Orange Lobster Tail Food

GRILLED LOBSTER TAILS WITH HERB BUTTER

Steps:

• Preheat your grill to direct medium-high heat.
• In a small bowl blend butter, chives, tarragon, minced garlic, hot sauce, and black pepper with a rubber spatula. Blend thoroughly. Cover with plastic wrap and reserve.
• Using kitchen shears, butterfly the lobster tails straight down the middle of the softer underside of the shell. Cut the meat down the center without cutting all the way through. Insert a metal skewer down the lobster tail so the tail stands straight. Brush the tails with olive oil and season with salt, to taste.
• Grill lobsters cut side down over medium high heat about 5 minutes, until the shells are bright in color. Turn the tails over and spoon a generous tablespoon of herbed butter onto the butterflied meat. Grill for another 4 minutes, or until the lobster meat is an opaque white color.
• Remove lobster tails from the grill and serve with more herb butter and lemon wedges. Garnish with chive sprigs.

BEST GRILLED TROPICAL CITRUS LOBSTER TAILS

Steps:

• Lobster -- Take each tail, flesh side up and cut down the center of the tail. DO NOT cut all the way through the shell, you just want to cut the meat, so the good butter sauce can get all the way into the meat.
• Butter -- Simply mix the butter, orange lime and pineapple juice, orange and lime zest, shallot, honey, garlic and cilantro. If you want you can use a small food processor to do this, but I just mix it by hand. Transfer to a small bowl and set to the side. You will need to melt this to brush on the lobsters. I just melt mine in the microwave - 10-15 seconds is all you need.
• Grilling -- I start with the tails wrapped in a foil pouch so they don't dry out too much. Just add each tail to a piece of foil, shell side down, and butter the flesh side well. Wrap up each tail and put on the grill. I cook around 5-8 minutes (depends on the size of the tail) and then open up the foil pouch, remove the tail and finish on the grill. Brush again with the butter and put flesh side down on the grill. Cook 2 minutes, flip and finish cooking shell side down. When you flip the lobster, make sure to brush with the butter again. Cook another couple of minutes. You want the flesh opaque, firm to the touch and the shell red in color.
• Serve -- Serve a little extra butter on the side if you want. The lobster meat will pull right out of the shell. ENJOY!

LOBSTER TAILS WITH CITRUS BUTTER

Steps:

• Cut the lobster tails down the center through the meat but not all the way through the shell.
• Fold over butterfly style.
• Combine remaining ingredients and brush over the meat.
• Put some foil over your grill and place the tails, shell side down on the foil.
• Cook, covered, for about 14-16 minutes until the meat is firm and white.
• Brush occasionally while cooking.
• Loosen the meat slightly before serving and brush one last time with the citrus butter.
• NOTE: We broiled instead of grilled.
• Used a broiling pan with the broiler on low, with the tails about 6 inches from the heat source and watched them the entire time.
• We serve with the remaining citrus butter.
• You may choose to make extra.

PERFECT LOBSTER TAILS

Steps:

• Preheat the broiler. Place a wire cooling rack inside a rimmed baking sheet. Cut the top shell of the lobster tails lengthwise down the middle with kitchen shears. Then, using a knife, cut all the way through the tails to split into 2 pieces. Place them flesh-side up on the prepared baking sheet.
• Mix together the butter, parsley, shallot, lemon zest, 1/2 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper in a small bowl until well combined.
• Spread 2 teaspoons of the compound butter on the flesh of each lobster tail half. Broil until the shells turn a bright orange, the flesh is opaque and cooked through and the tails begin to curl, about 4 minutes.
• Transfer the tails to a serving platter and top each half with another teaspoon of the compound butter (save the remainder for another use).

BUTTER POACHED LOBSTER TAIL WITH A LOBSTER CLAW CAKE IN A CITRUS BUTTER SAUCE

Steps:

• Split lobsters, reserve tails, and season. Steam claws and shock in an ice bath. Clean claw meat to be free of all shell and shell fragments, chop, and reserve for the pancake mix.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• In a saute pan, heat oil to smoking hot, saute leeks until translucent. Add chicken stock, and reduce liquid until nearly dry. Season with salt and pepper.
• Melt butter in a small saucepan. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and sugar. In a separate bowl, beat eggs slightly, add melted butter, and buttermilk. Add dry ingredients to egg mixture, and fold together, adding half-and-half to make it a pancake batter consistency. Add shallot, chives, and parsley, and season with salt and pepper. Be careful not to overwork the batter.
• Heat a nonstick pan over medium heat. Set ring molds in the pan and spray well with nonstick spray. With a small ladle, add approximately 1 ounce of the batter in the bottom of the ring molds. Place the braised leeks and some of the chopped lobster on top of the batter, and add more batter on top of the lobster. When browned on the bottom, carefully invert the pancake, to brown the top. Cook for about 1 minute, and then place in the oven until the center is done. Test doneness by placing a toothpick into the center of the cake. It should be dry when removed.
• In a saute pan, add 3 pounds melted butter and on a low-medium flame heat the split tails flesh side down until flesh cooks enough to become firm. Turn tails over so that the shell side is down to finish cooking (remember not to cook too high of a heat so that milk solids in the butter evaporates too quickly-otherwise you "fry" the lobster tail rather than poaching it).
• Place sauce in middle of plate. Place lobster pancake in the pool of sauce. Wrap the 2 cooked lobster tail halves around themselves to hold each other in place on top of pancake. Garnish with petite sorrel.
• In a saute pan reduce white wine and shallots until nearly dry. Add heavy cream and reduce to a thick consistency. Slowly add butter whisking continuously on medium heat. Do not bring to a boil. Add juices and season with salt and pepper. Strain.

GRILLED LOBSTER WITH ORANGE CHIPOTLE VINAIGRETTE

Steps:

• Bring a large kettle (at least 8-quart capacity) three fourths full of water to a boil for lobsters.
• In a blender blend zest, orange juice, vinegar, chipotles in adobo, salt, and sugar until chipotles are chopped fine. With motor running add oil in a slow stream. Vinaigrette may be prepared up to this point 3 days ahead and chilled, covered. Bring vinaigrette to room temperature before serving.
• In boiling water partially cook lobsters, 2 at a time, over high heat 3 minutes and transfer with tongs to a colander to drain and cool. (Make sure water returns to a full boil before adding each batch of lobsters.)
• When lobsters are cool enough to handle, remove tails and claws and discard bodies. With kitchen shears halve tails (including shells) lengthwise, cutting off swimmerets on underside of tails if desired. Lobsters may be prepared up to this point 1 day ahead and chilled, covered.
• Prepare grill.
• Grill claws, in batches if necessary, on a rack set 5 to 6 inches over glowing coals, turning occasionally, until liquid bubbles at open end, 5 to 7 minutes, and transfer to a platter.
• Stir basil leaves into vinaigrette and reserve 1 1/4 cup in a small pitcher. Brush meat in lobster tails with some vinaigrette. Grill tails, meat side down, in batches if necessary, 3 minutes. Turn tails meat side up, brushing with more vinaigrette, and grill until juices are bubbling and meat is plump and opaque, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer tails to platter. Lobster may be grilled 2 hours ahead and cooled, uncovered, before chilling, covered.
• Serve lobster warm or chilled with reserved vinaigrette and garnish with basil sprigs.