Lobsters are available in two species Cold Water & Warm Water the technique for preparation is essentially the same using the following method but extra care must be used with the Warm Water Species.
COLD WATER : Lobsters with claws generally caught off the New England coast are have firmer meat and are the most commonly available variety in the Midwest. They can be boiled or steamed and are more tolerant of over cooking a bad chef
WARM WATER : Florida Spindly Lobster CRAWDADS Caught in the Gulf of Mexico and off shore in the Caribbean. Sweet but somewhat of a swampy taste (frog leg). The adding of a stuffing or a chutney is common to mask the swampy flavor. They are very low tolerance of over cooking and can turn rubbery as a superball in a hart beat.
General:
Lobsters are hermaphroditic when hatched and take on a sex during maturity. The female lays eggs and then carries them around in a feathery looking group of fins on the underside of the tail. The female is much more tender and succulent than the male. If you want to impress your guest select a female for them under the following method of preparation and they will never quit raving about the sweet succulence.
PREPARATION GUIDELINES:
All fish and shell fish are cold blooded and with cold blooded critter is either cooked or it is not. Over cooking is the worst thing that can happen to sea food. Therefore timing and temperature control is essential. When sea food is raw it has a semi transparent appearance, when cooked it appears non transparent generally as jelled white meat. The trick is to serve it up just as it has jelled NOT OVER COOKED this take some experimenting and experience with your equipment and different varieties of fish and shell fish but well worth the effort.
PROCEDURE:
Thaw the lobsters completely in cold or tepid water in a sink do not run water continuously as this will wash away the flavor and it will end up tasting like so much watered mush.
Split the top of the shell from body to tail cut a bit into the meat but not all the way through with a heavy duty kitchen shears or lobster shears.
Pull out the lobster meat and fold it over the top of the shell.
Place into a shallow baking pan 2 - 2.5 inches deep.
Add 1/2 to 3/4 inch of water to the pan.
Baste the meat liberally with clarified butter. (Clarified butter is butter that has been heated and the white creamy appearing solids removed).
Pre heat oven to 400 degrees F. and place lobster on lower rack.
Timing is about 20 minutes per pound of the individual lobster however the number of lobsters in the oven at a time and the ability of the oven to recover from the thermal sock can influence the timing.
Re baste with the clarified butter when you check progress for the jelled condition; cut one with a knife and look in the center to make sure of the condition.
When you observe the meat almost jelled all the way through, you can switch to broiler and move to higher rack and brown off for appearance and add paprika for color.
SERVE. Enjoy with Caesar Salad, Boiled Red Potatoes or Rice Pilaf, and corn on the cob.
Cordially, Col. Pete Knaup PS & PM Ltd. 1333 Wayland St. P.O. Box 901 Beaver Dam WI. 53916 (800)589-1018 Voice (920)887-0916 Fax
