Lobsters
Lobsters — From the COOKS.COM Culinary Archive.
LOBSTERS
Markets are now so well supplied with these delicious
shell-fish that they may be obtained in good condition all
the year. Lobsters are put alive into boiling salted water
and cooked twenty minutes from the time the water boils.
The shells are dark green when the lobsters are alive, but
turn bright red when cooking.
Boiled lobsters should not be eaten until cold and should
never be kept more than eighteen hours after boiling.
Select lobsters from one to two pounds in weight and well
filled out with meat. Lobsters with thin shells and that
rattle when shaken are generally watery, but those that are
heavy in proportion to their size, and have hard, solid shells
streaked with black will be found full of meat.
TO PREPARE LOBSTER
After the lobster is boiled, and when it is cold enough
to handle, wipe off all the scum which adheres to the shell,
twist off the large claws, and if the shells are thin cut a
strip from the sharp edge, using a strong, sharp knife; then
break the shell apart and take the meat out whole. If it is
too thick to be cut in this way, hold the claw on the edge
of the table and break it with a mallet, being careful not to
crush the meat. Pick the meat out from the joints. Twist
off the small claws and lay them aside for garnishing. With
a sort of sideways twist, break the tail away from the body,
thus avoiding any spattering or loss of the liver.
If the tail shell is to be used, cut through the inner portion
and remove the meat, but if not needed for this purpose, lay
the tail on one side and crush in with your hand. This will
snap the inner part of the shell and allow you to remove the
meat easily. Lay the outer muscle back from the middle
and take out the intestinal vein, which runs the whole length
and terminates in a sack at the end. Sometimes it can be
plainly seen by its dark color and sometimes it is almost
invisible, but it is always there.
Now stand the body on its head, insert both thumbs
into the opening with the right hand against the back shell
and the left against the under side; pull it apart gently and
leave the stomach in the right hand shell. Shake out all of
the green liver and scrape out any of the thick white juice.
On the sides of the body portion are the feathery gills or lungs,
which should be carefully removed. Break the body through
the middle and pick out all the meat which lies between the
fine bones; it is the choicest morsel in the whole lobster.
If there is any coral save it for garnishing. The only portions
which are not edible are the stomach, lungs, and the
intestinal vein. The bones may be washed and dried to use
in baking the prepared meat, or they may be covered with
cold water and boiled and the liquor used to give color and
flavor to soup.
PLAIN LOBSTER
Cut the meat into small pieces and mix the liver with it;
dry the coral and rub it through a strainer over the meat.
Serve with vinegar, melted butter, or with cold slaw dressing;
or mash the liver to a smooth paste, season it with salt and
pepper. Thin it with oil or melted butter and vinegar and
pour it over the lobster.
FRICASSEED OR CREAMED LOBSTER
Prepare the lobster and chop fine. For one cup of lobster
put two tablespoons butter into a shallow frying pan; add
the lobster, a dash of cayenne pepper and one fourth cup
medium cream. Mix well as it heats; add two tablespoons
vinegar and serve very hot. Vinegar will not curdle the
cream, but do not use vinegar with milk.
SALT FISH BALLS
1 c. potatoes.
1/2 c. salt fish.
1 tsp. butter.
1/2 egg.
spk. pepper.
Fat for frying.
Wash the fish and shred it into half-inch pieces. Pare the
potatoes, and if large cut into quarters. Put the potatoes
and fish in a stew-pan and cover with boiling water. Cook
twenty-five minutes, or until potatoes are soft. Drain very
dry, mash fine, add butter, seasoning, and beaten egg. Beat
well, shape on a spoon, drop into smoking hot fat, fry till
brown and drain on paper.
The same mixture may be cooked as hash.
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Why should a lobster be any more ridiculous than a dog...or any other animal that one chooses to take for a walk? I have a liking for lobsters. They are peaceful, serious creatures. They know the secrets of the sea, they don't bark, and they don't gnaw upon one's monadic privacy like dogs do. And Goethe had an aversion to dogs, and he wasn't mad.
Grard de Nerval 1808-55
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