Whisk a
couple of pieces of the butter into the water until it melts into a
creamy liquid. Continue adding the butter, a little bit at a time,
whisking until each addition is creamy. (The key is not to let the
butter get either too hot or too cold. If it is too hot it will get oily
and separate; if too cold it will be whipped softened butter, not
a sauce.) Add the truffle juice; if using, and the salt. Slice the truffles
as thin as you can with a truffle slicer, mandolin, or very sharp knife,
and add to the sauce. Put the sauce in a double boiler over warm
water to keep warm, as well as to soften the truffle and perfume the sauce.

3. Pour 2 inches of water into a pot that will accommodate all the lobsters,
and set up a collapsible steamer. Bring the water to a boil over high heat.
Add the lobsters to the pot, cover, and steam for 10 minutes.

4. Remove the lobsters from the pot and split each lengthwise with a
heavy knife. To ease the removal of the claw meat, hold the tip of
a claw and position it so that it is perpendicular to the work surface.
Use a cleaver or the bolster end of a chef's knife to whack a 1/2-inch
notch into the center part of the edge of the large part of the claw.
Twist the knife to make a clean crack in the shell, making it easier to
remove the meat in one satisfying piece. Repeat with the remaining claws.

5. Divide the lobster among 4 plates and spoon some of the truffle butter
over the tail meat. (Make sure that you include pieces of truffle.) Divide
the rest of the butter among 4 small bowls. Serve the lobster immediately,
with the bowls of butter and with small forks or picks for recovering all
the small nuggets of lobster in the shell.

Serves 4

Do you know how to cook lobster.....part trois

2007-09-03T21:57:00.000-05:00

Now, I've talked about the two most popular ways I know how to
cook lobster. The first was to boil them and the second was to steam.
In this post I will be discussing how to grill a lobster.

Now if you are starting out with a live lobster, you will obviously
need to know how to kill them. So here's how that works.

First make sure to leave the rubber bands on the claws, you don't
want to have to worry about getting "pinched" during this process.
Also, getting "pinched" is a lot worse than many people think and
can cause serious damage.

Now lay the lobster on a cutting board where the tail is curling
down. Grab the lobster where the head and tail connect with each
other. You need a good sharp hefty knife for this, I find that a 10
inch chefs knife works very well. Place the tip of the knife about
1-2 inches above the eyes, dabsmack in the middle of the head.
Now with a good deal of pressure, plunge the knife through the
head until you hit the cutting board, and bring the blade down
through the head to finish. I know it sounds bad, but this is the
most painless and quickest ways to do this.

Now there are a couple of ways to grill a lobster. You can
partially boil the lobster for about five minutes and then place
on the grill or you can go straight to the grill, neither way is
better than the other.

If you are gonna go straight to the grill you will want to cut the
remainder of the lobster in half length wise, including the tail.
Once you have cut the lobster in half you will want to remove the
stomach and intestines, which will normally be a dark greenish color.
The greenish yellow organ is the liver, also called tomalley, and the
coral colored one is the roe. Both of these are considered a delicacy
by some and are said to be very delicious. I personally choose not to
eat the innards or viscera of anything I eat. You will also want to
remove the sand sac that is located just behind the eyes and the
black vein that runs down the tail.

You will also need to crack the claws open. To do this you can
use the backside of your knife. Place them in a plastic bag first
to avoid making a mess and plastering your walls with lobster
claw meat. Now that you have your lobster prepared, place the
pieces on the grill shell side down, put the claws on the hotter part
of the grill. You can season the lobster any way that you would like.
Personally I like to go with just a little salt and pepper, and maybe
a little melted butter. You will cook them like this for about 4-5
minutes. Then you will need to turn the pieces meat side down for
about another 4 minutes or so.

If you choose to pre boil your lobsters you will proceed as follows.
In a large pot boil about 2 gallons of water or enough to cover the
lobsters. Boil the lobster for only about 5 minutes and remove from
the water. At this point you will want to be preheating your grill
while the lobsters boil. You will then remove and cut the lobster
in half just as explained above. Once you have done this, place the
lobster on the grill shell side down for 8-10 minutes and again
you can season to your liking. Once done, serve immediately or
store in the fridge until needed, but again no more than 2-3 days at the most.

I will have a couple of recipes for yo in the next post.

Do you know how to cook lobster..........part deux

2007-09-02T16:03:00.000-05:00

The second and arguably the best way i know how to cook a lobster
is to steam them. Steaming lobsters takes a little longer than boiling
them, but many will argue that the tastier and more succulent meat
is well worth the extra time. It's only a few minutes longer anyways.

You can use the same pot used for boiling a lobster, however you
will need to add a steaming rack to the bottom. They also make a
steamer insert for lobster pots as well.

Fill the pot with 2-3 inches of water and add about 1 tablespoon
of salt. Place the lid on the pot and bring to a boil. Once the water
has reached a good rolling boil, place the lobster on the rack and
replace the lid. As you would with boiling a lobster, don't start
timing until a boil has been reached again.

As I said in the beginning it will take slightly longer to steam a
lobster. It takes about 12-14 minutes for the first pound in weight
and the about 3 more minutes for each additional half pound.

Once done remove the lobster and drain. Then serve immediately
while it is still hot. If you are not going to serve the lobster right
away you will want to take it from the pot and put it directly into
some ice water to stop the cooking process. Once it cools drain and
refrigerate until needed, but not more that 2-3 days at the most.
I'll have some more recipes for you later.

How to cook lobster....the recipes

2007-09-01T17:08:00.001-05:00

Now that you know how to cook lobster here is a recipe form the good folk over at Epicurean.

Lobster Salad with Pesto
from Joyce Goldstein's Antipasti

Ingredients:
For the pesto:
1 cup firmly packed fresh basil leaves
1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
2 tablespoons pine nuts or walnuts, toasted
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

12 to 18 small new potatoes (number depends on size)
Salt
1/2 pound small, slender green beans, trimmed
3 small lobsters, about 1 1/4 pounds each (about 1 pound meat total)
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
About 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Tiny cherry tomatoes for garnish (optional)

Serves 6 to 8

To make the pesto, in a food processor, combine the basil leaves, garlic,
and nuts and pulsea few times to combine. Add the 1/2 cup olive oil and
process until you have a coarse purée. (The balance of the olive oil will
be added later.) Season with the salt and pepper.Set aside.

In a saucepan, combine the potatoes with water to cover, add a little
salt, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium
and simmer until the potatoes are cooked through but still firm. The
cooking time will vary with the size of the potatoes, but very small
ones will cook in about 10 minutes or so and larger ones in about 15
minutes or longer. When done, drain well and let cool to room
temperature.

Meanwhile, bring a second saucepan filled with water to a boil over
high beat. Lightly salt the water and then add the green beans and
cook until tender-crisp, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain and refresh in a bowl
filled with ice water. When cold, drain again and pat dry.

When the lobsters are ready, transfer them to a sink filled with ice
water and leave until cold. Then, working with 1 lobster at a time,
twist off the tail section from each body. Cut through the tail shell,
pry it open to reveal the meat, lift out the meat, and discard the black
vein down the center. Cut the tail meat into medallions. Crack the
claws and extract the meat, leaving the pieces whole for a showy
presentation, if desired. Refrigerate the lobster meat until needed.

Transfer the pesto to a bowl and stir in the vinegar and add enough
of the 1/4 cup olive oil to make a spoonable vinaigrette. Season to
taste with salt and pepper.

To serve, cut the potatoes into 1/4-inch-thick slices or into halves
if they are very small.

In a bowl, combine the potatoes, green beans. and about 1/2 cup
of the vinaigrette and toss to coat evenly. Distribute the potato
mixture evenly among salad plates. Top with the lobster, again
dividing evenly, and drizzle with the remaining vinaigrette,
Garnish with tiny cherry tomatoes, if desired. Serve immediately.

Do you know how to cook lobster.........the trilogy.

2007-08-29T19:35:00.004-05:00

Now, there are of course several ways people know how to cook lobster.
Undoubtedly the most commonly know is to boil them. There's nothing
wrong with this method whatsoever, especially if it is your first time
cooking lobster. This is the easiest and simplest way,even more so if you
have a live lobster, for those that aren't too keen on the idea of cutting up
a live lobster.

It has been said by some that you can "hypnotize" a lobster first by
rubbing its abdomen or head which is suppose to pacify them before the
boiling process, although some say this toughens the meat a bit. Whether
this is true or not is debatable, your choice. If it makes you feel better
about the process, then by all means go right ahead. You can also place
them in the freezer for 5-10 minutes before cooking. They will eventually
fall into a cold induced "coma". Lobsters are use to the cold depths of the
ocean so this will not hurt them.

Another way, if you have a live lobster, is to put a roasting rack or a trivet
in the pot, so the lobster isn't sitting on the bottom of the post and won't
feel the heat. Now slowly bring the heat in the pot to about 90 degrees, at
which point the lobster will be "asleep", at which point you can bring the
water up to a rolling boil. This however is no longer considered a humane
practice.

Using the method above of bringing the heat up slowly, you will cook the
lobster for about 8 minutes a pound, otherwise follow the directions as
follows.

First you will need to make sure your pot is big enough depending on the
size of your lobster. Usually a 24 quart pot will be big enough for the most
part. If you choose,you can also buy a lobster pot, made specifically for
boiling lobsters. You will want to make sure there is enough water in the
pot to cover the lobsters. You may also want to add some garlic, a clove or
two, a couple of bay leaves, and some chopped or shredded onion for some
added flavor.

Bring the water to a rolling boil and then add 1 tsp of salt per quart of water.
Purist will say to use saltwater, but thats up to you. Grab the lobster right
behind the claws and submerge head first into the water and cover.
Start timing after the water is up to a boil again. The rule of thumb here
is 8-10 minutes for the first pound and then 3 minutes for each pound after
that. So a one pounder will cook for 10 minutes,a two pounder for 13 minutes
and so on.

Once done, drain the lobster and serve immediately while it is still hot. If you
do not plan on serving the lobster just after cooking you will want to take it
directly from the pot into some ice water. Let it cool in the ice water until
cool enough to handle and refrigerate until needed. I will be posting some
recipes here in the near future, for those of you that don't like to eat lobster
straight from the shell or just to add some "flavor" to your meal.