Boiled lobsters and garlic butter

Recipe - Boiled lobsters and garlic butter

(This isn't so much a recipe as a technique in case one day you find yourself fortunate enough to have a live lobster at your disposal).

To feed 9 people we had 7 two pound lobsters

Get out your largest pan and fill it 2/3rds with very salty water, ideally water taken straight from the ocean or sea. 

Bring the water to a fairly steady slow boil. Take the rubber bands from the lobster's claws, (carefully) and quickly put in as many as will fit comfortably into the water, ensuring they are completely immersed. Put a lid on and let them boil for about 10 minutes. repeat if necessary with the other lobsters. When they are all ready and cool enough to handle, the fun shucking begins. Pile onto plates and let everyone help themselves, simply dipping into the butter as they go.

Recipe : Garlic and lemon butter

1 tsp oil

2 sticks (1 cup) of unsalted butter

2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced or crushed

Juice of one lemon

1 tbsp finely minced fresh parsley

First, melt the oil and a little butter in a pan over low - medium heat. Add the garlic and gently fry until beginning to take a little colour. Add the butter and slowly melt.

Add the lemon juice and parsley, mix together well and pour into two small ramekins. 

The ideal thing to do is to keep the butter warm and melted over some sort of device which holds the ramekins above a small flame. If you don't have one of these, (like us, last night), simply pop into the microwave after a while to reheat.