Free Recipes from the Cap'n.

One of the favorite dishes of Old Salts in Maine is Lobster Stew. It is actually a chowder but don’t call it that in Maine because Down East it is “Lobstah” Stew. The First Mate (Mrs. Cap’n Rick) is from Maine and this recipe is one we put together from several different sources. Try it next time you catch a lobster. If you don’t have any luck grabbing a bug at the local dive site or it isn’t season in your area then grab your mask and bug snare and sneak up on one of the critters in that big tank in Krogers or Wal-Mart.

Ingredients:

· A 1 ½ lb live lobster (Larry). This can be the Maine or New England Lobster aka Homarus americanus (has big claws) or the Spiny Lobster or Langouste found in the Gulf, Caribbean and West Coast.

· 1 stick (½ cup) butter. You could use margarine or fat-free spread but then again you could put tofu in it instead of “Lobstah”. This recipe is rich and if you are a fat gram counter just stop here and forget it.

· Seawater or some plain old tap water salted up to that level by taste.

· ½ pint heavy whipping cream. (See comment following butter)

· 1 pinch (scant 1/8^th teaspoon) of paprika.

· ½ pinch of cayenne. Put a little in then taste. Add a little more if you like ‘til it suits.

Preparation:

Cooking the Lobster: Find a pot with a tight-fitting lid large enough to accommodate Larry the Lobstah. Put enough salty water in it to cover him. Bring the water to a rolling boil. Plop Larry right on in there alive and cook him about 10 minutes/pound. Yes folks I said alive. I am not going to tell you that this method of cooking is painless to old Larry, frankly I don’t care, but I will quote you from “The Quick and Easy Raw Food Cookbook” …a left-over from our 70’s phase. The author of this rather strange cookbook insists that plunging into boiling water is painful to the lobster and cites as evidence that lobsters and crabs will “throw a claw” when in pain or distress and that lobsters do this when boiled. Now this is utter non-sense as any Mainer will tell you. Crabs throw claws, lobsters do not, and lobster claws do not come off when the lobster is boiled. This inaccuracy aside the author goes on to tell us that if you will put the lobster into a pot of cold water then gradually turn the heat up the lobster will “faint” and will be unconscious when it cooks thus feeling no pain. “Mercy, Miz Scarlet let me get ya’ll a fan!” Perhaps we could just tell Larry an off-colored joke and get the same response. She also tells us you can plunge a knife through the back-bone just behind the head (Hold still Larry! This won’t hurt a bit.). Either way the gist is this. If you are squeamish just go for the tofu suggestion above. A lobster needs to be plunged into boiling water to cook quickly and to the right consistency. The shell should not be pierced so that the blood and fluids will not escape. Boil until the shell becomes bright red. Remove the lobster and plunge him into some ice water (sink with some ice cubes in it) to cool him enough to remove the tail and claw meat. Break him over a container to catch the water that is in the shell (there will be about a cup) Chunk the meat them up into spoon-sized pieces. Also save the tomalley (liver) and coral (another organ, better you not ask further). If you can’t identify these, forget it and go on. Lobster lovers will know what they are. Save the shell with the white congealed lobster blood in it. Break the shell up into fairly small pieces. Cut the legs between the joints. Add enough water to that which you caught when you broke open the critter to make two cups. Put in the shell and simmer for 15-20 minutes. After simmering, strain this water through cheesecloth, a coffee filter or something else fine enough to make sure there are no shell pieces. Set this aside.

Making the Stew: Melt the stick of butter in a heavy 1 or 2 quart saucepan. If you are going to use the tomalley and coral, mash them up into a paste and sauté them in the butter (Mainers do this to add more flavor but the stew will be great even without it). Add the lobster meat and cook 8-10 minutes at low heat (For God’s sake don’t burn the butter!). Add the water the shell was steeped in and allow to come to a boil. Remove the pan (remember I said it needed to be “heavy”) from the heat. It will stay hot due to the thickness of the metal. Very slowly, over 2-3 minutes add the ½ pint of heavy whipping cream to the stew with constant stirring to prevent curdling. Put a lid on the pot and allow to cool for an hour or two (no it won’t spoil because it was hot when you lidded it you see!). Place in the fridge for the flavor to ripen with age. Reheat and eat when the stew is 5 or 6 hours old. Some Maine chefs insist a stew must be 24 hours old prior to serving! I personally can’t wait that long. Heat and serve hot.

This may be one of the best seafood dishes I have ever had. I learned to eat lobstah from my wife’s grandparents who were from Bah Harbah and Southwest Harbah respectively. Both were true Down Easterners, Ayuh. I largely think most anything you do with a lobster beyond boiling it in seawater and eating it with a little drawn butter or maybe Miracle Whip (yes Miracle Whip, check with the Mainers and you’ll find I ain’t lyin’) to dip it in is a waste of a good lobster but Lobster Stew is a notable exception. I hope you enjoy the recipe as much as my wife and I have.

Dive Deep, Dive Safe, Dive Happy,

Cap’n Rick.