Lobster

Termyn8or

Termyn8or

Well-Known Member
Joined
25 Apr 2021
Local time
6:13 PM
Messages
289
Location
North Ohio
A friend of mine in Barcelona told me how he cooks them. It is different. First of all, though the guy has money he gets them dirt cheap, some guy brings him a bucket of them for like five bucks equivalent. It would probably cost any of us $100. but jealousy is unbecoming so...

He says he would never cook them un-cleaned. So he splits them and cleans them and then grills them. Says it tastes better without those intestines etc. in there. Seems logical.

So I ordered one from Red Lobster that way...
AND IT SUCKED,

I couldn't get much meat from the inside, most of what I ate that night was the tail and claws. They did have a very simple but good tasting Caesar salad.

Question is, does he maybe get a different type of lobster ? It is all the way over by Spain.

The inside of this lobster was hard in a way, and chards of the hard stuff sticking out so you couldn't even get them out if you wanted to eat them.

He has neighbors and expensive clients and they all love it, well they wouldn't love this at all.

Any ideas why this is ?

T
 
Termyn8or said:
Any ideas why this is ?
Click to expand...

Impossible to say without witnessing precisely how it was cooked by the restaurant. It sounds as if it was overcooked if it was tough in texture.
Termyn8or said:
most of what I ate that night was the tail and claws.
Click to expand...

That is what the edible part of a lobster consists of.
 
The body/carapace of a lobster when served whole is usually stuffed with something, generally a crab or shrimp stuffing, sometimes only a bread stuffing flavored with seafood stock. The only thing you eat from the body of a lobster is either undeveloped roe or tomalley.

BTW, I wouldn't eat lobster at Red Lobster. Haven't eaten there in 10 years at least and that's only because DGD wanted to go there for her birthday. There's a reason we stopped going there, more than 1 actually. Seafood is always overcooked and with things like shrimp you don't know its source.

Sounds like you got vastly overcooked lobster.

Yes, he's getting a different kind of lobster than what you got, if they sourced American Maine lobster. But, again, cooking them correctly is the key.
 
Last edited:
I simply decline to order lobster at any eatery. it's very expensive and seldom not bollixed up.

once upon a birthday bash I bought live lobster and did the steam&eat thing.
weighed the (cooked) extracted tail and claw meat - did the math - it was like $115/pound.

we have two sources where you can get large ~1.5 pound tails - frozen.
I must admit, I am tempted.... but I do wonder,,, if at that size they are less than supremely good....
I've noticed that in both farmed and wild caught shrimp - bigger is not better/tastier.

different type of lobster? almost certainly.
cold water lobster is not the same as warm water lobster (as in the Med... langusta aka spiny, etc)
 
You describe you lobster as having claws and that is only a feature of North Atlantic or Maine lobsters. All other lobsters at best have small pinchers. The warm water lobsters taste sweeter than the cold water lobsters which look like oversized crawdads.

Lobster may be grilled, but the best method is broiling with stuffing in the cleaned out carapace and well buttered and lemon juice added on the split inner tail section. The green stuff is the organs and can taint flavor. Clean it out, along with the gills. The whitish material that surrounds the white meat in claws is usable in stuffing, if you know how to use it. Treat large crabs like Dungenes crab in the same way.

The stuffing for the carapace is where you get to be creative.
 
CookieMonster said:
we have two sources where you can get large ~1.5 pound tails - frozen.
I must admit, I am tempted.... but I do wonder,,, if at that size they are less than supremely good....
I've noticed that in both farmed and wild caught shrimp - bigger is not better/tastier.
Click to expand...

When we were diving and catching lobster (warm water, Florida/Caribbean spiny lobster, no claws), it wasn't the taste that suffered as they got bigger, but the tenderness. We only used the bigger ones for lobster salad (think shrimp salad-ish) or casserole type dishes. We caught 1 once in very deep water off the Dry Tortugas that the tail and carapace was the entire length of my arm from fingertips to shoulder joint. That one got cut up for a huge bowl of lobster salad.

flyinglentris said:
The warm water lobsters taste sweeter than the cold water lobsters which look like oversized crawdads.
Click to expand...
I've always thought just the opposite. Now, if you want some really sweet tasting lobster and ever come across it, try a shovel nose lobster. They are very hard to find and are usually just a rare incidental find when hunting for spiny lobster. In fact, you very, very, very, very rarely find one during the day and they are even hard to find on night dives. They look like huge cockroaches. When we caught them, we'd come home, dispatch them and saute them in some butter and a bit of salt then num, num. Those NEVER got tailed, cleaned and frozen.
 
I havnt paid for a crayfish in 20 years, ours are spiney crays, no claws like your lobsters. I cook whole and then split the tail. I boil it for like 10 mins depending on size. I don't bother with the legs unless it's a big cray with decent amount of meat in it.

Russ
 
I was going to post but it came up with "Has this......?" so I decided to just resurrect this one from a couple weeks ago.

So, so much for whole lobsters. And I don't want to get them because they are all live. I don't need a deadline to eat them. So all over the place they got frozen lobster tails. I think a couple of them would do me. I see the prices, the bigger ones do cost $$$.

Now how do I cook those ? I am thinking of course broil. But first, how to thaw them ? What is the best way, in water maybe ? Then, once they are broiling how do I tell when they're done ?

I also want a Caesar salad with it but with a few extras. I have read several recipes for the dressing. Pretty sure I can make it myself. Almost everythng buyable is too sweet, especially if it says Paul Newman on it.

T
 
Termyn8or said:
I was going to post but it came up with "Has this......?" so I decided to just resurrect this one from a couple weeks ago.

So, so much for whole lobsters. And I don't want to get them because they are all live. I don't need a deadline to eat them. So all over the place they got frozen lobster tails. I think a couple of them would do me. I see the prices, the bigger ones do cost $$$.

Now how do I cook those ? I am thinking of course broil. But first, how to thaw them ? What is the best way, in water maybe ? Then, once they are broiling how do I tell when they're done ?

I also want a Caesar salad with it but with a few extras. I have read several recipes for the dressing. Pretty sure I can make it myself. Almost everythng buyable is too sweet, especially if it says Paul Newman on it.

T
Click to expand...
Ceasar Dressing:

Ingredients:

1 egg yolk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 anchovy fillets
2 garlic cloves
3 finger pinch of sea salt
1 tbsp mustard, I use dejon
1 tsp worchestershire
1 tsp tabasco
1/2 tsp sherry vinegar
1 to 2 tbsp lemon
1/2 cup grated parmigiano, more for needed

Method:

In a large bowl combine the anchovy, garlic and salt and mash and grind until you have somewhat of a paste. Add the egg yolk and mustard and with a whisk combine for about 1 minute, the time is needed to add a little air to the mixture so it's easier to combine the oil. Add the oil in droplets to start and continue to whisk and when it resembles a thick composure continue to add the oil in a steady small stream and when half the oil has been used, stop and add the worchestershire, sherry vin and tabasco and continue to whisk, taste and make adjustments to suit you. Add 1/2 the lemon whisk thoroughly and taste again, you may not need the second tbsp of lemon. Continue whisking and adding the oil until finished. Taste and make any further adjustments with lemon to taste if needed.. Mix the dressing with your lettuce then sprinkle in the parm and give it another mix, more parm for garnish if you like.

This is off the top of my head as I type but that should work.
 
Last edited:
I use the whole egg and don't use hot sauce or sherry vinegar, but basically the recipe at garlichead posted is the way I make it. Oh, I assume it's supposed to be lemon JUICE versus 1-2 Tbsp lemon as posted. Sometimes I do add a pinch or 2 of sugar if the dressing is really bitter from the lemon juice. I chop the salt, garlic and anchovies together and use the mash it flat with the blade, chop, mash, chop, etc, technique until I have a paste. I just make it, can't give amounts. I usually have a Cesar and Stone Crab Claws for my birthday, but not this year unfortunately.

Lobster should be defrosted overnight in the fridge on paper towels to absorb any liquid given off.

As to cook, whatever you want. You can steam and make a lobster (think shrimp) cocktail. Cut the bottom ribs/membrane off, then broil with a compound butter baste, but you'll have to stick a skewer up the back so they don't curl up. Remove from tail raw, which should be easy since they've been frozen, ours that we caught always were, chop it up and make a stuffing, with whatever you want, restuff and bake. We always used something similar to Craig's Lobster Diablo recipe.
 
I think I'd rather the pieces of it on my fork, ready to dunk in the butter. (and I mean dunk, not dip)

However I am aware that here are many other things that can be done with it. All kinds of sauces for one, and then I heard about boiling the shells, they seem to impart flavor from what I've read. Also I guess the shells are ground to a powder for lobster bisque ? I can pass on that. I've had it and it seems to be on the sweet side. I do not want to cover up sweet with salt, that is not what salt is supposed to be for.

I am sure there are pasta dishes made with the meat, just like shrimp.

So maybe I have a few this way and then want to try the other ways ? I get tired of things fast.

T
 
I managed to buy a Maine lobster tail and some tiger prawns at the local grocer, but the spiny lobster tails are not available in the local grocers.

However, I found a local source that can deliver overnight, the big Australian spiny lobsters and the Peruvian spiny lobsters. They also have a really huge and gnarly looking California spiny lobster too.

I just received a freeze box from this source with a dozen Maryland blue soft shell crabs, 2 abalone steaks, 1 lb. of huge Alaskan King crab legs and claws, and 2 lbs. of Manila clams in the shells.

Where's the beef? I got that too. 2 fillet mignons are ready to go for Surf & Turf.
 
flyinglentris said:
I managed to buy a Maine lobster tail and some tiger prawns at the local grocer, but the spiny lobster tails are not available in the local grocers.

However, I found a local source that can deliver overnight, the big Australian spiny lobsters and the Peruvian spiny lobsters. They also have a really huge and gnarly looking California spiny lobster too.

I just received a freeze box from this source with a dozen Maryland blue soft shell crabs, 2 abalone steaks, 1 lb. of huge Alaskan King crab legs and claws, and 2 lbs. of Manila clams in the shells.

Where's the beef? I got that too. 2 fillet mignons are ready to go for Surf & Turf.
Click to expand...
You have a lot of choices. :)

Russ
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom