Lobster Two Ways

My visit to T&T last night was to confirm that they have Manila clams and whelks that I had great plans for this weekend. As I was browsing through my favourite Asian supermarket with all the neatly stacked merchandise and exotic items, I realized I simply love being there.

As all my friends know, I am a deal seeker.  Also, my mother always said if I were to wear glasses instead of contact lenses, I would stop seeing at the extreme corners of my eyes.  Am I glad I was wearing my contact lenses because out of the corner of my eyes, I saw in the open fridge packages of some lobster pieces. They were $3.00 each, and the pieces are from some gigantic lobster and I am not kidding. Each claw was bigger than my hand.  Of course I bought 4 of them, not sure what I was going to do with them yet at the time.

I went home that night and cooked two packages according to Rick Stein, 15 minutes in heavily salted water. A reduced lobster broth was made too for what you will read about next.

Lobster Salad

Today was a record breaking day of heat here in Toronto.  And what a perfect day that I planned for a Lobster Salad.  I used half of the cooked lobster, the chunkier pieces, and also some shrimps along with the lobster broth, and made the best summer salad yet.  While sipping our Rosé wine, we almost felt like we were back in south of France.  Or was it just the amount of butter that we were consuming?

The fresh Boston lettuce leaves from Whole Foods, with roots still attached when purchased, were so fresh and crisp.  It was heaven.

http://www.chow.com/recipes/29307-lobster-salad

Lobster Cakes

"What else can I do with the lobster meat?", I thought to myself last night.  I flipped through Rick Stein's cookbook and saw a recipe for crab cakes.  I have never made any but I did not see why lobster meat would not work.  Another adventure!

I prepared them a few hours ahead and I have to say they were looking mighty fine. With half the lobster meat ($3.00!!!), I ended up with 5 well-sized pieces.  Not a bad deal right?

But then I had to cook them.  It was a better record than the quenelles but 3 medallions survived.  2 somewhat broke into unsightly pieces.  However, they were all delicious!

If anyone has tips on how not to break them during the frying, I would love to know.  Again, the tarragon butter sauce with tomatoes was a very nice side compliment.  Next time I will probably add some sautéed onions and red pepper flakes to give the cakes a little more kick.

http://www.fabulousfoods.com/recipes/rick-stein-s-maryland-crab-cakes-with-tarragon-and-butter-sauce

Lobster Salad 8.5/10
Lobster Cakes 7.5/10

Tomorrow I will be shucking oysters for lunch.  More seafood this weekend, I cannot wait!