Thank you, Lobster

In my family, a birthday isn't just one day, it's an entire week. For my husband's birthday, I made him a few extra special dinners and treats. This had to include lobster. Before he met me, my husband never had lobster. He never ate sushi, homemade soup or even peanut butter and jelly. Not because my mother-in-law didn't cook but because he was perfectly content living on cheeseburgers, hot dogs and egg sandwiches. He definitely married the right woman ;) So I introduced him to my all time favorite messy, savory, fresh food to eat...lobster.

When I think about lobster, it brings back great memories from being a kid and going on family vacations to Rhode Island. Every summer, my mom would pack up her 1980 brown Volvo station wagon, manual mind you, with us five kids. Who the hell can possibly drive standard with five kids in the car?!?  My step dad would follow with his old Chevy truck, loaded with five bikes and endless amount of beach toys. It was tradition to take a ride to Point Judith and pick out lobsters. I remember being the only one of us kids that got excited for this. I'd get to go look in the huge tanks, not like the ones you see in the supermarket. These were wide open on the floor and there were hundreds of fresh lobsters ready to be boiled, ripped apart and doused in warm butter.  When we got home with out lobsters, it was also tradition for my step dad to "play" with them first and scare the crap out of my little brothers. He'd stick them in the kiddie pool with them, no elastic bands around their claws.

When it was time to eat and the water was boiling, I always left the kitchen because I couldn't watch them die. As quick as my mom could drop them in, they were bright red and fully cooked. If you've never cooked your own lobster, it's really super easy and fast. Just don't let the guilt get to you and say "thank you."

I have to give my step dad credit for teaching me how to eat a lobster and how to drive stick.  My husband says I only like it because it's really messy and I am an incredibly messy eater. So what?!  It's the only food where it's accepted and encouraged to get messy and use your hands. I mean they give you a plastic bib when you eat it in restaurants! Definitely something I would enjoy.

So I cooked us some lobsters for dinner the other day. Going out for lobster dinner would have cost at least $40 per plate and you don't get to see them ahead of time or know where they came from.  I bought our's at Stew Leonard's for just under $20, for both of em. 

So of course this is the only picture I took realizing after I was done eating, it would make a good blog post. I was too excited to think about taking pictures. Plus, my hands were covered in butter.

Tips for cooking and eating lobster:

A good size lobster should be about 1 1/4 pounds.  Anything closer to 2 pounds is going to be tough and not have as much flavor. If you get one that's one pound, you're gonna wish you had more. I could have probably stepped up my game to a pound and a half.

Buy your lobster a few hours before you plan on eating it. You can stick it in the fridge until your ready to cook it.

A lobster should be boiled 8-10 minutes per pound. I boiled 1 1/4 pound lobster for 9 minutes and it was perfect.  It will be bright red. I run it under cold water right after I removed it to stop the cooking process and cool it off. Since we had two lobsters, I used two large pots so they were ready at the same time. Don't try to fit them both in the same pot. You could cook one at a time but the first one may not be hot by the time the water reboils and cooks the other one for an additional 8-10 minutes.

If you feel guilty about boiling it there's a few things you can do to ease the pain, your's and the lobster's.  Supposedly, you can put it in the freezer for a few minutes before hand. It makes the lobster feel a little "sleepy."  Or you can stab it in the head. Yes, it sounds awful but if you take a sharp butcher knife and pierce it through the back of the lobster's head, this kills it quickly. Immediately put it in the pot of water afterwards, if you have the guts to do it. I know I couldn't. 

I just wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible. As soon as I got home I put the lobsters in the fridge, never opening the bag. Once the water was boiled, I took out the lobster, cut off the elastic bands on the claws, dropped it in the pot head first and put the lid on. I set the timer and didn't look back until it went off. Done.

Make sure you have the right tools to open up the lobster. You need a nut cracker for sure and a tiny three pronged fork. We had neither of these. The only hard part is the claws. If you have the tools I mentioned, you'll be eating in no time. So we had to "make-do. "Using the back of a butcher knife, I cracked the claw on a cutting board. I also had a fondue fork which actually worked great. It's perfect for reaching inside the knuckles. You can even suck out meat from all it's tiny little legs. But the best part, as my mouth waters, is the tail...the meatiest, most delectable part of the lobster.  To get to this, rip apart the tail from the rest of the body. Discard the upper part of the body once you've removed the claws because there's nothing really in there.  You can use a knife to carefully cut vertically down the under side of the tail, but I usually just use my man hands and break it open.  My husband likes to use two fingers or a thumb and push out the meat from one end. It comes out in one huge piece.

Melt plenty of butter before hand. I put a stick of real butter, not margarine or any other fake crap, in a small sauce pan on low while the lobsters were cooking.  Oooh and I added a squeeze of lemon to the butter too.

Have a large bowl on the table to collect the juices and shell.  This is messy! I break apart my lobster over the big bowl because you may have some suprises inside. Eggs or leftover lobster poop may be something you find.  If you see bright red or orange pieces inside the tail, just take them out or eat em! They are eggs that haven't been released yet but some people think they're pretty tasty.  If you see a greenish substance, just rinse it off or leave it and eat it too!

I served my lobsters with Garlicky Roasted Green Beans and Twice Baked and Loaded Potatoes. Dessert was Strawberry Shortcake with homemade sweet biscuits and fresh whipped cream. 


Here's a link to some photos of someone painstakingly waiting to eat their lobster in order to get each shot of what I described above.  It's alot of work but that's the fun of eating it and there's no one there to stare at you while you eat with a silly plastic bib tied around your neck. And it beats paying close to $100 for lobster dinner for two.


Seriously, don't forget your bib. And napkins. Lots of em.


You're Welcome.