Sunday, August 8, 2010

I apologized to my ingredients as I prepared dinner....

Good grief. When I was younger I worked in a couple of restaurants. I was, among other things, a line cook for awhile. I would go into the walk-in and take a live lobster and cut it open right down the center so it could be stuffed and baked. I had no problem doing this.

Well fast forward 20 years and today I apologized to the lobsters before I dropped them in a pot of boiling water. I felt bad.

Anyway on to dinner...

The World-Famous Maine Lobster Roll.

The Lobster Salad recipe came from the Food Network site.

Lobster Salad:

1/2 pound fully cooked lobster meat or 1 (2 1/2 pound) live lobster
1/2 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and finely diced

1/4 cup bottled mayonnaise

1/2 tablespoon fresh tarragon
2 small scallions, thinly sliced
Kosher or sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
2 to 3 New England-style hot dog buns

2 to 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

Pickles and potato chips as accompaniment


Directions


Prepare the lobster salad.
If using live lobsters, steam or boil them. Let cool at room temperature. Use a cleaver to crack and remove the meat from the claws, knuckles and tails. Remove the cartilage from the claws and the intestines from the tails of the cooked meat. Cut the meat into 1/2-inch dice. You may pick all the meat from the carcass and add it to the meat or freeze the carcass for soup or broth. Place the cucumber in a colander for at least 5 minutes to drain the excess liquid. Combine the lobster, cucumber mayonnaise, and tarragon. Add the scallions. Season with salt and pepper. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Preheat a large heavy skillet (12 to 14-inches) over medium-low heat (a black cast-iron pan is perfect). Lightly butter both sides of each bun. Place them in the pan and cook for about 2 minutes until golden brown. Turn the buns over and toast the other side. Or toast the buns under a broiler instead. When the buns are ready, stuff them with the chilled lobster salad. Place each roll on a small paper or china plate; garnish with pickles and potato chips. Serve at once.


We opted for the paper plates and store bought Potato Salad. Store bought! Well yes I was a little busy freezing tomatoes from my Dad's garden.

It was something I have never tried before so of course I googled it and ended up at PickYourOwn.org. It was pretty easy. I got a nice bag of tomatoes to freeze and 2 cups of tomato juice. I am thinking Bloody Marys...

3 comments:

Damaris @Kitchen Corners said...

I haven't had lobster in such a long time, ever since I left the East Coast. That sandwich looks delicious. Next time invite me over for dinner.

Heather S-G said...

Oh my gosh don't know how bad I've been wanting a lobster roll. For years now. Seriously. I've never had one...and I am completely and totally drooling all over my keyboard right now ;)!

Debi said...

Thanks also for the link to the canning/freezing site. I'm expecting a few pounds of tomatoes in tomorrow's Farm Box!