From time to time, my sister, brother-in-law, and me like to have fancy pants dinner. Like a couple of weekends ago. I happened to see that Filet Mignon was on sale at Wholey’s and when I suggested a fancy pants dinner, my sister told me she had just been thinking the same thing because she saw that live lobsters were for sale for $7.98 each at Market District. That’s right. $7.98! You can’t beat the price and it doesn’t get much fancier that surf and turf. So, to the strip I went to pick up the filets and then to the Market we went to get delicious, fresh, and feisty lobsters.
Cooking lobsters at home is lots of fun, very easy and super economical! The trick is to have a large enough pot enough to be able to completely submerge the lobsters (especially if you are cooking more than 1 or 2). The lobsters are fine out of water for quite some time; I actually read you can keep them in the fridge over night wrapped with wet newspaper, but we left it up to the store to keep them fresh. Whatever you do don’t, I mean DO NOT put them in fresh water for a last little swim in fresh water before their final swim in the boiling water. If you put them in fresh water, they drown. They drown and they release a poison into their body. How do I know that? Well, since you asked, luckily I know that from second hand experience and did not have to experience the heartbreak of witnessing a few drowning lobsters in the bath tub myself. My parents lived near Boston for a few years early in their marriage. Their best friends also had been living there. One day they decided to have lobsters, and being the kind and humane ladies that they were (are) decided to give their little guys one last hoorah. Even if you get a deal for $7.98 each, you don’t want that!
To cook the lobsters, you will need a very large stock pot. Fill about 2/3 with water and slice 2 lemons in half. Squeeze each half into the water and then add the lemon rind into the pot. Cut a whole clove of garlic in half and add to the party. Then add a handful of springs of fresh thyme and a few bay leaves. We had used plain water several times, and honestly did taste the difference in the lobster by adding the extra flavors. Bring the water to a boil. Remove the lobster from their container and carefully clip the rubber bands off of their claws before dropping in (it’s helpful to make this a 2 person job). Drop the lobster carefully into the water. Repeat for each lobster you have. Put the lid on to help bring the water back up. The lobsters will take about 12-15 minutes to cook. They will turn a bright red when they are done. I also read that you can tell when they are done when you can remove one of the feelers easily.
It is a delicious treat! Serve with lots of melted butter, a cracker and a little lobster fork to help get meat out of the little areas.
We had the lobsters, grilled filet and roasted potato slices (recipes to follow soon!).
Hang Onto your fork 