Remember when I told you about my New Year’s Resolutions? And how my friend Marnely from Cooking with Books and I had made a resolution to cook a live lobster (after humanely killing it, of course)? Well, we set a deadline of end of January to do so, so I needed to find a live lobster ASAP.
I didn’t even know where to find a live lobster, so I performed a google search and found a great lobster company out of Maine, Simply Lobsters. I worked with Don, who was an absolute joy to work with. He was so quick to respond to my email and sent me a lobster to review via overnight shipping. I spoke to him at 9am on Wednesday and by 9am the next morning there was a fresh 3lb. lobster from Maine sitting at my front door (carefully wrapped up of course!)! Keep reading to see how you can win the giveaway of two 1.65 lb lobsters for Valentine’s Day!
The lobster arrived alive, as it should be, and was carefully packaged with its claws wrapped in rubber bands (so it didn’t attack me!). Here’s a sneak peak at the whole process:
Now I have to admit, I was having a lot of emotions: nervous, excited, a little scared…but I knew that this was a culinary right of passage that I definitely wanted to do. I spent hours doing research online about the most humane way to kill a lobster, and while there are many schools of thought on this, I decided to go with the quick kill with the knife, after a short period of freezing the lobster to numb it up.
Here are a few of the articles/videos I read/watched with regards to humanely killing a lobster:
http://www.finecooking.com/item/11058/video-how-to-kill-a-lobster
http://homecooking.about.com/od/seafood/a/lobsterkill.htm
http://cooking-lobster.com/cooking-lobster/lobster-killing.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118375568129659493-search.html
I decided to go with this method of killing the lobster because it does seem more humane to kill it quickly and painlessly than to throw it in boiling water (even though most research shows that they don’t feel this either). In addition, when a lobster is dumped into boiling water while alive, it can tighten up from the shock of the temperature change, toughening up the meat. This is why most professional chefs opt for the knife method (including Eric Ripert of Le Bernardin…love him).
Below: lobster in the freezer and stock pot coming to a boil
I filmed the entire process, however, I will warn you in advance that this shows the whole process and if you do not want to see the knife method, then you probably should just forego watching the video. While I respect the opinions of those who think killing an animal is cruel and vegetarians, I personally do not share this belief and killing an animal before you eat it is the natural circle of life. Also: I did my best to make a good video, however, my kitchen is very small and makes filming difficult, so I apologize in advance but I tried my hardest :)
Cooking the Lobster:
SimplyLobsters.com sent me a whole sheet of instructions, and it goes to all of their customers as well! It gives instructions for both boiling and steaming. I chose to boil the lobster, but there are a variety of ways to cook it (grilling, baking, broiling etc.).
They also give you a complimentary bib with each order (some exceptions apply)–totally precious, I know…
I chose to cook it simply, because with such a high quality product, I wanted to maintain the integrity of the ingredient. This lobster came out absolutely gorgeous with delicate, tender meat. I made simple clarified butter sauce to go with it:
The Elements:
2 sticks of butter, cut into chunks
3 chives, chopped finely
1/2 shallot, minced
sea salt and pepper to taste
pinch of paprika at the very end
Procedure:
Melt the butter over low-medium heat
When the white stuff comes up to the top (very technical culinary language, I know), spoon it off, leaving only the translucent part of the butter
Add in the chives and shallots while still very hot, then salt and pepper to taste, at the very end, add the pinch of paprika
The Verdict:
Absolutely stunning. As you can see from the video and pictures, the lobster came in a carefully wrapped package and was gorgeous. When it was cooked, it was that fantastic shade of red that you know means the lobster will taste incredible. The meat was tender, delicious, and totally lived up to the hype of a live lobster from Maine. Simply Lobsters was definitely a great way to go. As I said before, Don was great to work with and he was happy to send me a lobster to review–the true sign of someone confident in their product. As he should be…this lobster totally lived up to and surpassed my expectations.
*Disclaimer: this lobster was sent to me free of charge from SimplyLobsters.com. Although I received the product for free, the opinions and description is completely my own and I was not compensated for any of these statements.
Now for the GIVEAWAY!
Simply Lobsters has offered to provide one lucky Order in the Kitchen reader two 1.65 lb lobsters for Valentine’s Day!
First Entry:
Leave a comment telling me your favorite way to prepare lobsters (boil, steam, grill etc.), your favorite way to serve it, or why you want to win!
Additional Entries: (You must leave a separate comment for EACH additional entry to count)
- Like Simply Lobsters on Facebook and leave a comment saying you did/do
- Like Order in the Kitchen on Facebook and leave a comment saying you did/do
- Follow @OrderintheKitch on Twitter and leave a comment saying you did/do
- Tweet about the giveaway: “I just entered a giveaway by @OrderintheKitch to win two 1.5 lb lobsters from #SimplyLobsters.com, you can too! http://www.orderinthekitchen.com/1/post/2012/01/lobsters-and-a-valentines-day-giveaway.html” and leave a comment saying you did so*
- * You can tweet about the giveaway once a day for every day of the giveaway for extra extra entries!
GIVEAWAY ENDS FEBRUARY 1, AT 11:59 PM! Contest is open to US addresses (sorry to our international friends). One winner will be selected by a random number generator. Winner will have 48 hours to confirm or an alternate winner will be selected. Please leave your real email address in order to be contacted! GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED
I think this is the PERFECT giveaway for Valentine’s Day and here’s why… I’m absolutely, ridiculously obsessed with FRIENDS. I watch it almost every day and have done so for the last umm 8-9 years. I love it, more that any other TV show. Ever. If you are a FRIENDS fan, then you probably already know what I’m talking about but for those of you who don’t, this video will show you why lobsters are perfect for Valentine’s Day:
Order in the Kitchen 