A Special Treat for Dinner

Thursday night the Foodie Boyfriend was not with us,

so as I was out shopping for groceries,

I was trying to decide what we could have to eat for dinner

that evening.

Perhaps something that we couldn't partake of when he

was around, due to his shellfish allergy?

But what?

I had forgotten to take a container of our wonderful

gulf shrimp out of the freezer

and any store-bought shrimp would be vastly inferior in quality,

so that was out.

And then I spied it.

My quarry.

 The elusive Manager's Special,

AKA, meat that is near its expiration date.

But look at the price reduction!

Two Maine lobster tails for $8.38 versus the original $13.98.

What a deal for land-locked Southern Indiana.

I grabbed two of these packages and

hissed loudly at anyone who dared near my cart.*

I apologize for the lack of preparation pictures,

but I hadn't planned on blogging this dinner.

Then the Foodie Daughter came into the room,

gave me 'That Look,' and said "you are blogging this, Mother."

Erm, yeah, of course I am blogging this.

*An over-dramatization of the event, to be sure.  Or is it?

If you were to ask me what my last meal were to be,

I would tell you that it would have to be lobster. 

I love those aquatic arthropods.

I find it quite amazing and somewhat

shocking that in colonial America, 

lobsters were so plentiful and considered to be so pedestrian

that the indentured servants

and slaves protested against being fed lobster so often.

And before that, the Native Americans used lobsters 

as fertilizer for their crops.

What were they thinking?

 The first step was to turn the little bug's tails on their backs and 

using a sharp chef's knife,

cut down the middle of the tail.

It is helpful to use the tip of the knife

to puncture the underside of the shell 

and then to place the heel of the other hand

on the back of the knife to press the knife through

the flesh and the hard upper shell.

If needed, use kitchen shears to cut the shell apart.

Season with sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper.

Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high to high heat.

Add 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil to the skillet.

When the butter is bubbling, add the lobster, meat side down.

Allow to cook through for just a couple of minutes.

Lobster is like any other shellfish - it cooks very quickly -

and you don't want to overcook it.

Turn over and cook for another minute or so.

Serve with melted butter,

clarified if you are really feeling fancy,

 and rice salad.

Now I'm happpy.