Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Night of the Giant Lobsters


One day, right out of the blue, Wendy announced that she felt like a feast of lobster. Now, even for people living close to the source of lobsters, they are still an expensive proposition, but ever encouraging of Wendy getting back up to "fighting weight" I told her it was a good idea. One phone call later she lined up a couple of dinner companions and then headed out to Misty Harbour Seafood. I was unable to attend because I was awaiting the arrival of some people to remove the oil tank from the garage as the last act in the saga of switching from oil to gas.
Wendy returned with the largest damned crustaceans I have ever seen. Apparently, the downturn in the economy has curtailed expensive business lunches and dinners and the price of lobster has fallen dramatically. Even the lobster fishermen were angry at the prices, to the point where they had a one day work stoppage to protest the $3.50 a pound they were receiving. Misty Harbour had a sale on late Saturday and Wendy bought two 5 lb lobsters at $6 a pound.
Even using the largest pot we owned, we could only cook one at a time. Feeling slightly guilty for the poor Lobster fishermen, I cooked the monsters. Since they were going to be supper on Sunday, I slightly undercooked them, cooled them down and put them in the basement fridge.
On Sunday I heated the lobsters in boiling water for five minutes and served half a tail and one claw to each diner. To be truthful, one of the giant claws would have served as a meal, but lobster is meant to be enjoyed. Especially with some lemon butter. To balance the meal we served steamed carrots and potatoes on a side plate. It was wonderfully messy with lots of laughing and sounds of blissful consumption.
My thanks to Jack Hill for the lovely photo. Yum!!

Harvey


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