Executive Chef Phil Deffina
“Our family, young and old, always enjoys lobster — from the 4-year-old cousins who like to pick at the leg and tail fins to the more experienced that enjoys the roe and mustard of the lobster.”
Stuffed Wood-Roasted Lobster
6-pound lobster, claws removed
1 sleeve Ritz butter crackers
2 tbs chopped tarragon
2 tbs chopped chive
4 tbs mayonnaise
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 potato peeled, medium dice, steamed
2 cloves garlic, minced and sweated
3 shallots, minced and sweated
2 stalks celery, chopped and sweated
2 lemons, zested
Salt and pepper to taste
1 stick butter, melted for brushing
1 cedar plank
Method
Boil a large pot of water. Remove the claws from the lobster and blanch for 7 min- utes. Remove and let cool. Next, drop the whole lobster in the same pot and cook for 3 minutes. Remove and cool.
To make the stuffing, remove the claw meat from the shell as well as the knuckle meat and cut into medium-sized pieces. In a mixing bowl, add the crackers, chopped herbs, lobster chunks, mayonnaise, olive oil, mustard, potatoes, and the sweated garlic, shal- lots, celery, and lemon zest. Season with salt and pepper.
Lay the par-blanched lobster on its back. Cut halfway through the lobster to butterfly but don’t cut too far as you want to keep it in one piece. Brush the entire lobster with melted butter, then add your filling into the cavity of the lobster and even toward the tail. Repeat brushing with melted butter. Lay on wood plank and bake at 350°F for 10 to 15 minutes, occasionally brushing on more butter every 5 minutes or so until done.
This is a great recipe that can be made ahead of time even with smaller lobsters. Feel free to incorporate whatev- er is in your fridge into the filling. If you have leftover turkey from Thanksgiving, dice it up and enjoy it as a new way to use leftovers.
PAIR WITH: 2010 Château de Maltroye 1er Cru Chassagne-Montrachet from Burgundy, France. There is very little I love more than chardonnay from Burgundy with lobster. There is something about the creaminess of the delicately oaked chardonnay that so beautifully complements the richness of the lobster. However, the 2010 chardonnay has such bright and balanced acidity that it is able to cut the richness of the stuffing.
