Lobster!55 Fresh and Simple Recipes for Everyday Eating

Sorry no events listed

Recipes: Lobster and Sweet Corn Chowder & Hot Lobster Roll

 

 

Lobster and Sweet Corn Chowder

 

This is an utterly delicious and gorgeous-to-look-at chowder, with its nuggets of yellow corn, pink-tinged lobster meat, and flecks of green thyme, spangled on top with pools of melted butter. It’s some work to make, so when I go to the effort I make this chowder the star as a main course and serve it with Focaccia Garlic Toasts (page 114) and a platter of sliced tomatoes and basil dribbled with good olive oil. Either Strawberry Shortcake (page 124) or Cranberry-Orange Upside-Down Cake (page 122) would be an ideal finish

 

1 teaspoon salt, plus more if needed

4 live lobsters (11/4–11/2 pounds each), rinsed (see Note)

1/4 pound bacon, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

1 large celery stalk, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 cup dry white wine

4 medium all-purpose potatoes, peeled and diced (about 4 cups)

4 ears corn, kernels cut from the cob, or 2 cups frozen kernels

2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme

2 cups heavy cream

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Freshly ground black pepper

6 tablespoons butter

 

6 main course servings

 

1. Bring 7 cups of water to a boil in a large soup pot and add the 1 teaspoon salt.

 

2. Grasp the lobsters around their middle (I wear rubber gloves when handling them) and plunge them headfirst into the boiling water. Cover immediately and return to a boil. Cook, covered, until the lobsters are bright red and fully cooked, about 10 minutes per pound (see the chart on page 15). Use tongs to remove the lobsters to a bowl, leaving the cooking liquid in the pot. Separate and set aside the claws and tails. Rinse most of the tomalley from the bodies, split them, remove the head sacs up near the eyes, and return the split bodies to the pot.

 

3. Return the liquid to a boil, and then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes. Strain the broth through a medium-mesh strainer into a large bowl. You should have about 5 cups of broth.

 

4. Meanwhile, pick out the lobster claw and tail meat, chop it into bite-size pieces, and refrigerate. (Can be done up to 24 hours ahead.)

 

5. Cook the bacon in a large soup pot over medium-low heat until the fat is rendered and the bacon is crisp, about 15 minutes. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon, drain on paper towels, and reserve. Add the onion and celery to the fat in the pot and cook over medium-high heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the wine and the 5 cups lobster broth, and bring to a boil, stirring. Add the potatoes, corn, and thyme, and return to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, until the potatoes are almost tender, about 15 minutes.

 

6. Add the lobster meat, cream, and cayenne, and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper as necessary. Cut the butter into chunks and add to the chowder to melt. You can serve immediately, but the chowder will be even more flavorful if you refrigerate it overnight.

 

7. Reheat the reserved bacon bits in the microwave. Ladle the chowder into soup bowls, sprinkle with the bacon, and serve.

 

Note: You can also use 1 pound (about 3 cups) chopped picked-out lobster meat and 5 cups seafood broth, clam juice, or a combination of clam juice and water. Seafood broth or stock can often be found in supermarkets near the chicken and beef broth. Bottled clam juice is shelved with the canned seafood. If the clam juice is salty, dilute with water.

 

 

Hot Lobster Roll

Sometimes called a Connecticut-style roll, this sandwich is nothing more than hefty chunks of butter-drenched lobster meat heaped into a top-split bun. Some say it was the invention of a loyal customer at Perry’s restaurant in Milford, Connecticut, sometime in the 1920s, and its popularity spread, making it the lobster roll standard throughout that state and also on Long Island. Creamy Coleslaw (page 104) and potato chips are called for as accompaniments.

 

6 tablespoons butter

4 top-split hot dog rolls

2 cups cooked lobster meat, cut or torn into 1- to 2-inch pieces (about 10 ounces) (see Note)

Lemon wedges for garnish

 

4 servings

 

1. Melt the butter in a medium-large skillet.

 

2. Heat a cast-iron griddle or a second skillet over medium heat. Brush the crustless sides of the rolls with some of the melted butter, and cook on the griddle, turning once, until both sides are golden brown, about 2 minutes per side.

 

3. Toss the lobster meat with the remaining melted butter in the other skillet over medium heat just until warm, about 1 minute.

 

4. Open the rolls, spoon in the buttered lobster meat, and garnish with a lemon wedge.

 

Note: Cook two 1¼-pound hard-shell lobsters or three 1-pound soft-shells and remove the meat (see chart, page 15) or buy picked-out meat.

 

Excerpted from Lobster! © Brooke Dojny used with permission from Storey Publishin