with pesto butter or anchovy butter
in the previous post i featured poor babyrambutan's lobster, monkfish, but in reality it is really nowadays poor b.r.'s monkfish, lobster, the latter costing $2 less as of this moment in the grocery store where the lobsters are on special, the lowest they've cost all winter and spring and now summer.
so of course i had to catch me some. i even taught the clueless young clerk guy how to tell the males from the females (the first pair of swimmerets are soft and thin on a female, sharp and saber-like on a male). i like the females for the coral roe, some others prefer the male for the meatier and sweeter flesh.
i have no fear of "working" with a live lobster and splitting it right down the middle but my kittens were hovering in the kitchen so i resorted to the boiling method first. didn't want to traumatize them and put their sweet mommy in a whole new light heehee.
in a pot large enough to hold the lobsters bring water to a boil with sea salt, then plunge lobsters head first in and put on its tight fitting lid. start timing when it comes back up to a rolling boil and turn down to a simmer (5 minutes for the first pound, 3 minutes for each additional pound).
remove from heat and set in a platter to cool.
prepare anchovy butter.
mix together:
8 oz. unsalted butter (1 stick), at room temperature
6-8 anchovy fillets from a freshly opened can, snipped up
1/2 tsp. dijon mustard
juice from one half of a lemon
1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
freshly ground black pepper
sea salt to taste (anchovies are salty so be careful)
mash and bash everything together or process briefly in Cuisinart or blender.
tip over to a sheet of cling wrap/plastic wrap and form into a log, and chill until firm. (recipe from julia and jacques cooking at home)
split the lobsters down the middle into halves.
preheat the broiler or light up your charcoal grill.
dot the anchovy butter (alternatively, softened butter plus a bit of pesto if you don't like anchovies) over the length of the lobsters.
grill for about 3 minutes under the broiler or on top of the grill until butter is melted and shells are slightly browned.
serve with lemon slices and snippets of dill or fresh basil leaves. YUM.
