Lobster Salad

Lobster Salad

Happy Saturday, Fellow Foodies!

Yesterday the Hubs posted a Lobster Salad recipe to his facebook page, that he said looked awesome. It was a recipe by Geoffry Zakarian ( you can find it at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/search/delegate.do?Nr=Record ) ...ANY WAY...I took it as a hint that he wanted me to make it. So today, I did indeed make him the Lobster Salad.

I did make a few changes from the original recipe that is linked above, so I'll be giving you my version.

Whole Maine Lobsters are nearly impossible to come by in the California desert, but I did manage to find raw, flash-frozen lobster tails from the Canadian Atlantic. Thus, with tails purchased, I headed home to make my slightly bastardized version of Chef Zakarian's Lobster Salad. Here is how it went!


Julie's Lobster Tail Salad

1 gallon of water
4 lemons-halved
2 sprigs of thyme
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup Kosher Salt
1 Tbs. smoked paprika
1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper
4-6 lobster tails (about 2 Lbs. total)
Combine the water and the next six ingredients in a stockpot. You can squeeze the lemons into the water of you like, but it's not necessary.

Bring to a boil and add the lobster tails. turn the heat to medium, and allow the tails to simmer for 8-10 minutes. Remove them from the pot with a slotted spoon or a pair of tongs and chill in the fridge.

Meanwhile prepare an Aioli of:

1 garlic clove-peeled
2 Tbs. Dijon mustard
1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
dash of hot sauce
2 cups sunflower seed oil
Place the first 5 ingredients into a food processor fitted with the blade. Turn on the machine and allow for the garlic to puree. With the machine still running, pour the oil through the chute in a very slow steady stream (it should take about 2 minutes to pour in all the oil), scrape into a bowl and place in  the fridge until you are ready to use it.

To assemble the salad: peel the shell from the tails. Chop the meat into 1/2 inch sized cubes. Place into a bowl and add:

1/2 cup diced celery
1/4 cup minced chives
about 3/4-1 cup of the aioli

Mix very gently with your hand or a wooden spoon. Place a little of the salad mix onto Romain lettuce leaves and serve garnished with: chopped tarragon and a few more chives.