If you decide to broil your lobsters, you can ask the fish dealer to split them. However, it is best to learn how to do this yourself. First, practice picking up a lobster by the top side of its body just behind the head—it can't nip you if you hold it that way. Nor can the tail grip and cut you, because it always curls under the body. You must work with a big, strong, very sharp knife having a good point. A quick, clean cut through the tough shell and body flesh is your aim. The cutting board on which you work must be heavy and strong, too.
There are two ways of splitting a lobster. You can lay it on the board with either the underside or the outside shell uppermost. In my opinion, the first way is better for small young lobsters and the second way for larger heavier ones. Either way, plunge the point of the knife into the lobster directly at the point where the body and tail meet, to sever the spinal cord. Willi small lobsters, many cooks prefer to leave enough of the back shell uncut so that the two halves hold together when opened up. For this purpose, spread the lobster out on the board, shell side down, and, after severing the spinal cord, cut through the body and tail without cutting quite through the back shell at the center, and then open it up. But cutting a large lobster in two separate halves can be done more easily if you work from the shell side. Spread it out on the board with the shell side up, and, after severing the spinal cord, plunge the point of the knife in again and cut up through the body, then in again and down through the tail. In cither case, after turning up the halves to keep the flesh intact in the half shells, remove the intestinal vein and stomach sac. Finally, with the dull'edge of your big knife, crack each side of the two large claws.
Sometimes you have more lobsters than a broiler pan will hold. In that case, cut off the big claws and fit them around the split bodies which have been arranged in the center of the broiler pan.
Broiled Lobster
Select absolutely fresh lobsters, about 1 ¼ pounds each, and allow 1 lobster per serving. Remove the claws, if desired, split the lobsters lengthwise, and discard the intestinal veins and stomach sacs. With a heavy knife, hit each side of each big claw once 10 crack it. Season the lobsters with salt and pepper, and place them, split side up, on the broiler. Spread Out the claws. or, if they have been removed, arrange them around the bodies. Brush the lobsters generously with melted butter, brushing a little into the cracks of the claws. Broil them for 15 to 18 minutes in a preheated broiler, placing the pan far enough from the heat so that they will not scorch. Serve the broiled lobsters with melted butter and garnish them with lemon wedges.
Most of the dishes made with cooked lobster meat are based on boiled lobster, but lobster Thermidor is the exception that starts with baked lobster.
Lobster Thermidor
Split lengthwise 3 lobsters, weighing 1 ¼ to 1 ½ pounds each, and remove and crack the claws. Discard the intestinal veins and stomach sac, and season the lobsters with salt and pepper. Put 2 tablespoons olive oil in a flat pan, lay the lobsters and claws on it, and bake them for 15 to 18 minutes in a very hot oven (450° F.). Remove the lobster meat from the shells, dice it, and reserve it.
To 2 tablespoons melted butter, in a saucepan, add 3 shallots, chopped, and ½ cup dry white wine, and cook until the wine is reduced to one-fourth its original quantity. Add 1 teaspoon each of English mustard and chopped parsley, and 2 cups Mornay saute (January, 1958), and cook the sauce, stirring briskly with a whip, just enough to end the ingredients. Correct the seasoning with salt and pepper, and mix the diced lobster meat with two-thirds the sauce. Put a spoonful of the reserved sauce in the bottom of each shell, fill it with the lobster mixture, and top with the remaining sauce mixed with 1 tablespoon whipped cream. Sprinkle the lobsters with grated Parmesan and bread crumbs and set them under a hot broiler until the topping is evenly browned.
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