Anyone who knows me knows I like lobster. I don’t just like it; I love it. And I’m not one of those wimpy tourist-types who eat the tail and claws and walk away. When I’m done with a lobster, the seagulls fly past because there’s nothing left for them.
My (soon to be former) roommate Paul knows I like lobster, too. And since I’m moving out tomorrow, he surprised me with a special going-away dinner: lobster! But not just any lobster: a 6-1/2 pound monster! This was the biggest lobster I’ve ever eaten. Just look at the picture there. The claws are almost as big as my head. The legs are almost as big as the arms on a normal 1 lb. lobster. What a treat.
Of course, I couldn’t finish the whole thing, so I made a lobster omelette for breakfast, and I think I’ll be having lobster salad for lunch. Yum. And don’t let anyone tell you that big lobsters are tough. This one was just as tender as a normal-size one. I think most people overcook big lobsters, thinking they have to take so much longer. A 1 lb. lobster takes 11 minutes to cook in a boiling pot of water. A 6-1/2 pounder should only take 30 minutes. Really, lobster is not as dense as say chicken or beef, so it doesn’t take as much time. People tend to think of it like meat and not like fish.
After dinner, we opened up some Scotch, lit some cigars, and reminisced during our last night to be able to do that, at least in the house. When Paul gets married there won’t be any cigar smoking in the house. And I can’t smoke inside at my new place. But it’s been a fun two years for Paul and me, one that’s seen a lot of changes in our lives. I’ll miss this little house, but the road goes ever on and new adventures are always just around the bend.
Now I just need to look up recipes for lobster salad…
Dom,
I saw Jasper White cooking lobster with Sarah Moulton. Check his cookbook.
That is an amazin’ crustacean, dude.
Even 11 minutes for a chicken lobster might be a little long.
Anyway, Domenico (and others!) try this next time. (This is for, uh, normal sized lobsters, but it outta work with the Mega Guy you got—good grief—too.
1.) Put that grill thingie (I don’t know the technical name for it off hand) that came with your lobster pot in the pot.
2.) Pour one bottle of beer (use the cheapest you can get, natch) into the pot for each lobster you’re preparing.
3.) Bring to a furious—furious, I say!—boil.
4.) Using long tongs (you don’t want to scald your fingers), place your lobsters on said grill thingie.
5.) Quick, cover the pot with that lid! (The lobsters will perish immediately.)
6.) Cook for the same time you’d take if you’d just dumped the succulent beasts in boiling water.
7.) Yum.
Haven’t you heard? The kingdom of Crustacea is in the process of being liberated!
From today’s London Daily Telegraph—
Lobster Liberation Front declares war on fishermen
By Richard Savill
(Filed: 30/07/2004)
Police are investigating a claim by an animal rights extremist group that it was responsible for releasing a fisherman’s lobsters, seriously damaging his boathouse and splashing red paint around his home.
The statement by an organisation calling itself the Lobster Liberation Front included a warning that “the war against the lobster industry has begun”. The notice, which was posted anonymously on the Southern Animal Rights Coalition website, added: “We will attack anywhere, at any time, and pots will be smashed, boats sunk and sea life liberated.”
The Lobster Liberation Front says it will liberate Crustacea
It added: “No animal should be sacrificed for human greed, let alone boiled alive.”
The statement, which was being treated “seriously” by police, follows attacks on the property of Jonathan Lander, 42, a fisherman from Swanage, Dorset. In May, his boathouse was badly damaged and 50 of his lobster pots were vandalised. Last month, his boat was damaged, 30 live lobsters and three crabs were released from his pots and returned to the sea, and red paint was thrown over his house.
Mr Lander, a father of two, said: “The Lander family has been lobster fishing in Dorset for over 200 years. If these people have a real problem with what we do they should have the decency to come and speak to us and not threaten my family or our livelihood.”
The LLF claimed that its “buccaneers” had torn off the front of the boathouse, and cut up the 30 lobster pots before crushing them. A further 20 pots were sabotaged on the slipway.
In the second attack, the group said two of its members went out to sea in a boat and found 30 lobsters and three crabs being stored in pots with their claws bound with elastic bands.
It added: “The bands were cut and the marine life returned to the sea.” The group said its members then ripped down the radio mast from Mr Lander’s lobster boat, put the engine out of action and cut the anchor cable. Fish crates, rods, lifejackets and other equipment were thrown overboard.
Personally, I like lobster, shrimp, and crabs. However, I heard that this type of food was not permitted under the traditional Jewish Law, but I am not sure why or if there would be some deeper reason for the prohibition.
WAIT!!!!!
Regarding the beer lobster steaming recipe (and don’t you think that I wasn’t AGONIZING over this All Day Long—almost—while the site was down!):
When I say use one bottle o’ beer for each lobster, I didn’t mean it literally…I mean, if you have to add a bit o’ water in order to work up a good enough steam in the pot to kill the suckers, then for heaven’s sakes, do so!
ever try lobster tiramasu?