Pick your method for perfect lobster

McClatchy Newspapers

There’s more than one way to cook a lobster. Here are directions from the Maine Lobster Council.

Boiling: Choose a pot large enough to hold all the lobsters; do not crowd them. Fill with water, allowing 3 quarts of water per 1 to 2 pounds of lobster. Lightly salt the water and bring to a rolling boil. Add the live lobsters one at a time, and start timing immediately (boil about 7-8 minutes per pound). Do not cover. Stir the lobsters halfway through cooking. Let the lobsters rest for five minutes or so after cooking to allow the meat to absorb some of the moisture in the shell.

Steaming: Choose a pot large enough to hold all the lobsters comfortably. Put 2 inches of salted water in the bottom of a large kettle. Set a steaming rack inside the pot and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Add live lobsters one at a time, cover the pot and start timing. Halfway through, lift the lid, and shift lobsters around so they cook evenly.

Parboiling: Follow directions for boiling lobsters, but cook 2 minutes or as long as the recipe indicates. Remove meat while lobsters are still warm. If you will be cooking them further in the shell, plunge partially cooked lobsters into ice water to stop the cooking. Drain and refrigerate until ready to use.

Grilling: Parboiling helps. It’s easier to halve a dead lobster, and the meat cuts more cleanly. Remove the coral and tomalley before grilling. Crack claws. Slather cut surface with flavored butter. Place meat side down on the grill to char, about 5 minutes, then turn cut side up to finish cooking.

Broiling: Halve parboiled lobsters as for grilling. You may remove the coral and tomalley before broiling, or leave in place. Crack the claws. Slather meat with flavored butter and broil meat side up the whole time, basting frequently.

The challenge with broiling is to keep the meat from drying out on the surface before it cooks through.

LOBSTER WITH MIMOSA AND NORI FLAKES

Prep: 10 minutes Cook: 20 minutes Makes: 4 servings

A recipe adapted from “Tempanyaki Barbecue: Japanese Cooking on a Hotplate,” by Hideo Dekura. Sliced nori can be purchased at Japanese groceries.

4 lobster tails, fresh or frozen, about 3‚Ñ4 pound each, shelled

2 tablespoons each: sake, butter, soy sauce, mirin

Juice of 2 lemons

1 egg, hard-cooked, finely chopped

1‚Ñ4 sheet nori, sliced thinly in strips

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Split lobster tails in half lengthwise with a chef’s knife or kitchen shears. Rinse under running water. Place lobster tails on a tray; sprinkle with sake. Dot the tails with butter.

Heat a large, heavy oven-safe skillet over medium heat; transfer the tails to skillet. Cook 4 minutes on each side. Transfer skillet to oven. Bake until cooked through, about 12 minutes. Transfer to platter. Sprinkle lobster tails with soy sauce, mirin and lemon juice. Garnish with egg and sliced nori.

Nutrition information

Per serving: 517 calories, 21 percent of calories from fat, 12 grams of fat, 5 grams of saturated fat, 291 milligrams of cholesterol, 15 grams of carbohydrates, 82 grams of protein, 1354 milligrams of sodium, 0 grams of fiber.

LOBSTER TAIL WITH HORSERADISH POTATOES AND HARICOTS VERTS

Prep: 40 minutes Cook: 35 minutes Makes: 4 servings

A recipe adapted from “Home Cooking With Charlie Trotter.” If you can’t find fresh horseradish, substitute prepared horseradish but decrease the quantity by half. You can serve the tail whole or in five slices.

Potatoes:

2 pounds potatoes, peeled, quartered

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons butter

2‚Ñ3 cup grated fresh horseradish

1‚Ñ4 teaspoon salt

1‚Ñ8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Lobster:

1‚Ñ2 cup butter

1‚Ñ3 cup grated fresh horseradish

2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

4 lobster tails, boiled, shelled

2 cups haricots verts, boiled 2 minutes, cut on the diagonal

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

For potatoes, place them in a large pot of salted water; heat to a boil. Cook until tender, 20-25 minutes. Drain. Add the milk and butter to the potatoes in the pot; heat to a full boil over high heat. Remove from the heat; add horseradish. Whip the potatoes with an electric mixer or hand masher until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover; keep warm.

For the lobster, heat the butter, horseradish and chives in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the lobster; cook, turning, until hot, 5 minutes. Spoon some of the potatoes in the center of each plate. Arrange the haricots verts around the potatoes; top with a lobster tail. Spoon the butter mixture over the plate. Sprinkle with lemon zest.

Nutrition information

Per serving: 960 calories, 34 percent of calories from fat, 36 grams of fat, 20 grams of saturated fat, 357 milligrams of cholesterol, 67 grams of carbohydrates, 90 grams of protein, 889 milligrams of sodium, 6 grams of fiber.

LOBSTER THERMIDOR

Prep: 1 hour Cook: 1 hour

Makes: 6 servings

This is one of the most famous lobster dishes ever created. This version, from “Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” by Julia Child, seems complicated at first, but everything in it may be prepared in advance and heated just before serving.

3 cups dry white wine or 2 cups dry white vermouth

2 cups water

1 each, thinly sliced: large onion, carrot, celery rib

6 sprigs parsley

1 bay leaf

1‚Ñ4 teaspoon thyme

6 peppercorns

1 tablespoon fresh tarragon

3 live lobsters, 2 pounds each

1‚Ñ2 pound sliced mushrooms

12 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1‚Ñ4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon dry mustard

2 egg yolks

1‚Ñ2 cup plus 5 tablespoons whipping cream

Pinch ground red pepper

1‚Ñ3 cup Cognac

1‚Ñ2 cup grated Parmesan

Combine wine, water, vegetables, herbs and seasonings in a Dutch oven; heat to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer 15 minutes. Raise heat to high; heat to a rolling boil. Add the live lobsters. Cover; boil until lobsters are bright red and the long head-feelers can be pulled from the sockets fairly easily, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine mushrooms, 1 tablespoon of the butter, lemon juice and salt in a saucepan; cook over medium-low heat until soft, 10 minutes.

Remove lobsters from the Dutch oven. Pour just the mushroom cooking juices into the lobster steaming juices in pan; cook over high heat until reduced to about 2 1‚Ñ4 cups. Strain into the saucepan; heat to a simmer.

Melt 5 tablespoons of the butter in another saucepan over medium heat; stir in flour slowly. Cook 2 minutes without browning. Remove from heat; stir in the simmering lobster liquid. Heat to a boil; cook, stirring, 1 minute. Gently add 1 tablespoon of the cream to coat top of sauce. Set aside.

Split the lobsters in half lengthwise, keeping the shell halves intact. Discard sand sacks in the head and the intestinal tubes. Rub lobster coral and green matter through a fine sieve into a mixing bowl; add the mustard, egg yolks, 1‚Ñ2 cup of the cream and red pepper. Slowly beat the sauce into this mixture by driblets. Return the sauce to the saucepan; heat, stirring, to a boil. Boil slowly 2 minutes. Add 4 tablespoons of the cream. Sauce should be thick enough to coat a spoon fairly heavily. Taste for seasoning. Add 1 tablespoon of the cream to coat top; set aside.

Remove the meat from the lobster tails and claws; cut into 3‚Ñ8-inch cubes. Heat a skillet with 4 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat until foam subsides; stir in the lobster. Cook, stirring slowly, until the meat turns a rosy color, about 5 minutes. Add Cognac; heat to a boil. Boil, shaking the skillet, until the liquid is reduced by half, 1-2 minutes.

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Fold the cooked mushrooms and two-thirds of the sauce into the skillet with the lobster meat. Arrange the lobster shells in a roasting pan. Heap the lobster mixture into the shells; cover with the remaining sauce. Sprinkle with cheese; dot with 2 tablespoons of the butter.

Note: May be prepared ahead up to this point and refrigerated. Place in upper third of the oven; bake until lobster is bubbling and the top of the sauce is nicely browned, 10-15 minutes. Serve hot.

Nutrition information

Per serving: 532 calories, 69 percent of calories from fat, 41 grams of fat, 25 grams of saturated fat, 269 milligrams of cholesterol, 11 grams of carbohydrates, 30 grams of protein, 663 milligrams of sodium, 1 gram of fiber.