Lazy man’s lobster 🦞

I love lobster but I am way too much of a cheapskate to buy them these days. Have you seen the price of lobster? We bought two of them for Sam’s seafood boil for his birthday back in August and they cost a small fortune.

Our friend Martin had two live lobsters leftover from the seafood salad he made for his wife’s celebration of life luncheon on Saturday. He asked me if I wanted them he wasn’t going to cook them for himself. Hell, yes! 

I’ve killed lobsters before and hate doing it. I am a person who likes their food already dead, but when it comes to some shellfish like clams, oysters & lobsters you have to take them out yourselves. I’ve put the in the freezer before throwing them into the pot. I’ve done it putting a knife swiftly through the head, which is considered the most humane way for this task.

This time I made Marty do it. I thanked them for their lives and that their death wouldn’t be in vein. I’ve been weepy enough this week and wasn’t up to doing it. I promised them before they went into the pot that I would make something amazing with them. Ten minutes later, I had two beautiful cooked lobsters. 

I decided to make Lazy Man’s Lobster which I never made before but love. It just so happened that I had some gluten-free ritz type of crackers on hand so I wanted to give it a whirl. 

I removed all the meat from the tails, claws and knuckles from the lobsters. Next, I crushed up the crackers and mixed them with some butter, lemon zest, and parsley for the topping.

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I butter poached some minced garlic then added a splash of sherry, the juice of the lemon I zested, kosher salt & pepper. Next, I divided the  lobster meat between three oven safe dishes, I spooned the melted butter mixture over the three dishes and topped them evenly with the cracker crumb topping. 

I threw them into the refrigerator then just needed to heat them up and brown the topping at dinner time. I baked two of the dishes at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. The third one I kept in the fridge for Sam since he was working.

I served the lazy man’s lobster with a baked potato. We squeezed fresh lemon wedges on the lobster. Lemon with rich dishes like this one is necessary because it cuts through the richness and brightens the dish. Rich food can be sickening without the acid.

The lazy man’s lobster was incredible. Better than any lazy man’s lobster I’ve ever had at a seafood place. The garlic and lemon elevated the dish making it so bright and flavorful.

The next day, I told Sammy there was a lazy man’s lobster in the fridge for him. He got the biggest grin on his face that made my heart sing! His smile looked like the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland or the Grinch when he decided to ruin the whos down in Whosville Christmas.

I gave him the heating instructions then went upstairs to put away laundry & shower. When I came back downstairs there was still the smell of garlic waifing in the air. All of a sudden Sam practically yelled, “That was soooooo good” with a big smile on his face

Cooking delicious food for others is what I live for! I was thrilled I did those two lobsters justice. I sent Martin a photo of the lazy man’s lobster and thanked him again.