lobsters and their preparation

To prepare a lobster, which should be alive, grasp it firmly by the back, plunge it quickly, head first, into a kettle of rapidly boiling water, and then submerge the rest of the body. Be sure to have a sufficient amount of water to cover the lobster completely. Boil rapidly for 5 minutes; then lower the flame or remove to a cooler part of the stove and cook slowly for 1/2 hour. Remove from the water and allow to cool.  After being prepared in this way, a lobster may be served cold or it may be used in the preparation of various made dishes. If it is to be used without further preparation, it is often served from the shell, which is usually split open. Mayonnaise or some other sauce is generally served with lobster. The flesh is removed from the shell with a small fork as it is eaten.  The majority of the dishes made from lobster require that the flesh be removed from the shell.

LOBSTER COCKTAIL                                                                 

 Practically all varieties of shell fish make most satisfactory cocktails, and lobster is no exception. To make a lobster cocktail, shred or cut into small pieces the flesh of a lobster

that has been prepared according to the directions just given. Chill the shreds or pieces and then serve them in stemmed cocktail glasses with any desirable cocktail sauce.

  

SCALLOPED LOBSTER

 Persons who care for the flavor of lobster will find scalloped lobster a very attractive dish. When prepared in this way, it is suitable either for luncheon or for dinner.

1 c. lobster meat

1 c. medium white sauce

2/3 c. buttered bread crumbs

1 hard-cooked egg

Salt and Pepper

 Mix the lobster with the medium white sauce. Butter a baking dish, place half of the crumbs in the bottom, and pour over them the lobster and white sauce. Slice the hard-cooked egg over the top of the lobster, season the whole well with salt and pepper, and sprinkle the remainder

of the crumbs over the top. Place in a hot oven and bake until the crumbs are brown. Garnish with sprays of parsley and serve at once.

  

LOBSTER SOUP

 Have ready a good broth made of three pounds of veal boiled slowly in as much water as will cover it, till the meat is reduced to shreds. It must then be well strained.

 Having boiled one fine middle-sized lobster, extract all the meat from the body and claws. Bruise part of the coral in a mortar, and also an equal quantity of the meat. Mix them well together. Add mace, cayenne, salt and pepper, and make them up into force meat balls, binding the mixture with the yolk of an egg slightly beaten.  Take three quarts of the veal broth and put it into the meat of the lobster cut into mouthfuls. Boil it together about twenty minutes.

Then thicken it with the remaining coral (which you must first rub through a sieve), and add the force meat balls and a little butter rolled in flour. Simmer it gently for ten minutes, but do not let it come to a boil, as that will injure the color. Serve with small dice of bread fried brown in butter.

 LOBSTER SOUP WITH MILK

 Meat of a small lobster, chopped fine; three crackers, rolled fine, butter size of an egg, salt and pepper to taste and a speck of cayenne. Mix all in the same pan, and add, gradually, a pint of boiling milk, stirring all the while. Boil up once, and serve.

LOBSTER SALAD -1

 Lobster meat may be either fresh or canned, but, of course, fresh lobster meat is more desirable if it can be obtained.

2 c. lobster meat

1 c. diced celery

French dressing

Lettuce

Mayonnaise

1 hard-cooked egg

Chill lobster meat and add the diced celery. Marinate with French dressing, and allow this mixture to stand for 1/2 hour or so before serving. Keep as cold as possible. Drain off the French dressing and heap the salad mixture on garnished salad plates or in a salad bowl garnished with lettuce. Pour mayonnaise dressing over the top, garnish with slices of hard-cooked egg, and serve. Sufficient to Serve Six.

LOBSTER SALAD -2

 Lobsters are done when they assume a red color, which will only require a few minutes hard boiling. Remove the skin and bones, pick to pieces with a fork, marinate them, i.e., place in a dish and season with salt, pepper and a little oil, plenty of vinegar and a little onion cut up; then cover and let stand two or three hours. Cut up hard boiled eggs for a border, line the bottom of the dish with lettuce leaves, place the lobster on the dish in a ring. Mayonnaise can be used if desired, but the lobster is excellent without it.

 DEVILED LOBSTER

 A dish that is delicious and at the same time very attractive is deviled lobster. After removing the flesh from the shell, the shell should be cleaned thoroughly, as it is to be used as a receptacle in which to put the lobster mixture for baking. When removed from the oven, this dish can be made more attractive by garnishing it with the lobster claws and tail.

1 Tb. chopped onion

2 Tb. butter

2 Tb. flour

1 tsp. salt

Dash of Cayenne pepper

1/8 tsp. paprika

1/8 tsp. pepper

1 Tb. lemon juice

1 Tb. chopped parsley

1 c. milk

2 c. lobster meat

1/4 c. buttered cracker crumbs

Saute the onion in the butter, and to this add the flour, salt, Cayenne pepper, paprika, pepper, lemon juice, and parsley. Mix well and add the milk. When the whole has cooked until it is thick, add the lobster. Pour the mixture into the clean shell of the lobster, sprinkle with cracker crumbs, and place in the oven long enough to brown the crumbs. Remove from the oven, place on a serving dish, garnish with the claws and tail of the lobster, if desired, and serve at once.

LOBSTER A LA NEWBURG

 When lobster a la Newburg is mentioned, one naturally thinks of a chafing dish, for this is one of the dishes that is very often made in a chafing dish and served at small social gatherings. However, it can be made just as satisfactorily on the kitchen stove and is a dish suitable for a home luncheon or small dinner.

2 Tb. butter

1 Tb. flour

2 c. lobster

1/2 tsp. salt

Few grains of Cayenne pepper

1/2 c. milk

1/2 c. thin cream

1 tsp. vinegar

1 Tb. lemon juice

2 egg yolks

Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the flour, and into this pour the lobster meat cut into rather large pieces. Add the salt, pepper, milk, and cream; cook together until thick, and then pour in the vinegar and lemon juice. Beat the egg yolks and stir them into the cooked mixture,

using care to prevent them from curdling. When the mixture has thickened, remove from the stove and serve over toast. 

LOBSTER CROQUETTES

 Probably the most attractive dish that can be made out of lobster is the one explained in the accompanying recipe. As this is artistically garnished, and at the same time extremely

appetizing, it is suitable for a meal that is intended to be very nice, such as a dainty luncheon. If the elaborate garnishing here suggested is not desired, the croquettes may be served with merely a suitable sauce.

1 c. thick white sauce

2 eggs

2 c. diced lobster meat

1/2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

Fine bread crumbs

Prepare the white sauce and allow it to cool. Add one beaten egg and the lobster meat. Season with the salt and pepper. Shape into croquettes, roll in beaten egg, then in crumbs, and fry in deep fat until an even brown. Drain, stick a lobster claw into the end of each, and arrange on

a platter with the claws around the outside. Pour a medium white sauce over the opposite ends and the centers of the croquettes and over this sprinkle the lobster coral and hard-cooked egg yolks, which have been forced through a sieve. In the center of the platter, arrange a small

mound of parsley and one of the large claws of the lobster.

 LOBSTER BROILED IN THE SHELL

 Divide the tail into two parts, cutting lengthwise. Break the large claws in two parts, and free the body from the small claws and stomach. Replace the body in the shell. Put the meat from the claws in half of the shells it came from, and put the other half of the shells where they will get hot. Put the lobster into the double broiler, and cook, with the meat side exposed to the fire, for eight minutes; then turn, and cook ten minutes longer. Place on a hot dish, and season slightly with salt and cayenne, and then well with 'maitre d'hotel' butter. Cover the claws with the hot shells. Garnish the dish with parsley, and serve.

 BROILED LOBSTER

 Split the meat of the tail and claws, and season well with salt and pepper. Cover with soft butter and dredge with flour. Place in the broiler, and cook over a bright fire until a delicate brown. Arrange on a hot dish, pour Bechamel sauce around, and serve.

 BREADED LOBSTER

 Split the meat of the tail and claws, and season well with salt and pepper. Dip in beaten egg and then in bread crumbs, which let dry on the meat; and then repeat the operation. Place in a frying-basket, and plunge into boiling fat. Cook till a golden brown--about two minutes. Serve with Tartare sauce.

 STEWED LOBSTER

 The meat of a two and a half pound lobster, cut into dice; two table-spoonfuls of butter, two of flour, one pint of stock or water, a speck of cayenne, salt and pepper to taste. Let the butter get hot, and add the dry flour. Stir until perfectly smooth, when add the water, gradually, stirring all the while. Season to taste. Add the lobster; heat thoroughly, and serve.

CURRY OF LOBSTER

 The meat of a lobster weighing between two and three pounds, one very small onion, three table-spoonfuls of butter, two of flour, a scant one of curry powder, a speck of cayenne, salt, a scant pint of water or stock. Let the butter get hot; and then add the onion, cut fine, and fry brown. When the onion is cooked add the flour and curry powder, and stir all together for two minutes. Add stock; cook two minutes, and strain. Add the meat of lobster, cut into dice, and

simmer five minutes. Serve with a border of boiled rice around the dish.

LOBSTER CUTLETS

 A lobster weighing between two and a half and three pounds, three table-spoonfuls of butter, half a cupful of stock or cream, one heaping table-spoonful of flour, a speck of cayenne, salt, two eggs, about a pint of bread crumbs, twelve sprigs of parsley. Cut the meat of the lobster into fine dice, and season with salt and pepper. Put the butter on to heat. Add the flour, and when smooth, add the stock and one well-beaten egg. Season. Boil up once, add the lobster, and

take from the fire immediately. Now add a table-spoonful of lemon juice. Butter a platter, and pour the mixture upon it, to the thickness of about an inch. Make perfectly smooth with a knife, and set away to cool. When cool, cut into chops, to resemble cutlets. Dip in beaten egg and then in bread crumbs, being sure to have every part covered. Place in the frying-basket and plunge into boiling fat. Cook till a rich brown. It will take about two minutes. Drain for a moment in the basket; then arrange on a hot dish, and put part of a small claw in each one, to represent the bone in a cutlet. Put the parsley in the basket and plunge for a moment into the boiling fat. Garnish with this, or, pour a white or Bechamel sauce around the dish, and garnish with fresh parsley. The quantity given will make six or seven cutlets.