Try This Lobster Mac and Cheese Recipe Bursting with Flavor

Posted on March 23, 2020

Lobster Mac and Cheese Recipe

Down home American comfort food – fresh Maine Lobster and macaroni – combined to create a high-class dish that is bursting with flavor and a winter lobster dish favorite. Follow this recipe to make a glorious Lobster Mac & Cheese Casserole that will have your family and guests swooning.

Lobster and Campanelle Pasta

A favorite here at Lobsterfly, The lobster mac and cheese dish starts with a selection of four of your favorite cheeses, Campanelle pasta and a hard-shell, two pound or larger, live Maine Lobster.

Directions:

Begin by poaching the lobster. Add two to three quarts of water and two tablespoons of sea salt to a kettle or large pot. Bring the water to a roiling boil, add the lobster, reduce heat to medium, cover and cook for three to five minutes until the meat is just firm and opaque. Remove the lobster and let drain. Save the water in the pot. Using a chef’s knife, open the tails and claws and remove the lobster meat. Cut into bite size chunks. Save the claw and tail shells. Set the poached lobster meat aside.
Using the same water and pot, bring water to a boil again and stir in the macaroni. Add lobster claw shells and save the tail shell. Reduce heat to medium and cook the pasta uncovered about six to eight minutes (half the time specified on the box). You want to undercook the pasta otherwise it will be mushy after baking. Drain the pasta in the sink, rinse in cool water and set aside.
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
The next step is the sauce. Melt two tablespoons of butter in a sauce pan over low to medium heat. Add in diced onion and cook until onion is translucent, about four minutes. Scoop the onions from the pan and set aside. Add the saved lobster tail shell; add the minced garlic, chopped shallot and light cream (or milk) to the sauce pan. Simmer gently for 20 minutes. Scrape the garlic, onions and shallots from the pan and set aside. Remove and discard the lobster tail shell. Add in three more tablespoons of butter. Stir in the flour and whisk until thickened.
Stir in all four kinds of shredded cheese to the thickened cream sauce. Heat until the cheeses are melted and smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Add in the macaroni and lobster chunks and toss. Stir in the onions, garlic and shallots.
Add heated macaroni mixture to a four quart casserole and smooth the cheese across the top. Sprinkle with panko (or buttered) bread crumbs. Bake in oven until the top is golden brown and the sauce is bubbly, about 12 to 15 minutes.

Ingredients:

1 (1 pound) campanelle pasta or other tubed macaroni
1 (2 pound or larger) live Maine lobster, hard shell
5 tablespoons butter
1 small white onion, diced
1 shallot, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups light cream (or milk)
5 tablespoons flour, all-purpose
1 pound Gruyere cheese, shredded
1 cup grated Romano cheese
2 cups Cheddar cheese, shredded
½-pound soft, cream style (Boursin) cheese
salt and pepper to taste
4 tablespoons panko bread crumbs

© Wayne Howe 2016

Grilled Baked Stuffed Lobster Best You’ve Ever Had

Posted on March 9, 2020

Grilled Baked Stuffed Lobster Recipe – Best Ever

Get ready for Grilled Baked Stuffed Maine Lobster Recipe and the best lobster dinner you’ve ever had. Start out with a pair of fresh four-pound live Maine lobsters, a hot charcoal grill and get ready to prepare a lobster feast you will never forget.

Just in time for the Weekend

This recipe is best with cold water lobster, which means lobster from Maine. If you can’t buy jumbo lobster near your home, you can have Maine lobster delivered right to your door anywhere in the country from a lobster online delivery service. This recipe is easy to prepare and takes less than an hour. The result will be the best baked stuffed lobster you have ever had.

Gather up the ingredients for a lobster feast for two to four people:

Two fresh four-pound Maine lobsters
10 15-count large fresh sea scallops
Eight to 10 large raw shrimp, about ¼ pound (optional)
8-16 oz. Maine crab meat (16 oz. of not using shrimp)
Two sticks unsalted butter
One lemon
Four shallots or 1 large red onion
2 cloves of garlic
Parsley 3 sprigs
Sea salt
Black pepper corn
1 sleeve Ritz Crackers

Baked Stuffed

Light a hooded charcoal grill to 350 degrees. Prepare the ingredients:

Chop the shallots or onion into small pieces
Chop up the 2 cloves of garlic and mince
chop up the parsley
Slice the scallops into ¼ chunks
If using shrimp, peel and slice the shrimp into ¼ chunks

Prepare the lobster:

Place the live lobster on a flat surface, stomach side down
Kill the lobster by pushing a large chef’s knife into the brain
Remove elastics from claws
Using the knife, split the lobster all the way down the middle
Remove the intestinal sac, brain, tomalley and roe with fingers or paper towel — do not use water to rinse the lobster as this will remove the juices
Optionally you may save the roe and tomalley and add it to the stuffing
Crack the claws with the handle of the knife
Four Pound Lobster

Let’s start grilling:

Place a large iron skillet on the grill and melt 10 tablespoons of butter
Add shallots (or onion) and garlic to the melted butter and cook until translucent
Add chopped scallops (and shrimp) and allow to warm
Add in the crab meat
Add parsley and two tablespoons of lemon juice
Add black pepper and salt to taste
Break the Ritz Crackers with your fingers and stir into stuffing mixture
Remove pan from grill when stuffing is warm (do not cook the stuffing)
Place lobsters on a baking sheet and stuff the cavities with the stuffing — make sure to fill it nice and full but do not press too hard
Place pans in middle of grill and spoon the stuffing with melted butter
Close the hood and cook 20 to 30 minutes until golden brown
Serve immediately with a side of melted butter and lemon wedge

Get ready for the best Grilled baked stuffed Maine lobster recipe you have ever had.

© Wayne Howe 2016

Cooking lobster and recipes

Steaming or boiling lobster. Which is best?

Posted on February 23, 2020

Steaming or Boiling Maine Lobster

Steaming or boiling Maine lobster? Which is best? That is the question. Lobster chef’s everywhere will be pondering “whether “tis better to boil or steam a live lobster. What’s the best lobster recipe?”

Two Pound Steamed Maine Lobsters

Boiling a Maine lobster is the easiest way to cook and serve a whole lobster and a boiled lobster is easier to pick clean. When you have that large picnic or party and the kettle is kept full all day with lobster, boiling is just so much easier. But steaming a lobster often yields the best results for eating. Steaming or Boiling Maine lobster, which is best?

Traditional Lobster Kettle

Steaming a Maine Lobster is More Gentle than Boiling

Here’s why: steaming is a more gentle process of cooking the meat and it preserves more flavor and tenderness. Steaming a lobster is also more forgiving on the chef since it is harder to overcook a lobster in a steam pot. For true lobster lovers, steaming is the way to go.

So let’s get started.

First step is to order some freshly caught, hard shell Maine lobster. Hard shells are recommended as the lobsters are usually stronger and healthier and the hard shell lobster will have the most meat.

Then choose a big four to five-gallon kettle or pot with a tight lid. This size pot should be able to easily handle up to eight pounds of lobster. Remember, don’t crowd the lobster into the pot or you will get uneven results. It is best to have the right size pot.

Add two to three inches of sea water to the cover the bottom of the pot. If you don’t have access to the Atlantic Ocean, don’t worry. Use filtered fresh water and add lots of sea salt: one to two tablespoons per quart.

Place a steaming rack inside the pot and use high heat to bring the water to a rolling boil. If you wish, you may remove the rubber lobster claw bands. Place the live lobster one at a time and head first into the pot and cover. Start timing the lobster and do not overcook.

Steaming Times for Lobster

Hard Shell Weight*	Steam:
1 pound	8-10 minutes
1-1/4 pounds	10-12 minutes
1-1/2 pounds	12-14 minutes
1-3/4 pounds	15-17 minutes
2 pounds	16-18 minutes
2-1/2 pounds	18-20 minutes
3 pounds	20-30 minutes
5 pounds	35-45 (or more) minutes

*Reduce time by 3 minutes for soft shell lobster.

Half way through the allotted cook time, open the lid and move the lobster around in the pot. It is important to shift the lobster so they all cook evenly. If necessary, you may add a little more water but no more salt is required.

The most important step for all lobster chefs is determining when the lobsters are done. The first rule, do not to overcook the lobster. A lobster shell will be bright red when fully cooked and the meat white.

So what’s the best way to tell when the lobsters are done?

Cooking Jumbo Maine Lobster Requires Careful Attention

Care must be taken with large lobster as they will be red but they may not be fully cooked. And a lobster in the top of the pot may not have cooked as fast as one at the bottom.

One popular practice is to give one of the lobster antennae a good pull while the lobster is still in the steamer pot. If the antenna pops off, it is a good sign the lobster is done. Another step is to use tongs to remove one lobster and cut a small slice at the bottom of the tail. If the meat is fully changed form translucent to white, it’s done. Note: The lobster will continue to cook for a minute even after it’s taken out of the pot, so again, do not overcook.

Allow steamed lobster to drain for a minute. You may pierce the body and tail with a knife to help drain the water. Then serve the lobster right away with a side of melted butter and a slice of lemon. To make eating fun and easy, serve with lobster bib and steel cracker accessory kits.

Next up, cooking whole Maine lobster on a gas grill.

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