Florida Lobster Recipes

LOBSTER THERMIDOR

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients. Preheat the oven to 400 F.
• With a sharp chef's knife, split each live lobster in half lengthwise, starting with the head and working the knife back toward the tail. When you begin at the head end, the process kills the lobster instantly .
• Brush the lobster with the olive oil and bake for 15 minutes.
• Remove the lobster from the oven and let it cool.
• Gather the ingredients.
• In a small skillet or saucepan, make a roux by melting the butter over medium heat and adding the flour, 1 spoonful at a time, mixing vigorously.
• Continue cooking and whisking until the roux is blonde or caramel in color, about 3 to 4 minutes.
• Add the stock and whisk well to combine.
• Let the mixture come to a simmer, about 2 minutes, then slowly add the milk, whisking continuously.
• After the mixture has simmered again-about 2 more minutes-add some salt and pepper to taste and then the nutmeg. Be mindful of not letting the béchamel boil. Remove from the heat and set aside.
• Gather the ingredients.
• With the help of a fork, remove the meat from all parts of the cooled lobster. Reserve the empty lobster shells (just the main body) for the dish.
• Chop the lobster meat coarsely.
• In a small frying pan over medium-high heat, add the wine, sherry, lobster stock, shallot, and tarragon. Boil it down until it is thick in consistency, almost like a glaze-about 10 minutes.
• Add the béchamel sauce to the glaze, and stir well to combine.
• In a separate bowl, mix the heavy cream with the egg yolk.
• Slowly add about 1/2 cup of the béchamel-glaze mixture into the egg yolk and cream, stirring constantly. (By tempering the cream-egg mixture, you won't get scrambled eggs in your sauce.)
• Pour the egg mixture into the pan with the rest of the béchamel-glaze.
• Bring the sauce to a simmer over medium heat, but don't let boil. Add the dry mustard and some salt to taste.
• Cook until the sauce is thickened-about 3 minutes- then remove from the heat.
• Preheat the oven to 375 F. Add the lobster meat to the sauce and mix well.
• Fill the empty lobster shells with the lobster Thermidor mixture, then place on a baking sheet (lined with parchment paper if you like) and bake for 5 to 8 minutes.
• Sprinkle the top with a little paprika as a garnish. Serve and enjoy.

LOBSTER CHOWDER RECIPE

Steps:

• soak lobster meat in milk while preparing soup until needed.
• melt butter in a medium saucepan
• add diced celery, carrots and onion. saute for 3-4 minutes then add flour and stir it all together. Reduce heat to low and allow to cook for about 5 minutes. Do not let this burn or darken!
• Whisk in stock until fully incorporated
• remove lobster meat from milk and set aside.
• Add milk to the soup, mixing well.
• Add potatoes to soup and continue to simmer for about 30 minutes or until potatoes are softened (20-30 minutes)
• add fresh thyme
• sea salt and pepper to taste.
• add lobster and allow to simmer for 7-10 minutes to build the lobster flavor
• Serve and enjoy!

FLORIDA LOBSTER

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400.
• Prepare lobster-split down back, not all the way through so can be butterflied.
• Place all other ingredients in bowl and blend. Spread mixture over tails.
• Cook about 12 minutes depending on size of tails.
• You can melt any leftover spread and serve for dipping.

LOBSTER RECIPES - FOR COOKED LOBSTER OR CRAYFISH

Steps:

• If lobster was frozen, thaw lobster overnight in a bowl or tray (with sides to catch liquid). Drain well before use.
• Cut between head and tail: Insert a small knife at a 45 degree angle into the gap between the tail and head. Cut along the top and sides through to the middle - no need to do underneath.
• Separate head from tail: Twist the tail to separate it from the head. It will pull out meat from the head as well.
• Clean: Scrape or trim off any yellow of black residue on the end that came out of the head.
• Cut underside: Cut down both sides of the soft shell on the underside of the tail. Then peel it back like a can of sardines to reveal the lobster flesh.
• Remove flesh: Carefully remove the flesh - it should come off the shell cleanly.
• Remove poop vein - if you see a poop vein (black "string" down the back of the lobster tail meat), then carefully pull it out. If you stretch the meat out straight, you should be able to pull it out in one go. Otherwise, pick it out when you slice it. (Sometimes poop vein is thick, sometimes barely there!)
• Residual meat in head: There will be some residual meat in the head that can be used. The yellow "mustard" (called tomalley) has very intense lobstar flavour but is an acquired taste... I do not eat it!
• How to serve: Lobster tail meat can be served whole, sliced into thick or thin pieces or diced, depending on use. I do not recommend shredded as it loses juiciness.
• Make Sauce per the Dipping Sauces recipe.
• Serve alongside lobster for dipping. Either cut the lobster into bite size pieces, or serve whole for people to cut themselves. Plate it up individually or on a share platter.
• Make the Prawn Cocktail recipe but substitute prawn for lobster cut into small bite size pieces.
• Melt butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Once foamy, add garlic and cook until light golden. Remove from stove, add lemon juice and parsley.
• Serving: Pour into serving bowl and serve alongside lobster. Garnish with parsley leaves and lemon wedges.
• Eating: Let people either dip in bite size pieces or drizzle over lobster, plated up indivudually or on a share style plate. Mop plate clean with crusty bread!
• Make the sauce per the Lemon Browned Butter Sauce recipe.
• Slice the lobster into bite size pieces. Pile onto plate or arrange on indivudual plates. Sprinkle with salt (necessary as browned butter is unsalted).
• Serving: Drizzle with some browned butter, then serve more on the side. Garnish with parsley leaves and lemon wedges.
• Eating: To eat, dip or drizzle lobster with more browned butter. Mop plate clean with crusty bread!
• Blitz ingredients in a Nutribullet or small food processor until it becomes a paste. It should be smooth but a bit of courseness for texture ie don't blend into a smoothie.
• Slice lobster into bite size pieces. Arrange on indvidual plates or share plate. Drizzle little dollops of salsa verde over lobster - don't go overboard, the flavour is quite strong!
• Garnish with lemon wedges & parlsey leaves, serve.
• Place lobster in a bowl. Add mayonnaise, lemon, chives, celery, green onions, salt and pepper. Gently toss to coat.
• Split then generously butter buns or rolls. Stuff generously! Makes 2 mini brioche buns or 3 round rolls.

FLORIDA FRIED LOBSTER

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil.
• Sprinkle the butterflied lobster tails on both sides with some Cajun seasoning, then spread on both sides with some garlic butter. Spread the lobster flesh with the minced garlic; sprinkle more Cajun seasoning over the garlic layer. Top with more garlic butter.
• Bake until cooked through, about 15 minutes (do not overcook).

BAKED LOBSTER TAILS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Cut the lobster tails straight down the middle using kitchen shears. Butterfly the lobster meat by pulling it through the opening and laying the meat on top of the shell. Rinse tails under water; place in an oven-safe baking dish.
• Combine melted butter, garlic powder, and parsley in a bowl. Mix together with a spoon.
• Season lobster tails with seafood seasoning and pour melted butter mixture on top until each tail is completely covered. Squeeze lemon juice over top.
• Bake in the preheated oven until shells are bright red and meat is opaque, 12 to 15 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the centers should read 140 to 145 degrees F (60 to 63 degrees C).