Lobster or clambake

Angie2B

I want to do some sort of NewEngland clam or lobster bake on the BGE. Anyone got any suggestions on how to do it? Also a good place to get lobster in Indy or online?

AZRP

Most grocery stores sell live lobsters anymore. -RP

Tuck

Not to hijack your thread, but your post got me thinking about how hard would it be to do a Low Country Boil on the egg?

AZRP

Love a good LCB, but I don't think the Egg would bring anything to the party, either in ease of cooking or flavor. -RP

Rascal

Are you talkin' 'bout Naptown?

Rascal

Angie2B

Every since I read Kitchen Confidential, I have been real leary about my seafood. I've always wanted to do lobster, but the screaming thing kinda unnerves me. Last time I bought a live lobster, I let it loose in the creek out back.(YOU'RE FREE! YOU'RE FREE!!) Well, I am ready to try again. I just want some good seafood, haven't had the best luck around here (Indy) with seafood.

fishlessman

there is no smoke flavor in a newengland clam bake. all you would need to do is steam it in a pot of salt water with some rock weed which might be hard for you to get. im not a fan of egged maine lobster, but maybe you could do a baked stuffed one in the egg, dont add any smoke. lobster bisque cooked stove top with egged breadbowls is a good alternative. stike does some hard shelled clams in the egg, but steamers are what you need for a clam bake. the word bake is a little misconceiving as well because the food is really steamed over a bed of hot rocks covered in rock weed.

YB

Randy here is something to try.We got the recipe when we were at Black Dog restaurant at Martha's Vineyard and it's pretty good.
Larry



B. D. QUAHOG CHOWDER


Quahog (clam) chowder is one of the foods New England is known for worldwide. During the summer season, up and down the New England coast, you’ll find chowder contests where participants compete for the richest, most traditional and tastiest chowder. We’ve won our share. If you want to make good chowder, you have to start with great clams. We’ve had this chowder on our menu since ’71. It has to be good!


2 oz salt pork, rind removed 4 cups shelled quahogs with juice
2 cups diced onion (about 6 lbs in shell) (I use canned!)
1 cup diced celery ½ cup salted butter
3 cups diced potatoes 1/2/ cup al purpose flour
1 tsp dried thyme 1 ½ quarts light cream (I use heavy!)


1. Dice the salt pork and sauté in a large pot until translucent.
2. Add the onions and celery and sauté for 5 minutes.
3. Pour in about 1 ½ cups of the juice from the clams & add the potatoes & seasonings.
4. Simmer this mixture until the potatoes are tender. This should take about 10 minutes.
5. Melt the butter in a small saucepan. When it is bubbling, add the flour & cook about 5 minutes, stirring often. This is called a roux, pronounced “rue.”
6. Roughly chop the quahogs, reserving any liquid.
7. When the potatoes are tender, add the quahogs to the large pot and simmer for 2 minutes.
8. Stir in the roux and continue simmering for another 5 minutes, stirring frequently. This is your chowder base.
9. In a separate saucepan, scald the cream by heating it until small bubbles appear around the edges of the pan. Do not boil.
10. Stir the hot scalded cream into the chowder base, mix together and remove from heat
11. At the Black Dog, we serve it topped with a dollop of butter, accompanied by oyster crackers or crusty read.

Serves 8 – 10

Angie2B

Thanks for the info.

stike

this is a great way to do clams... just plate them (cherrystones, littlenecks, whatever) and let them sit under the dome at about 400. a little smoke is good, not too much. like a couple twigs, max.

tough thing is that some open faster than others. if you wait til all are opened, some might dry out a bit. you can pull them out as they open and eat them like that. usually, i go with the flow and drink some wine outside with the wife as they cook. i pull them all off at once and eat them all together. s'ok if some dry a bit. part of the deal...



here's another way to do shellfish. it's a way-too-jam-packed seafood paella. purists would say i had way too much in there. i do.



but lobsters to me are stove-top affairs. same for steamers. here's a four-pounder, steamed.



as for ordering lobsters online... i was sure we'd get screwed if we sent a lobster to my parents for a birthday dinner. but my wife checked http://www.lobsters-online.com/ , and i was amazed to find that the prices are essentially market price for the lobster (no premium like say ordering prime steak from Lobel's), and the cost of shipping is added directly on to that. shipping costs some ca$h of course, but you won't overpay for the lobster. also, he said, unable to stop typing, don't get for chicken lobsters. get two bigger ones, 2.5 pounds or more. the price is better per pound, and they are as good or better than the small ones. they aren't tougher. in fact, claws on the small ones tend to overcook. i send my dad and mom a four to five pounder usually.

fishlessman

there are other ways to cook steamers in the egg which keeps the seafood smell out of the house, i cook them in one of these cataplanas, also just mussels sometimes. any tin lined. enamel coated, or stainless pot with a cover works. my fishermans stew has all newengland type fish and mussels in it which is also pretty good, just go lighter with the allspice if your not used to that spice. its more a portuguese version of cioppino or the boullebaise. lots of portuguese in newengland near the shores

http://www.greeneggers.net/index.php?option=com_simpleboard&func=view&id=239447&catid=1

Unknown

give this place a call:
http://www.robinsonswharf.net/
i'm a fellow indy resident, but have a place in boothbay harbor, maine. robinson's wharf is a working lobster dock (and restaurant in summer). they will ship lobsters and steamers anywhere. the downside to having steamers shipped is they are somewhat fragile (they are called "soft shell clams") and some of them inevitably die in shipping--even the overnight air shipping that robinson's will use.
i agree with one of the other posters that the tried-and-true method to cook lobster is to boil or steam them (don't worry about the "scream"--it's just air escaping from the lobster's shell).

ken

Slick

I live in Maine, and right now the lobster choices ares slim (at least as of last Saturday). Should start improving soon if the weather gets better. Typically, 2 lb. and up are about $10 per pound. I would be happy to help anyone get some shipped, but shipping is a killer. A 25 lb package from Maine to the midwest standard overnight would be around $125.

If you decide to get some shipped, try to get some fresh scallops, also. I moved here from Ohio last year, and have never tasted scallops as good.

Ken