Rock Lobster Shoes

Remember I said I was going to the beach on last friday? I was going to take lobster with me to eat. Well, that was way to hard to do so while I did have a wonderful time at the beach with dirty Fila (except for a man in his speedo who had dunlap disease who kept staring at us! Was he staring because we were staring at his belly overhaning his speedo and how small his speedo was?), I did not have my lobster. I had it today and boy was it worth the wait!

I went to my local market and bought 2. They were kind of pricey. Normally they are about $8.99 a pound. Today they were $12.99 a pound. My total was over $32.00. They had better be good--that was what I was thinking as I left the grocer! Here they are in the bag and they with me peering down in the bag contemplating just how to get them out. After the fiasco when the lobster got loose in my kitchen, I have a fear!

Just look at them nestled in the bottom of the bag. I got a pair of scissors and cut the bag down the front and got them out. No more lobster rangling for me!

This was just before they went into the water and I did put them in the fridge to make sure their systems has slowed down due to the cold. I hate the thought of the lobster suffering when he goes into the pot. I am still unnerved by that. (Can lobsters scream?)

16 minutes of boiling and the perfect lobsters emerge from the pot. Here are the finished products. Don't they look wonderful?! (Quit hatin' on my lobster!) I pulled down a block of Irish butter from the freezer and I was in lobster heaven. (No shed's spread today baby!) Only the Kerry Pure Irish Butter would do today! If you have not tried irish butter, you are missing out. Only the leprechaun's know how to make it! Best butter I have ever tasted!

Yeah, I know. I am drinking red wine with lobster. It should be white. I did not want to open a bottle of white and have 2 bottles open at the same time. It would just force me to drink more wine! (Why am I thinking that is a bad thing? I may need to reconsider opening 2 in the future!)

When I cracked the lobster on the right open, it was full of that red delicacy...lobster roe! Of course the mustard yellow, creamy, rich tomalley was there also. I do eat both of those things. I just pulled them out and ate them. The roe came out in pretty big red chunks, so I dipped pieces in butter and ate them. The tomalley I just spooned out and ate. Yum! After those two things were gone the real eating began. About 20 minutes later all that was left was a pile of cracked shells.

Now there are some recipes that you can make with the roe and the tomalley, but who needs them? Roe and tomalley, warm with some butter is all I need. These two recipes are quick and easy if you really want to make something else up as you cook the lobster. Maybe if you are serving it as a meal to others.

Lobster Roe Butter

1/2 cup butter, softened 50 ml
1 tbsp. Lobster roe, cooked 15 ml
1 tsp. Fresh parsley, minced 5 ml
1/2 tsp. Salt 1 ml

Mix all ingredients. Chill. Serve as a tasty topping on broiled or grilled lobster, fish steaks and fillets.


Tomalley

The smooth green substance found in a cooked lobster's body cavity is called tomalley, and is also considered a gourmet delight. Makes a great spread!

Lobster Tomalley Spread

3 tbsp Tomalley 45 ml
1-1/2 tsp Mayonnaise 7 ml
1/2 tsp Horseradish 2 ml

Mix all ingredients together and chill. Serve with crackers or fresh vegetables.

Now you are wondering where do the shoes come into this. Nine West shoes come into this. They are my rock lobster shoes. Nine West! Back in the mid 80's, after college, I landed my first large job with a really big paycheck. The home office was in Boston and I had to fly there often for meetings with the corporate bigwigs. (Let's not EVEN begin to talk about those traffic circles. ) Thank god I was traveling by company limo...to and from the airport and to and from the office. And I mean a REAL limo... not a minivan called a limo. A long, black stretch limo. After seeing how crazy those boston drivers were, there was no way I could ever drive there.

Well, one trip I went on was in January. Deep snow about 5 feet. I did not pack any boots. I was not planning to go out anywhere except from the hotel to the office. Well, all of a sudden someone decided that we should out into the city for lobster on the waterfront to a seafood place. I was perplexed! I only had heels to go with all of my suits. At that time I only wore Nine West shoes. I had a pair very much like these.

Freda Pump $79.00

Not to be a stick in the mud, I decided to join the group. It was lobster after all. The company was paying with our corporate credit cards. How deep could that snow be? The limo would take us right to the door. Well, it did but the snow had been falling all day and it had not been shoveled recently that day. So there I was in high heels trudging through the snow to eat lobster. Not good. My feet were frozen and wet. After that lobster dinner someone then decided that we needed to go to a local bar also on the waterfront. So there I was again in my Nine West pumps trudging in the snow. That Boston wind was a wind that so cold, I have never felt cold like that before.

I had fun but my feet were cold and wet. I was glad to get back to the hotel. I was able to salvage my shoes because they were black. Moral of the story: If you are ever needing a pair of lobster eating shoes, make sure they are Nine West! They can stand up to the environment if you are in need of a pair of rock lobster shoes!

What I do is kick them in the pants with a diamond buckled shoe!
~~Aileen Mehle~~