A Lobster By Any Other Name wouldn't taste as sweet

I've never understood people who insist on naming lobsters before throwing them screaming into a pot of boiling water (even those of you who name them after people you hate...they're not voodoo dolls). Okay, okay...I'll admit that as a child growing up in Rhode Island we held races with George and Fred across our kitchen floor, before they made the ultimate sacrifice for the betterment of my parents' lives (my immature palate had no taste for crustaceans at that time). Flash forward 20 years to me staring at the lobsters I was about to throw into a pot this weekend...I'd be lying if I said I was calm, cool and collected or had any desire to see these guys racing across my kitchen (maybe those of you with the voodoo lobsters are onto something). "They" kept following my every move with their sad, lobster eyes. So, a moment of silence for George, Fred, and their fallen kin that I refused to name. Your sacrifice is appreciated. Oh and all of you that are just as worried as I was, you'll be interested to know that because lobsters don't have brains they supposedly don't feel pain. If you don't believe that, then perhaps knowing that the outcome is worth the momentary panic will suffice.

Lobster #2. See...even in this picture his eyes follow you as you move...spooky I know

My inspiration for this weekend's lobster fest was the gorgeous looking lobsters in the tank at Eli's at the Vinegar Factory on the UES. After seeing the lobsters last weekend, I decided that I would attempt to cook a lobster for myself. Those of you in the city, I highly recommend the lobsters at Eli's. The second the seafood counter man lifted the lobsters from the tank they flipped their tails wildly (a good sign that the lobsters are fresh).

After a lot of research into how best to cook a lobster, I decided that I would adapt Thomas Keller's method of cooking them in a quick, homemade broth (from Ad Hoc at Home), changing the broth ingredients to my taste. Then, I made a homemade, herbed mayonnaise and bought some buns. See where I'm going here folks? That's right, a lobster roll (I would've preferred on a hot dog bun, but the ones at my grocery looked too hard, so I went with a regular potato bun).


Whats a lobster roll without a side of fries? I had yet to try out the new fry daddy that my sister bought me for christmas and figured it was about time. To give the fries my own little flair, I went with sweet potatoes fries.


Broth and Cooking the Lobsters...


For the broth, I placed the veggies I cut up in a large stock pot (about 3-4 peeled carrots, 3 cleaned leeks, 1 stalk of celery, and 1 vidalia onion). I added to this 2 smashed garlic cloves, 1 bay leaf, 3 parsley stems, a couple sprigs of thyme, some tarragon, 10 whole black peppercorns, and about 14 cups of water. I boiled this and added 2 cups of sauvignon blanc, the juice of 1 lemon and the lemon halves, a tbsp of dijon mustard, and a little less than a cup of white wine vinegar. Once this came to a boil, I threw lobster #1 in and put the lid on the pot. I boiled it for about 1 minute with the lid on, and then I took the pot off the heat and let it steep 10 minutes. I pulled it out of the pot and let it sit until it was cool enough to remove the meat. There are a lot of really great websites on how to remove lobster meat from the shell, so I won't give you the whole run down here. I will tell you that it's messy, which shouldn't be a suprise given that they have bibs named after them. I thought that this amount of cooking time worked well and resulted in a nice, tender lobster meat texture. After I removed it from the shell, I chopped it and put it in the fridge to chill.

Homemade Mayo

Those of you that have never made a homemade mayonnaise, I have to tell you its really the way to go. It takes about 2 minutes to make and you can season it the way you like it. When I make it, I make a small batch. Start with one egg yolk, add a spoonful of strong dijon mustard, a good squeeze of lemon, salt, pepper, and about a tsp of white wine vinegar. Then slowly whisk in canola oil. The amount of canola oil will depend, but should be around 100-200ml. As you whisk it in, you'll see the mixture become more like a mayo. When you feel that its the right consistency, stop adding the oil and taste the mayo to see if the seasoning is what you like. At this point, I often add chopped fresh herbs - parsley, thyme, tarragon, chive...basically, whatever you like/have at home.

Sweet Potato Fries

The best way to cook regular size fries is the double fry method. The first fry is at 325-350 degrees for about 4-5 minutes (make sure your fries are dry when you put them in the fryer). After you pat these dry on a few layers of paper towels, heat the oil up to 390 and fry them about 2 minutes until they're brown and crispy. Drain them on a few layers of paper towels and season immediately. To go with a lobster roll, I opted for a mixture of salt, old bay, and a pinch of sugar.



Putting it all together

When the lobster was completely chilled, I mixed in the serving size I wanted for a sandwich with enough mayo to coat. I diced up some red onion and celery and mixed it altogether with a squeeze of lime, a pinch of salt and pepper, and a pinch of celery salt. After the fries were done, I toasted the roll, spread a little bit of butter on it, and spooned the lobster salad on top.

With fingers crossed, I took my first bite. Would all that hard work pay off? Thank goodness it did, and then some! The lobster was perfectly tender with a nice sweet taste, the crunch of the celery and red onion was just what was needed for a texture variation, and the herbed mayo and hint of lime made for a simple, tasty salad. Oh and the fries...I think that the sugar may just be the winning secret ingredient here. These were unbelievably good. I ate every last one of them and plan on making sweet potato fries like this time and time again!

Roll with me,