I've noticed how many people, including those who live where lobsters are abundant, like them steamed, or boiled in water or sea water, and served hot with lemon and melted butter, or cold with lemon and mayonnaise. Boiling is by far the easiest way to cook lobsters. They are merely dropped whole into a large kettle of boiling sailed water—or court bouillon, which gives a bit of added savor to the meat—and cooked for 20 to 25 minutes, depending upon their size, if they are to be served hot. If they are to be served cold or used in lobster dishes, they are cooked for 15 minutes, allowed to cool in the conking liquid, and then chilled. At serving time, crack the claws well, split the body and tail down the center as already explained, and place the lobsters on the serving dish with the cut sides up. If you are serving them hot, you may need to wear gloves—they are pretty hot to handle. Watch out, too, for the juice which is apt to spurt out when they are cut.
Many lobster dishes call for boiled lobster meat. To prepare the cooked meat, remove the lobster from the water in which it has cooled, cut off the claws, and split the body and tail down the center. The lobster meat may then be removed easily. Because the claw meat is often used for garnishing many lobster dishes, hotel chefs take care to extract the claw meat in one piece. For this purpose, cut off the claw at the first joint and break off the small pincer. Lay the large pincer down on the board and, with the cutting edge of a sharp heavy knife, hit it about one inch from the joint. Then turn it over and do the same on the other side. Now pick up the pincer with your left hand and pull off the pointed end of the shell. The shell will separate at the place where you cut it, leaving the claw meat in one piece. The remainder of the claw meat, below the joint, will also come out easily.
Boiled Lobster
Plunge 3 lobsters, weighing 1 ¼ to 1 ½ pounds each, into a kettle filled with boiling court bouillon or salted water. If the lobsters are to be served hot, cook them for 20 to 25 minutes, depending on their size. Remove the cooked lobsters, split them lengthwise, and discard the intestinal veins and stomach sacs, Crack the claws and place the lobsters, cut side up, on a serving platter and garnish the platter with lemon wedges. Serve the lobsters with melted butter.
If the lobsters are to be served cold, cook them for 15 minutes, remove the kettle from the heat, and cool the lobsters in the cooking liquid for 15 minutes. Remove the lobsters from the kettle, cool them further, and chill them. Split the bodies, discard the intestinal veins and stomach sacs, and crack the claws. Serve the lobsters with lemon wedges and mayonnaise.
Court Bouillon for Boiling Lobster
To a large kettle full of water, add 2 onions and 2 carrots, all sliced, 2 cups vinegar, 4 tablespoons salt, 20 peppercorns, 4 bay leaves, 4 sprigs of parsley, 2 stalks of celery, 2 cloves of garlic, and thyme to taste. Bring the water to a boil and simmer the court bouillon for 30 minutes.
Croquettes de Homard (Lobster Croquettes)
Remove the meat from 2 boiled lobsters, weighing 1 ¾ to 2 pounds each, chop it very fine, and sauté it in 1 tablespoon melted butter. To 2 cups thick béchamel sauce (January, 1958), add 4 egg yolks, lightly beaten, and cook the sauce over low heat until all the ingredients are thoroughly combined. Add the lobster meat, spread the mixture in a flat buttered dish, and chill it. Form the chilled lobster mixture into croquettes. Roll the croquettes in flour, dip them in 2 eggs beaten with ½ cup milk and 2 tablespoons salad oil, and coat the croquettes in bread crumbs. Sauté the croquettes in butter or fry them in deep hot fat (370° F.) until they are brown. Drain the croquettes on paper toweling and serve them with cream sauce (January, 1958).
Lobster Cocktail à la Ritz
Remove the meat from 2 boiled lobsters, weighing 1 ¼ to 1 ½ pounds each, and cut it into small pieces. Add 1 heart of celery, diced, and 1 heart of lettuce, chopped. Make a dressing by mixing together 3 tablespoons each of mayonnaise (page 56) and Russian dressing (page 56), 1 tablespoon each of chili sauce and Worcestershire sauce, l tomato, peeled, seeded, and chopped, and 1 teaspoon each of chives and parsley, both chopped. Combine the dressing with the lobster mixture and serve the cocktails on beds of lettuce.
Pinterest
