There are many different recipes for Maine (do I have to say Maine, yes I do) lobster stew. I would not claim this is the best one but there are different opinions such as whether or not to use tail meat and how creamy you like it to be. Growing up in Maine, it was made by my mother and grandfather on rare occasions and they would not waste the tail meat. Is it better with just claw meat? Yes. So what? The other main difference of opinion is how much butter and heavy cream to use, which is either a matter of taste or a health decision: ? Use milk at all? Since I only have this about once a year, I don’t worry about it. Mom and Grandpa were quite frugal, having lived through the Great Depression, and not exactly restauranteurs so milk was used along with heavy cream. There’s no right answer. This is what I go with. The recipe is easy to double. This serves 4 people.
Ingredients
Meat from two 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pound live Maine lobsters - pound and a quarter lobsters are usually the best price. Pound an a half is what people prefer. I suggest going to a fish market or lobster pound rather than a supermarket (if you can). Supermarket lobster tanks are less likely to contain the best choices and tend to cost more.
Sea salt - for boiling
1/2 stick of butter – salted or unsalted (salt to taste). I am assuming you will have more butter on the table to be added by each person to hot stew as desired. I’m not listing salt and pepper in the ingredients for the same reason.
1 pint heavy cream
1 pint whole milk - you could use half and half instead if you have some and want to use it up.
3 to 4 tsp dry sherry – don’t overdo it with the sherry, which is not necessary but it’s better with it.
1/2 tsp paprika - even if you are going to add a dash of hot sauce you need the color and and flavor of paprika.
For the love of god don’t put onion or any vegetables in there. It’s not that kind of stew. Chives are OK if you are hung up on the color green.
(Optional) 1 Tbsp lobster base - Better than Bullion makes a great lobster base. Grandpa would use the tamale and gross looking stuff. I’d rather just toss the head in the trash (and take the trash out of the house). Lobster base is great for making lobster bisque, too.
(Optional) Dash of hot sauce such as Tabasco, Sriracha, Datil, or even Endorphin Rush. This is a contribution of out-of-staters and I favor it. Just don’t kill the delicious natural flavor of creamy lobster stew.
Instructions
Bring a large pot of water with sea salt to a rolling boil. Make it salty as the ocean. Add lobsters headfirst one at a time and put the lid on right afterwards. Note that the most humane way is to run a sharp knife up through the head first but you could be injured doing so and the boiling water works very quickly anyway. Some people recommend freezing them for about 5 minutes so they don’t thrash around in the boiling water. Keep an eye on the pot it so it doesn’t boil over and after a few minutes you can reduce the heat. Total time to cook one or two pound and a quarter lobsters is approximately 12-14 minutes. Add 1-2 minutes if you have pound and a half lobsters. They should be bright red when done but not all lobsters are alike. Some lobsters turn bright red before they are actually done, so go by the time for the weight, not the color.
When done, dump the water out into the sink, leaving the cooked lobsters, and run cold tap water into the pot for a few minutes to cool them down enough to handle.
Twist off the tail and claws, crack open, and place all the meat in a bowl. This can be done without lobster or nut crackers if you don’t have them by hitting the extra hard claws with a hammer. Common tools such as sharp kitchen shears and nut picks can make things much easier. It’s nice if you can remove all the claw meat in one piece. Break open each knuckle and/or try to just push the meat out. If there are eggs (coral, dark red) you will want to retain them to add to the broth. For the tail, twist off the fins (there will be meat in the fins, too, so don’t throw away) and slice the length of the underside with a sharp knife. The entire tail meat can be pushed out from the shell in one piece. It may be worthwhile to remove the meat from legs, also. Remove the digestive tract from the tail and wash the tail under cold water. Wash off the green tomalley (liver) unless you are into that and most people aren’t. I don’t think you’d want it in stew.
Claw sizes can vary considerably, so depending on how large the claw pieces are you may want to cut some of them up and will definitely want to ensure you just have small, bite-sized pieces of tail meat.
In a sauce pan over medium heat add the heavy cream, milk, paprika, sherry, and lobster base (which needs to be stirred in quite a bit). Simmer and stir for about 5 minutes.
Add the lobster meat and let it simmer for a few more minutes so flavors combine.
Add salt and pepper to taste. Yes, by all means slurp some of that up but use a different spoon afterwards unless nobody is watching or you’re all family LOL.
Some say you should put it in the fridge overnight to let it “age” and it is much better the next day if you do, but who could wait after all that work and with the smell in the house someone would have a serious problem with you for making them wait. Like I said at the beginning, this recipe is easy to double so you can have the best of both worlds.
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