A Horrible Dilemma
Tomorrow I'm making lobster for my Sweetie to repay him for doing a very good deed. I'm also making us french onion soup, arugula salad, and mashed potatoes. Just one lobster will be sacrificing its life for the occassion, as I don't really like lobster that much, so can't justify the expense to make myself one. I'll have a bite or two of Sweetie's and be perfectly satisfied until next time we treat ourselves to a nice night out.
I've not cooked lobster before, so I turned to Julia Child for her advice. I've got a lot of cookbooks, and there are a lot of resources on the web, but I figure that if eating it involves copious amounts of butter then Julia is the expert. According to Julia the best way to prepare lobster at home is to steam it in a ginourmous pot. Unfortunately, I got rid of my ginormous pot in the move from the Tri-Cities to Seattle... it went bye-bye with all the rest of my homebrewing equipment that I just couldn't justify the space for. And I've never had an insert large enough to steam something in it, unless you can steam with a plastic colander, which I don't think would do too well.
So today I went in search of a big-ass pot in which to steam lobster. While out and about I came across a pasta pot, which seemed like it might do the trick. Then I remembered that I have a past pot at home -- gotta' love wedding registries!
I got home and examined the pot. It's large, but I don't know if it's large enough to cook a lobster in. I fear if I put a lobster in there that PETA would come after me for cruelty to the animal I was in the process of killing.
So here's the dilemma, do I force the lobster into the pasta pot, or do I go out tomorrow morning and buy myself a ginormous pot with steamer insert in which to steam the lobster? I can probably come up with some other uses for a ginormous pot in my future, but I'm not so sure about the steamer insert.
Man, life really sucks sometimes! I figure the best plan of attack is I will go out tomorrow morning to a couple of places, see if I can find something adequate for cheap, and if not I'll just make the lobster curl into a ball before I send him to his death.
I've not cooked lobster before, so I turned to Julia Child for her advice. I've got a lot of cookbooks, and there are a lot of resources on the web, but I figure that if eating it involves copious amounts of butter then Julia is the expert. According to Julia the best way to prepare lobster at home is to steam it in a ginourmous pot. Unfortunately, I got rid of my ginormous pot in the move from the Tri-Cities to Seattle... it went bye-bye with all the rest of my homebrewing equipment that I just couldn't justify the space for. And I've never had an insert large enough to steam something in it, unless you can steam with a plastic colander, which I don't think would do too well.
So today I went in search of a big-ass pot in which to steam lobster. While out and about I came across a pasta pot, which seemed like it might do the trick. Then I remembered that I have a past pot at home -- gotta' love wedding registries!
I got home and examined the pot. It's large, but I don't know if it's large enough to cook a lobster in. I fear if I put a lobster in there that PETA would come after me for cruelty to the animal I was in the process of killing.
So here's the dilemma, do I force the lobster into the pasta pot, or do I go out tomorrow morning and buy myself a ginormous pot with steamer insert in which to steam the lobster? I can probably come up with some other uses for a ginormous pot in my future, but I'm not so sure about the steamer insert.
Man, life really sucks sometimes! I figure the best plan of attack is I will go out tomorrow morning to a couple of places, see if I can find something adequate for cheap, and if not I'll just make the lobster curl into a ball before I send him to his death.
posted by Swankette at 7:31 PM
3 Comments:
Here is my suggestion - about an hour before you cook Rocky, cover him in white wine - it will help him relax before his steam bath. You can use your current pasta pot - I'm sure it's big enough. Enjoy!
If you keep the lobster in the fridge for an hour or two (maybe even the freezer for half an hour???), it'll take a nice hard nap and be much easier to get into the pot. Packing them in ice in a cooler will have the same effect.
That said, my experience is in boiling lobster, which seems like a much faster way to go than steaming. Less of an escape risk if he's in lobster heaven sooner. And then you and Sweetie are in culinary heaven too. Not that I would dispute Julia.
Hope you get a nice fruity white wine or an estery wheat beer to go with this lovely dinner...
I gotta go dumpster diving.
Thanks for the tips!
Per Julia steaming is much better than boiling for the small quantity of lobster we'll be preparing, it will take about 20 minutes, and you put something heavy on the lid of the pot to prevent the escape.
We'll have a nice white wine, since I need the wine to make the soup. Haven't decided what bottle I'll pop open yet, as the dinner has now been delayed due to a sore throat.
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