Lobster Rolls

I'm happy to state that this summer I accomplished one of the set culinary goals I made for myself.  I cooked my very first LIVE lobster.  Summer was coming to an end and I was considering trying out a fish market to buy my live lobster but was reluctant to shell out a lot of money for it.  But as luck would have it, my local supermarket was having an amazing deal of $4.99/lb for live lobsters.  

The first sign of this sale was not in my local flier but when I saw big red lobster balloons over the fish counter section of my grocery store.  That was the first time I had ever seen balloons in that form.  My weekend was filled with lobster, because I ate some Chinese-style with my boyfriend's family, then cooked them off the next day to make lobster rolls and lobster risotto.  I think that I definitely had an increase in cholesterol after that weekend!

I have to admit that my experience with the crustacean did make me squeamish at first.  It was good to know that the lobsters were alive and kicking.  Although that did mean that I required a bit of help from my boyfriend to clip off the rubberbands from their claws as I gently "caressed" them to sleep by rubbing the top of their heads.  It was quite fun actually, but also messy which is sometimes the case with culinary adventures.

I also did a bit of research beforehand to best prepare myself on the do's and don'ts of lobster cooking.  I concluded that steaming the lobsters in a large pot filled with 1 inch of fast simmering water was the quickest approach.  This means that the lobsters aren't waterlogged and it is faster to boil 1 inch of water rather than 4 quarts.  I also calculated that I needed 10 minutes of steam time for my 1 lb hard shelled lobsters.  I then used the Ricardo magazine and Cook's Illustrated site as guides to pry out my meat from the shells.  It's an extremely messy job, where the lobsters gushed or leaked out lots of their juices.  But the overall result sure was tasty and I'm ready for more next year.

Live lobster

 Cooked lobster

 My trio of lobsters

 Lobster meat from 2 lobsters

Lobster Rolls

Yield: approximately 2 servings

1lb of cooked lobster meat, roughly cut into 1/2- 3/4 inch cubes (I used two 1lb live lobsters to yield 1lb of meat)

2 tablespoons of finely diced celery

1 tablespoon of finely chopped chives

1/3 cup of mayonaise 

Squeeze of lemon juice

Salt and pepper

4 toasted hot dog buns

Combine lobster meat, celery, chives, mayonaise, and lemon juice in a medium bowl.  Season with salt and pepper.  Mix gently until well combined.  Serve on toasted buns.

Source: adapted from Annie's Eats