Roast Maine Lobster With Bourbon And Brown Butter Recipes

BOILED MAINE LOBSTER

Steps:

• Place onions, carrots, and celery in a large stockpot. Make a bouquet garni: Gather thyme, parsley, and bay leaf; tie into a bundle with kitchen string, then add to the stockpot.
• Fill stockpot 2/3rds full with cold water; set over high heat. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and let simmer about 30 minutes.
• Add white wine and peppercorns; simmer about 15 minutes more. Return to a boil.
• Depending on size of stockpot, quickly add 4 to 6 lobsters to boiling court-bouillon, making sure the liquid covers all the lobsters. Allow court-bouillon to return to a boil again, and cook lobsters about 12 minutes. Using tongs, remove lobsters, and transfer to a platter or large bowl. Repeat with remaining lobsters, working in batches if necessary.
• Using kitchen scissors, trim the tip of each lobster claw; allow the liquid to drain, and discard. Serve lobsters with melted butter and lemons.

ROAST MAINE LOBSTER WITH BOURBON AND BROWN BUTTER

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
• Split the lobsters lengthwise. Discard the sac in the head, leaving the tomalley, and slightly crack the claws. Season the 4 lobster halves with salt and pepper.
• Heat an ovenproof saute or baking pan over high heat on the stove, until the pan is very hot. Add the olive oil. Place the lobster halves in the hot pan, shell side down, and cook until the shells turn red, about 2 minutes.
• Remove the pan from the heat and sprinkle the bourbon over the lobsters. Spread 4 tablespoons of the butter evenly over the exposed lobster meat in the tails and put a little in the head cavities. Place the pan in the oven and roast until the tail meat is white and no longer translucent, about 10 to 12 minutes. Do not overcook. Remove and place the 4 lobster halves on 2 plates.
• Return the pan to the stove and heat over high heat. Add the remaining butter and the shallots. Stir well, scraping up the caramelized lobster juices in the pan. Cook until the shallots are soft and the butter turns brown. Add the parsley and the lemon juice, stir well and remove immediately. Pour the sauce over the lobster and serve.

JASPER WHITE'S PAN-ROASTED LOBSTER

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. For each lobster, place it on a cutting board, facing you. Place the front tip of a heavy knife in the center of the lobster, near where the carapace meets the tail. In one forceful, swift motion, split the front half of the lobster lengthwise, which will kill it instantly. Turn it around and repeat this motion, splitting the tail and the lobster in half.
• Pull the head sac out of both halves. Use fingers or surgical tweezers to remove the intestines. Place the tomalley and roe, if there is any, in a small bowl and use a fork to break it into tiny pieces; cover and refrigerate. With a knife, remove the claws and knuckles by cutting the thin sections where the knuckles meet the body. With the back side of the knife, tap the claws until the shells crack. In another swift, forceful motion, cut the tail from the body on both sides.
• Place a heavy 12-inch saute pan over the highest heat possible and heat for 3 to 5 minutes. Add the oil and heat until it forms a film over the bottom of the pan. Slide the lobster sections, shells down, into the hot oil. Using tongs, move the pieces and flatten them to sear all the shells evenly. The claws need to be seared on only one side.
• Add the tomalley and roe and stir; place in the oven for 3 minutes. Remove, return to high heat on the stove top, add the shallots and stir. Remove the pan from the heat and add the bourbon; return to the heat, where the bourbon will probably ignite. Cook until the flames die down, add the wine and cook until the pan is almost dry. Reduce the heat to low.
• Quickly remove the lobster and place shell-side down on warm plates. Return the pan to low heat, add the butter, chervil and chives and stir until the mixture resembles a creamy sauce, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, season with salt and pepper to taste, spoon the sauce over the lobster and serve.

LOBSTERS IN BOURBON-FLAVORED WHITE BUTTER SAUCE

Steps:

• Place each lobster on a flat surface and plunge a sharp, heavy knife into the midsection where the tail joins the body. Cut off the tails of the lobsters, cutting crosswise at the point where the tail is attached to the main body of the lobsters. Set aside.
• Cut the main body of each lobster in half lengthwise. Cut or break off the claws at the point where they are joined to the bodies. Reserve in a small bowl any liquid that flows from the lobsters as they are prepared. Scoop out the tomalley and so on from the main bodies and add this to the lobster liquid. Set aside. Set the solid pieces of lobster aside.
• Heat a large, heavy-duty skillet over high heat until it is almost smoking. Add the oil and the moment that it is hot, add the solid lobster pieces. Do not add the tomalley and liquid. Cook, stirring the pieces around, about two minutes, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add one tablespoon of the bourbon and remove from the heat. Stir all over the bottom. Turn the heat to high and add the water. Bring to the boil and cook over high heat for about three minutes.
• Using a pair of tongs, remove the tail and claws. When these pieces are cool enough to handle, crack the shells and remove the meat, which will not be fully cooked at this point. Let the main body portions continue to cook in the skillet.
• As you remove the tail and claw meat, return the empty shells to the skillet. If any liquid has accumulated around the lobster pieces, add this to the skillet. Continue cooking over high heat, stirring the shells around, about 10 minutes.
• Line another skillet with a fine sieve, preferably of the sort known in French kitchens as a chinois. Pour the mixture into the sieve and press the solids to extract as much liquid as possible from the shells. Discard the shells. There should be about two and one-third cups of liquid. Add the shallots to this liquid and bring to the boil. Cook over high heat about five minutes. Hold a sieve over the mixture and pour in the reserved lobster liquid and tomalley mixture. Put the drained tomalley into a small bowl. Set aside. Simmer the liquid in the skillet until it is reduced to about one and one-half cups.
• Add two tablespoons of softened butter and the remaining one tablespoon of bourbon. Beat briskly with a fork to blend thoroughly.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• Add the remaining half pound of butter to the one and one-half cups of simmering liquid, stirring rapidly, until the sauce is slightly thickened. Add the tomalley mixture, stirring. Cook about two minutes and put the sauce through a fine sieve.
• Pour this sauce into a saucepan and heat gently.
• Arrange the lobster pieces neatly in one layer in a baking dish. Spoon a thin layer of the sauce over the lobster pieces and place the dish in the oven. Bake briefly, about five minutes, just enough to heat through. Serve the lobster with a garnish of a green herb, such as chervil. Serve the remaining sauce on the side.