Maine Lobster Fra Diablo Recipes

Steps:

• Par cook the lobster tails: Heat a large pot of boiling water over high heat. Quickly blanche the lobster tails just long enough so the shell turns red and the meat isn't fully cooked but can be removed from the shell, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the lobster tails to an ice bath to stop the meat from cooking. Turn each lobster tail onto its back on a cutting board and cut from the center belly down. Turn the tail around and cut again from the center belly down, splitting the tail in half. Use your hands to crack it open and remove the meat, reserving the shells. Chop the lobster meat into 1/2-inch pieces and set aside.
• Heat 1 cup oil in a medium saucepan to 325 degrees F. Gently drop in the quartered artichokes to prevent the oil from splashing. Crisp the baby artichokes until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Set aside on a paper towel-lined plate, season with salt and reserve for later.
• Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over high heat. Season the cod with salt and pepper on both sides, then sear the cod, presentation side down. Add a sprig of thyme and 2 tablespoons butter and allow to brown. Baste the fish with the melted butter until cooked through, about 2 minutes. Transfer the fish to a plate, making sure to leave a little butter in the skillet.
• Add the cockles and 3 tablespoons butter to the skillet and cook, uncovered, until the cockles open, about 5 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove the opened cockles to a plate. Discard any cockles that do not open.
• Add the chopped lobster to the butter and clam juice mixture in the skillet and cook until warmed through, about 1 minute. Remove the skillet from the heat.
• Meanwhile, heat the lobster broth in a medium pot over medium heat. Add the juices from the cooked cod, cockles and lobster to the broth, along with the remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Reduce the heat to low and whisk to combine until heated through.
• To assemble, add 4 tablespoons sunchoke puree to the center of a 12-inch rimmed bowl. Place a piece of cod in the center of the sunchoke puree. Arrange 7 to 8 cockles and some of the lobster around the cod. Add the crispy artichokes and garnish with picked fennel fronds and parsley. Serve with 4 ounces broth, tableside.
• Bring the cream, sunchokes and salt to a simmer in a medium saucepan over low to medium heat and cook until the sunchokes are fork tender, about 15 minutes. Place the sunchokes in a food processor or blender and puree, adding reserved cream if needed, until smooth and creamy (like baby food). Makes about 2 cups.
• Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the celery, carrots, onions and fennel. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Sweat and caramelize the veggies, about 10 minutes. Add the lobster shells to the pot, then stir and crush the bodies into the vegetables.
• Add the garlic, tarragon, bay leaf, basil, thyme, rosemary and chile flakes and bloom the aromatics for 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the butter to melt. Stir in the tomato paste and bloom for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the bourbon and white wine, stir and reduce until the alcohol is cooked off, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the lobster base and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes. Add the water and bring back to a simmer, stirring occasionally and crushing the shells to extract as much flavor as possible, 30 minutes. Strain through a sieve, pressing on the solids to get all the liquid and flavor. Strain the liquid through a fine-mesh sieve. Rapid chill in an ice bath. Makes about 5 cups.

Steps:

• Put the tomatoes and juice into a saucepan and boil hard until reduced by half. Remove from heat and stir in the fresh butter. Set aside until needed.
• Melt the lobster butter in a skillet and cook the garlic in it over low heat until transparent but not browned. Add Cognac and flame.
• Add white wine and lobster stock and boil hard until reduced by at least half.
• Add lobster meat, season to taste with salt, pepper and red pepper and simmer, uncovered, until reduced to a saucelike consistency. Serve over pasta.

Steps:

• Place the lobsters in the freezer about 30 minutes before beginning this recipe.
• Bring 6 quarts of salted water to a boil in an 8-quart pot over high heat.
• Cut off the lobster legs and claws from the body with a sturdy pair of kitchen shears. Divide the claw at the joint. Whack the claws with a meat mallet just hard enough to crack the shells. (If you wish, to make it easier to remove the meat from the shell after the lobster is cooked, cut along one side of each of the two joints that were attached to the claw.) Lay one of the lobsters on a cutting board with the tail stretched out. Cut the lobster body in half length-wise by taking firm hold of the tail and inserting a heavy, sharp knife where the tail meets the body section. Bring the knife down to the cutting board in a swift motion, cutting the body section cleanly in half. Turn the knife in the other direction and cut the tail in half in the same way. You now have two lobster halves, each of which consists of tail and body pieces. Do not separate the tail from the body. Cut off the antennae and eyes with the shears and scrape out the digestive sac located inside the shell, behind the eyes. Pull out the dark vein that runs along the tail, but leave the tomalley-the pale-green mass close to the tail-intact. (It adds wonderful flavor to the sauce.) Repeat with the remaining lobsters.
• In a wide, heavy skillet, heat 1 cup of the vegetable oil over medium heat. Pat all the lobster pieces dry with paper towels. Dredge the meat side of the lobster halves lightly in flour and add as many of them, cut side down, as fit comfortably to the skillet. Cook until the lobster meat is lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and repeat with the remaining lobster body pieces, adding more oil to the pan as needed. When all the lobster halves have been browned, add the claws and joints to the pan and cook, turning them with long-handled tongs, until the shells turn bright red on all sides, about 4 minutes. Turn the lobster pieces carefully-they are likely to splatter.
• Heat the olive oil in a wide, deep braising pan large enough to hold all the lobster pieces over medium heat. Whack the garlic cloves with the side of a knife and add them along with the lobster legs to the oil. Cook, shaking the pan, until the garlic is lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Pour in the tomatoes, add the peppers and dried oregano, and season lightly with salt. Bring to a boil and adjust the heat to a lively simmer. Cook 10 minutes.
• Stir in the fresh oregano and tuck all the lobster pieces into the sauce. Cook at a lively simmer just until the lobster meat is cooked through and juicy, about 5 minutes. If the sauce becomes too dense as it simmers, ladle a little of the pasta-cooking water into the pan. Keep the sauce and lobster warm over very low heat.
• Meanwhile, stir the linguine into the boiling water. Cook, stirring frequently, until done, about 6 minutes. Drain the linguine and return it to the pot. Spoon the liquid portion of the lobster sauce over the pasta, leaving just enough sauce behind in the pan to keep the lobster pieces moist. Bring the sauce and pasta to a boil, stirring gently to coat the pasta with sauce. Check the seasoning, adding salt if necessary.
• Divide the linguine among 6 pasta bowls. Top each with a lobster body and claw. Spoon some of the sauce remaining in the pan over each serving, and serve immediately.

Steps:

• 1. Pour the tomatoes, with all their juices, into a food processor and pulse until well blended. Set aside.
• 2. Heat the olive oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add the lobster pieces, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently (and adding more oil if needed), until the lobster turns bright red, 10 to 12 minutes.
• 3. Add the shallots and garlic to the lobster, and toss with tongs. Add the wine and cognac, and cook over medium heat, turning the lobster carefully with tongs, until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Then add the bell pepper, jalape&ntilede;o, processed tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, 6 tablespoons of the parsley, and the basil and oregano. Simmer (do not boil), stirring occasionally, over medium to medium-low heat until the flavors blend together, 20 minutes.
• 4. While the mixture is cooking, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the spaghettini and cook until al dente, according to the package directions. Drain, and set aside.
• 5. To serve, make delicate swirls of spaghettini in the center of four shallow pasta bowls. Arrange the lobster tails and claws, with the sauce, on top of the pasta. Sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons parsley. Serve the lobster bodies and legs in a separate bowl and let the guests help themselves. Serve immediately, with plenty of napkins.

Steps:

• Heat 3 tablespoons of the oil in a heavy 3-quart saucepan. Add the onion and garlic, and saute over medium heat until they begin to brown. Stir in the pepper flakes and oregano. Stir in stock, tomato paste and bay leaf. Pour the canned tomatoes into a strainer held over the saucepan so that you add the juice but not the pulp. Chop the pulp; then, add it to the saucepan. Bring to a simmer, and cook over medium heat, stirring from time to time, for 30 minutes. Season to taste with black pepper. Set aside.
• Heat the remaining oil in a large saute pan. Add lobster pieces, and sear them over high heat, turning often, until the shells are bright red.
• While the lobster is searing, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the linguine.
• Spoon the sauce over the lobster, bring to a simmer and cook, partly covered, about 10 minutes.
• While the lobster is cooking in the sauce, add the linguine to the boiling water, and cook about 7 minutes, until al dente. Drain well.
• To serve, transfer the lobster pieces coated with sauce to one side of a large platter, leaving some of the sauce in the pan. Sprinkle with half the parsley.
• Add the drained linguine to the sauce in the pan, and reheat briefly, stirring to coat the linguine. Transfer to the platter alongside the lobster, sprinkle with the remaining parsley and serve.