Baked stuffed lobster help

[amber]

I've never make baked stuffed lobster, though I have boiled them before. Could you guys tell me how to make the stuffing, and how long to bake it, if I bought a 1- 1 1/2 lb. lobster. I'll see if the person in the store I buy them at, can kill them for me. If they were killed in the early afternoon, and then not prepared until early evening, would that be safe?

 

[AllenOK]

It's never a good idea to kill shellfish, then eat them later, with the exception of shrimp. Crabs and Lobsters are full of bacteria, and if they come from the colder regions, the shellfish (and bacteria) actually live and thrive at refrigeration temperatures, so a dead, refrigerated crab or lobster will grow bacteria at a phenominal rate (so the theory/urban legend goes).

You want to kill the lobster just before you prep it, or cook it. This is easily accomplished by placing the tip of your knife behind and between the eyes, on the back of the head, where the shell "plates" come together and form sort of a "Y" shape. Quickly and forcefully, plunge the blade through the shell straight down. You will instantly kill the lobster, mercifully. It may twitch a bit.

Another way, is to lay the lobster on it's back, and with a really large knife (like a 10" or 12" chef's knife), completely halve the lobster from stem-to-stern. This will also kill it quickly, but, it may twitch a bit. Scoop out any of the flesh from the body cavity that you want to use, like the green Tomalley (liver), and if you have a female, the pink coral (roe) from the tail, and incorporate those into the stuffing.

 

[buckytom]

good info allen.

amber, after you stab the sucker in between the eyes, continue chopping/slicing down through the carapace and into the tail, but not all the way through if you can. you could cut it in half, but it looks nicer just split imo. remove the guts (orangey stuff) and rinse out the body, reserving what allen mentioned for the stuffing. prepare your stuffing before hand, and fill the carapace, or now empty body cavity with the stuffing, and bake. if i have some steamed lobsters (already cooked), i like to use the meat from the little legs, along with lump crab meat and/or shrimp and/or scallops in my stuffing.
to remove the meat from the little legs, pull them off the body, put them on a cutting board, and using a rolling pin, crush and roll the legs towards the open end, squeezing out the meat, like toothpaste from a tube.

my stuffing usually consists of:
white bread, cubed, about 6 slices
1/2 cup of breadcrumbs
1/2 cup minced onion
1/2 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
6 bay scallops
4 small shrimp, shelled and deveined, chunked
meat from the lobster legs
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup water
1/4 tsp old bay seasoning
1/2 tsp lemon juice

in a saucepan, melt butter, reserving about 2 tbsps to drizzle over top after stuffing. add onion and garlic, cook over medium heat until it begins to turn translucent, then add shrimp, and scallops and simmer for 2 minutes or so.
add this to a bowl of the rest of the ingredients, and mix to form the stuffing.
stuff the length of the lobster, or the empty body cavity if you split them in half, drizzle with reserved melted butter, and bake at 350 for 15 to 20 minutes, until the lobster turns red and the stuffing toasts on top.

 

[auntdot]

The only way to eat whole lobster, IMHO, is to bake and stuff them.

It is Mister Auntdot's job to do them in.

He forcefully puts the point of a knife into that little cross shaped indentation in the head, they become limp immediately.

To us the key to the stuffing is crab meat, and yes, you can use the phony stuff, but the most important ingredient is Ritz crackers. Forget the saltines and bredcrumbs, use the Ritz.

Other than that, buckytom's recipe seems about right. Although we never use the lobster claw meat, let the people go for it themselves. We like the lobsters to look as close to natural as we can.

And any other seafood you want to add to the mix is great.

But believe us, the trick is crushed Ritz crackers.

Hubby told me about it, and I was unsure. Now would use nothing else.

Enjoy.

 

[amber]

Thanks Allen, Bucktom, Auntdot! After thinking about the killing procedure, I think I may have done this once. I used a kitchen towel and a clever down the back of the lobster, the cloth was so I couldnt see it die. Hubby hates lobster, and hates being in the kitchen even when I boil it (inhumane to him), so when I do this he cannot be around. Me and my daughter love lobster,but I think even she wouldnt like to witness the killing I checked out the price of lobster today but it's outrageous right now because of Valentines Day, which is when I wanted to make this for myself and my daughter, and a filet mignon for hubby. I live in Maine where the price should be inexpensive for lobster but currently it is $10.99 per pound for hardshell, and $9.99 for softshell.
Thanks for the fantastic recipes. When the price comes down I will definately try these out.

 

[AllenOK]

Glad I could help.

Hey, I'd buy lobster for that price, if I had the money. Right now, here where I live, the going price is $12.99/lb.

 

[auntdot]

Used to live in Massachusetts, years ago, and the price was $3.99 per pound, with culls being cheaper. We used to be able to come home from work on Friday night and have a baked stuffed lobster dinner ready for company ready in one hour. This really impressed folks who were not from the area, but it was a lot simpler, quicker, and cheaper than making most other things.

Here, in VA, the going price for chix is $10.99.

Now I am not sure exactly what the weight of meat one gets from a one and a quarter pound lobster is, but I can buy very fine steak for a lot less per pound.

But then again we use the shells to make a sauce for pasta or a bisque, so we do get more than one meal out the critters.

 

[amber]

AllenMI, $12.99 per pound is really expensive, and I thought $10.99 per pound was bad! You would think that since I live in Maine where lobster is a huge market, that it would be inexpensive. I hardly ever see it drop below $8.99 per pound unless its the softshell/chicken lobsters and those are rarely worth it since there is so little lobster in those softshells.

Auntdot, I recall when lobster used to be somewhat inexpensive, but I guess since more people have discovered it, the demand has increased the price unfortunately. Thats a great idea to save the shells for stock, I sometimes do that with shrimp shells too, I just freeze them until I have enough to make a stock.

 

[buckytom]

i've never understood why people in maine pay as much as we do here in the mid-atlantic states. lobster is between $9 and $13 per pound here right now, for "wild caught" maine lobsters (i thought they were all wild caught. marketing ploy?).
on my trips north, i've noticed the price varies accordingly with the price that we pay at home. in peak season, it drops to abot $5 to $7 per pound, same as we paid for a crate right on the water in kennebunkport.

the bush's had quite a nice shindig while we were there, but i had to talk to barbara a few times about w's behaviour.
he kept running around (too much soda and cake), and crawling under tables, secretly recording conversations.

seriously tho, you'd think the cost of shipping live creatures would drive up the price a bit. or else people in maine are getting ripped off. someone's pocketing or taking a loss on the shipping costs.

this doesn't happen on our trips south, to the delmarva peninsula, and the cost of blue claw crabs. crates of live crabs packed in wet newspaper and seaweed are much cheaper from roadside vendors on the shore bound roads from i-95 than you pay for them at home.

 

[AllenOK]

Many years ago, my old Exec. Chef and his wife vacationed somewhere on the coast of Maine. For two weeks, according to him, he was meeting the lobster boats, at the dock, and paying $4/head for lobster.

 

[Constance]

We can't buy live lobster here...the only thing we can get is frozen tails. If we drive a few miles (30-40) we can sometimes get the live ones for $12.99 a lb. I've never cooked lobster, and at that price, I'm hesitant to try, in fear I would mess it up.
Last night, I watched Emeril making stuffed lobster. I didn't catch the first part, but when he was cutting the critter in half, it was already red, so I'm assuming it was steamed first.

 

[Constance]

We can't buy live lobster here...the only thing we can get is frozen tails. If we drive a few miles (30-40) we can sometimes get the live ones for $12.99 a lb. I've never cooked lobster, and at that price, I'm hesitant to try, in fear I would mess it up.
Last night, I watched Emeril making stuffed lobster. I didn't catch the first part, but when he was cutting the critter in half, it was already red, so I'm assuming it was steamed first.

PS...just looked up the recipe, and he boiled the lobster for about 7 minutes before cutting and stuffing it. His stuffing calls for crabmeat and Ritz Crackers, plus herbs and seasonings.

 

[kimbaby]

Buckytom,i Am Borrowing Your Recipe.