Lobster recipes - inspire me!

[Jaymo90]

Currently holidaying down in Weymouth and having walked past the fishmonger many times decided I really want to do something with a cooked lobster.

Internet says a Thermidor, which is current thinking, but is there anything else out there I should consider?

At £25 for a lobster which I hope feeds 2 I don’t really want to get it wrong!

Over to you!

[anonymous-user]

Thermidor is useful for a poor lobster but a complete waste of a decent one. The only thing that a good lobster should be served with is a pot of warm clarified butter to dunk and optionally a lemon.

[Big Al.]

"O" natural IMHO, home made mayo & perhaps a portion of string fries on the side.

[anonymous-user]

Big Al. said:

"O" natural IMHO, home made mayo & perhaps a portion of string fries on the side.

Definitely fries, the only side with a lobster.

OP, For 2 people you want a 2 lb fish. Add some skinny fries and it’s a proper meal. (Pair with a Sancerre or a NZ Sav Blanc or a pint of Guiness. Yummy.)

[Louis Balfour]

Big Al. said:

"O" natural IMHO:

What's "O" natural?

Sounds like a 1980s lineage advert from the back of Razzle.

Cooked "as it comes out the shell"!

Edited by Big Al. on Friday 17th September 17:20

[Bill]

Louis Balfour said:

What's "O" natural?

Sounds like a 1980s lineage advert from the back of Razzle.

Jimmy. He presents nature programmes on RTE.

[Bonefish Blues]

It's the blood group all lobsters share, innit?

[paulguitar]

Hang On said:

Thermidor is useful for a poor lobster but a complete waste of a decent one. The only thing that a good lobster should be served with is a pot of warm clarified butter to dunk and optionally a lemon.

I think this is spot on, although I recently had lobster Thermidor for the first time and was pleasantly surprised at how well it worked as a rich dish.

Given the choice though, a simple lobster tail with drawn butter would always be the way to go for me.

[insert coin]

Hang On said:

Thermidor is useful for a poor lobster but a complete waste of a decent one. The only thing that a good lobster should be served with is a pot of warm clarified butter to dunk and optionally a lemon.

Couldn’t agree more, I had a disagreement with a chef at a restaurant near to me when I asked for my lobster to be simply grilled and not with any kind of Thermidor nonsense. The chef told me (via the waiter) I couldn’t have it plain grilled, only Thermidor style and my point was that if it was fresh lobster, as advertised, then surely my request would be a simple one?

It turned into a bit of a ‘Waldorf Salad’ between me, the waiter and the chef

Needless to say the lobster was precooked crap from Brake Brothers or Bidfood etc.

[LunarOne]

Jaymo90 said:

At £25 for a lobster which I hope feeds 2 I don’t really want to get it wrong!

Good luck with that. I've never seen a lobster in the UK for that kind of money which was worth eating. Unless you're both mice. Considering that much of the weight of a lobster is water and shell, once cooked you don't end up with much meat. I would want a 1.0 to 1.2kg lobster per person, which will render about 25-30% that in meat once cooked. I'd expect to pay around £50-60 per lobster for that. Those UK supermarket frozen lobsters which are 350-400g and sell for £10-15 are an utter joke for people who don't know better. Boil it or put it under a grill and serve with salted drawn butter or garlic butter only. Thermidor? Nope.

[BIRMA]

LunarOne said:

Jaymo90 said:

At £25 for a lobster which I hope feeds 2 I don’t really want to get it wrong!

Good luck with that. I've never seen a lobster in the UK for that kind of money which was worth eating. Unless you're both mice. Considering that much of the weight of a lobster is water and shell, once cooked you don't end up with much meat. I would want a 1.0 to 1.2kg lobster per person, which will render about 25-30% that in meat once cooked. I'd expect to pay around £50-60 per lobster for that. Those UK supermarket frozen lobsters which are 350-400g and sell for £10-15 are an utter joke for people who don't know better. Boil it or put it under a grill and serve with salted drawn butter or garlic butter only. Thermidor? Nope.

I have to agree with you, I've long since swopped over to Crevettes. Split them in two garlic butter then under the grill with a French stick and salad/coleslaw is so much better in my opinion. Having bought many lobsters in the past I never bother these days.

[arfur]

Jaymo90 said:

Currently holidaying down in Weymouth and having walked past the fishmonger many times decided I really want to do something with a cooked lobster.

Internet says a Thermidor, which is current thinking, but is there anything else out there I should consider?

At £25 for a lobster which I hope feeds 2 I don’t really want to get it wrong!

Over to you!

Assuming you can get some decent tails - not supermarket

You can follow many BBQ recipes for soft shelled crabs as they work well with lobster as well. Cooking time is a little less, depending if you are grilling them or smoking them

The Guy Fieri recipes from DDD around lobster are all pretty good too ...

[Mercdriver]

Agree with previous, butter and lemon. Weymouth not the cheapest place to buy them

I get two 1.5lb lobsters for £25, looking blue and walking, rubber bands on claws.

Delicious.

We were dining in Arbroath and tried to buy from market, none for sale all going to spain, presumably cos they get better price. Three boxes 3’by1.5’by2’ nearly full to brim.

Buy them and enjoy with a good bottle of white wine

[sean ie3]

Lucky to have eaten lobster all over the world always with brown or clarified butter salad and chips. At home a lobster mac&cheese seems pretty luxurious. There is a superb fishmonger at the mid-week farmers market a hen laden with eggs is a welcome sight and a huge turbot hiding a few red mullet is a real treat.

[thebraketester]

LunarOne said:

Good luck with that. I've never seen a lobster in the UK for that kind of money which was worth eating. Unless you're both mice. Considering that much of the weight of a lobster is water and shell, once cooked you don't end up with much meat. I would want a 1.0 to 1.2kg lobster per person, which will render about 25-30% that in meat once cooked. I'd expect to pay around £50-60 per lobster for that. Those UK supermarket frozen lobsters which are 350-400g and sell for £10-15 are an utter joke for people who don't know better. Boil it or put it under a grill and serve with salted drawn butter or garlic butter only. Thermidor? Nope.

We got some in port Issac last year, right on the harbour. Very reasonable and big enough for one person. Probably just over minimum landing size. Got pics somewhere

[Bonefish Blues]

sean ie3 said:

Lucky to have eaten lobster all over the world always with brown or clarified butter salad and chips. At home a lobster mac&cheese seems pretty luxurious. There is a superb fishmonger at the mid-week farmers market a hen laden with eggs is a welcome sight and a huge turbot hiding a few red mullet is a real treat.

A berried female may not be taken in British waters. I'm surprised it's allowed in Ireland.

[Jer_1974]

BIRMA said:

I have to agree with you, I've long since swopped over to Crevettes. Split them in two garlic butter then under the grill with a French stick and salad/coleslaw is so much better in my opinion. Having bought many lobsters in the past I never bother these days.

At this time of year In Scotland, we get 1.5kg lobsters live or cooked for a tenner. We also get free prescriptions, university and our water is amazing.

[Bill]

And the midges have finished! Yay!

[Jer_1974]

Bill said:

And the midges have finished! Yay!

We don't feel them.

[sean ie3]

Bonefish Blues said:

A berried female may not be taken in British waters. I'm surprised it's allowed in Ireland.

Laden was a little on the optimistic side, there were somewhat less than 40000 eggs present, well spotted though.