What to do with a lobster?

BengaLover

Got a whole lobster, frozen, its nearly defrosted and the pack says its pre cooked.
Do I serve it hot or cold?
Its going as a starter with quails eggs..
What dressing if any should i use?
I loathe seafood but my friends are conniseurs so I need to get this perfect!

johnnycee66

You can serve it either (think crab for cold ideas). IMO lobster benefits from being warm, and butter or cream complement the taste. Grill it in the shell, with a sauce made from cream and brandy reduced? Warm under the grill, with melted butter? We tried the Lidl lobster once, and to make a little go a long way we mixed the meat with a custard (4 egg yolks to half pint of double cream) put into ramekins and cooked in a bain marie for 20 mins. This was a starter, and well received by everybody.

BengaLover

ok, does garlic go well with lobster?
I dont really want to dissect it, its only a starter and mainly for a fancy centrepiece with the quails eggs, so do i pour the cream brandy sauce over it or leave it aside for dipping? thanks:D

johnnycee66

pour the sauce over it and consider a brief grilling! when you cut open the lobster, despite the size of the shell, the amount of salvageable meat isnt that great, a long piece from the main body, and then the bits you have to extract from claws etc.. Maybe cut it into chunks, back into the shell, sauce over and grill? Use that as your centrepiece, and pepole can dip into it, makes it easy. As the lobster is a rich taste, garlic and butter should complement it. Recipes for lobster usually have some alcohol lurking in them (or maybe thats just in my kitchen!). Hope this helps.

Seaneh

Take the claws off, cut it in half lenght ways from head to tail.

Clean out all the nastyness in the middle.

Take the meat our of the claws and mix with some clarified butter, chives and minced garlic. and then put them into the hollow in the shell where you took out all the nastyness. spread chopped chives and minced garlic over the rest of the meat in the shell, coat with a good amount of clarified butter and then grill until warmed through, no more than a few minutes.

simple and tasty.

Seaneh

Also a brandy and cream reduction made with the claw shells in it (cook it with the shell for no more than 20 minutes!!!) and then strained would go equally as well.

Curry Addict

i eat lobster quite a bit. fry it in butter for 2 mins with 1/2 a clove of garlic and a deseeded chilli is my favorite way to cook it.

Minder

Seaneh wrote: »

...(cook it with the shell for no more than 20 minutes!!!)

Why no more than 20 minutes?

Seaneh

it gets very bitter. All the oils will be extracted within the first 15 minutes anyway.