Try this:
Pick the lobster meat from approximately two lobsters. Chop into small pieces. Don't forget to pick the meat out of the body. And for goodness' sake, don't forget to include the coral and tomalley. They are FLAVOR!
Slice the corn off of two cobs, preferably corn that you included in your clambake.
Finely dice a small section of onion, about the size of a ping pong ball or so.
Chop some fresh chives from the back yard garden, and some fresh tarragon.
Add the vegetation to the lobster in a large bowl.
Crumble one sleeve of saltine crackers into the bowl.
Melt some butter (you have to ballpark this - and it will depend on how much liquid you included with your lobster meat, and the humidity, and so forth.) - maybe half a stick to start with. Pour this over the ingredients in the bowl and mix it all together. The crackers should soak up the melted butter.
Crack a couple of eggs into the mix and stir everything until combined.
Now - here's what I plan to do NEXT time - I didn't do it the first two times, but I think it would be wise: let the mixture sit for ten minutes or so and then add some more liquid - butter if you want, or clam juice, or maybe another egg, or some milk. Combine once more and let sit a few more minutes. Get a plate ready, get a pan ready, get some vegetable oil ready, and get another plate ready with some layers of paper towel on top. And get a spatula. Okay?
Now, take a golf-ball sized lump of the lobster mixture in your hands and roll into a ball and place on the first of your two plates. Continue in this manner with the rest of the mixture until it's all used up.
Now pour a layer of oil in your pan and heat on medium high heat until the oil sizzles when you flick some water on it. Okay, now carefully (hot oil is hot) place one of the lobster cake balls in the pan and press it down a bit to flatten. Don't press too much or it might fall apart.
Place several more lobster cake balls in the pan, pressing slightly. If you've got an 8-10 inch pan, you just want 4 or 5 of the lobster cakes in the pan - you need plenty of space between them so you can slide the spatula underneath without breaking one next to it.
Check the bottom of the first lobster cake - you want it to brown nicely. It should be about two minutes. You may want to turn the heat down a bit, too. Carefully turn over the lobster cakes and press down again, GENTLY, this time with your spatula. Cook until the other side is browned - maybe another two minutes, and then remove and set on the paper towels on your second plate. Brush some more oil on the pan if needed, and repeat the whole process again, until all the lobster cakes are done.
You can keep them warm in a low oven or a warming drawer, depending on what you have available. You could also just cover them with foil. Whatever works.
When I made these most recently, I made a little sauce out of about a third of a cup of mayo, some "coriander chutney" that I bought at the grocery store recently - it's basically sort of a cilantro pesto, chipotle tabasco sauce, salt, pepper, and lime juice. Mayo with tarragon, chives and lime would be nice, too.
And there you go - a nice way to use up lobster leftovers - if you are fortunate enough to have them.
Give it a shot - it's really pretty simple, and you'll impress the hell out of your dining companions.
Nice! I will have to plan leftovers from the next one just for those. Thanks
Posted by: ELLELL | August 01, 2007 at 01:29 PM