From our feature Passing on the Torch of Good Taste: When she was 3, Joyce Goldstein’s granddaughter, Elena dipped her first lobster meat in butter, fell madly in love, and since then has requested a “lobster fest” for her birthday dinner. “Her thirteenth birthday was really special, and this is the recipe I cooked,” says her grandmother. (It was such a hit she requested it again for her fourteenth fest.) She adds:
“I do not want to be cooking lobster to order when my family arrives. This recipe allows me to assemble the dish beforehand and simply pop it in the oven. After the lobster has been parboiled and shelled, the yield can seem small. But lobster is rich and is best surrounded by vegetable dishes, rice or noodles. Of course you could go wild and serve this with fried or mashed potatoes, braised fennel, glazed carrots with ginger or even carrots and fennel with ginger. The possibilities are fun to contemplate and even better to eat.
"For the compound butter, you might want to try Meyer lemons as they are a bit less tart than regular Eureka lemons. Anise-scented tarragon heightens the sweetness of the lobster.”
4 live lobsters, each about 1 1/2 pounds
1/4 cup finely minced shallots
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh tarragon
1/4 cup champagne vinegar and 1/2 cup champagne or dry white wine or 1/2 cup tarragon vinegar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
2 to 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice or to taste
16 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/2 pound) softened
Salt and black pepper to taste
1. To partially cook the lobsters: Bring a 4-gallon pot with 3 gallons of heavily salted water (about 1/2 cup salt) to a roiling boil. (If you don't have a pot that large, use 3 quarts of water for each 1 1/2 pound of lobster. If you cook them in batches, allow the water to come back to a rolling boil.) Drop in the lobsters and cook for 4 minutes. Remove them with tongs. The meat will be soft and undercooked. Work with the lobsters while they are hot, so the meat is easy to remove from the shell.
2. Using a towel or rubber gloves twist off the heads and discard. Twist off the claws and set aside in a bowl. Hold each tail flat and twist away the fan-shaped pieces at the bottom narrow end. You can use your finger to push the tail meat out of the larger end. Or you can use a sharp kitchen scissors to cut through the soft inner part of the shell (not the round part) to release the tail meat. Cut the tail meat in half lengthwise and then cut away the intestinal vein. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
3. Next deal with the claws. Break off the knuckles. Then wiggle the lower pincer and break it from the claw. With luck the cartilage inside the claw meat will come with it. Crack the top of the shell with a mallet or the heel of a cleaver. You want to crack the shell but not shatter it. Carefully break the shell away from the claw and remove the meat. Then take the knuckles and with a small sharp scissors cut through the shells, pry them open, and pull out the meat. Wrap the rest of the lobster meat in plastic wrap and refrigerate.
4. To make the compound butter: Put shallots, tarragon, vinegar and champagne or wine in a small saucepan and reduce over high heat until liquid is almost totally absorbed and syrupy. Stir in the lemon zest and juice. Cool this infusion and then beat it into the softened butter. Season the butter with salt and pepper to taste. While it is soft you can spread this over the lobster meat in the shell or gratin dishes (or do it just before roasting). If you make the butter ahead of time, let it come back to a soft consistency just before roasting.
5. Up to eight hours before serving, place the meat in individual oven proof gratin dishes and top with softened compound butter. Forty-five minutes prior to serving, bring the lobster to room temperature and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cover the dish loosely with foil and warm in oven until lobster is cooked through and warm, about 10 to 12 minutes. Serve it with potatoes if you like, or braised fennel with toasted breadcrumbs.
Yield: Serves 4.
See: Antonio's Favorite Panna Cotta, Joyce's Aiolu Oil, Tortilla Espanol, Evan's Birthday Eclairs, The Goldstein Family's Gateau Rolla
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