Lobster Bisque

2 medium lobsters, undercooked
2 cups water
1 quart milk
6 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups oyster crackers rolled to a dust
1 teaspoon salt
few grains cayenne

Remove meat from shell and large claws and pass through fine grinder. Break body and small claws, cover with water, bring slowly to boiling point, and cook 20 minutes. Drain and add liquor to milk and scald. Melt butter; stir in flour and cracker crumbs; gradually stir in hot liquid and cook 5 minutes, stirring till smooth and thickened. Add seasonings and lobster meat, and heat thoroughly. Add remaining butter and serve. Serves 6.

From Good Maine Food by Marjorie Mosser

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Michael Salmon’s Lobster Funchi
Inevitably, we all end up with the task of making hors d’oeuvres. Whether making them for our own dinner parties or taking them to friends or family, the same hors d’oeuvres appear time and time again. We become efficient and confident with certain preparations and when the feedback is positive, it becomes even easier to prepare the same recipe.
Here is a chance to mix things up a little bit. My recipe for Funchi Rounds with Maine Lobster and a Dill Aioli combines polenta (called Funchi on the island of Aruba) with our delicate Maine lobster with a spicy aioli accented with fresh dill.
I guarantee it will be a standout at your next dinner party.

Funchi Rounds with Maine Lobster and a Dill Aioli
Yields 24 pieces
 
2 cups water
1/2 cup yellow corn meal
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup grated Gruyère cheese
 
1 pound cooked lobster meat, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground fennel
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon granulated garlic
2 teaspoons coarsely chopped Italian parsley
         
1.   Combine 1/2 cup of water with the corn meal and salt.
2.   Boil the remaining 1 1/2 cups of water over high heat. At a boil, whisk the softened cornmeal into the water, stirring constantly until thickened. Stir in Gruyère cheese. Cover and reduce the heat to low, continuing to cook for 5 minutes.

3.   For this recipe I use two mini-muffin pans. Each pan has 12 small indentations. Place an oversized piece of plastic wrap over each muffin pan. Starting at one end, fill the plastic lined tins with a heaping tablespoon of the hot corn meal mix. Press the mixture into the tin, forming a firm cake. Using your thumb, create a small indentation in the top of each corn meal round. Refrigerate until set, about 20 minutes.
4.   Combine the lobster with the olive oil, salt and spices. Mix well to combine.
5.   Un-mold the corn meal rounds and fill the indentation with a dollop of the dill-aioli.  Top with some lobster meat and a sprinkle of Italian parsley.
 
Dill Aioli
4 garlic cloves
2 large egg yolks
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup canola oil
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh dill sprigs
kosher salt to taste
 
1.   Mince the garlic and mash it with the side of a large knife (using a little salt) until it becomes a smooth paste. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, lemon juice, paprika, cayenne, and Dijon mustard.
2.   While whisking the egg mixture vigorously, add the oils in a very slow stream. Whisk constantly, adding the oil slowly until all of the oil is incorporated. Add the mashed garlic and dill. Season with salt, cover and chill.
Recipe Courtesy Michael Salmon/ Hartstone Inn for DownEast.com
Red’s Famous Lobster Roll

If you want to cook and pick your own lobster meat, plan on one 1- to-1½  pound hardshell lobster or two to three 1- to 1¼-pound softshell lobsters per roll. (Do not use frozen lobster meat; that is a sin.)
•    1 split-top hot dog bun, sides brushed with melted butter
•    Plenty of fresh, cooked lobster meat, including two whole claws and a whole tail, deveined and split  
•    Drawn butter, optional
•    Mayonnaise, preferably extra heavy, optional
1. Grill the hot dog bun until sides are toasted and golden. This takes just a few minutes.
2. Rip lobster meat into chunks and fill the middle of the roll. Put the whole claws at each side of the roll and put the split lobster tail  on top.
3. Ogle your sandwich. Eat as is or drizzled with drawn butter or mayonnaise. Wish you had made two.

From Red’s Eats: World’s Best Lobster Shack by Virginia Wright and Debbie Gagnon Cronk

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Nicatous Lodge Lobster Pie

A heritage recipe from Denise and Gary Betz, who ran Nicatous Lodge from 1997 to 2003. Gary Betz, Jr., grew up in a housekeeping sporting camp that his parents, Nancy and Gary Sr., still run in Grand Lake Stream.
Denise Betz: “We had an annual wild game potluck at Nicatous, and we also ran a lot of specials. This was something people really enjoyed. Adjust amounts to the number of people being served.”

2 T butter
1/4 cup white wine
1 cup well-packed lobster meat
3 T butter
1 T flour
¾ cup light cream
2 egg yolks
about ½ cup seasoned cracker crumbs or breadcrumbs

In a saucepan, combine butter and wine and boil 1 minute. Add the lobster and set aside. In another saucepan, melt 3 T butter. Add the flour and stir until the mixture bubbles. Remove from the heat and slowly stir in the cream. Drain the wine-butter mixture from the lobster and add that liquid to the cream mixture.
Return pan to the heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce is smooth and thick. Remove from the heat. Stir in the egg yolks and pour the sauce into the top of a double boiler over hot, not boiling, water (the sauce may curdle if the water is boiling). Stir about 3 minutes. Add the lobster.
Spoon the mixture into a small pie dish and sprinkle with crushed seasoned crackers or breadcrumbs to cover. Bake at 300 degrees for 10 minutes.

From The Maine Sporting Camp Cookbook by Alice Arlen

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Lobster Newburg

Without question, I have more recipe requests for lobster Newburg than any other lobster recipe. A tablespoon of lemon juice in the following recipe does not mask the flavor of the lobster and is a variation from the usual sherry in a Newburg. You might prefer using a tall can of evaporated milk in place of the light cream—it will avoid the worry of curdling.

2 cups lobster meat cut in medium-sized pieces
4 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup light cream
2 egg yolks, beaten
1 tablespoon lemon juice
¼ teaspoon salt
Paprika

Melt 3 tablespoons butter, add lobster meat, and cook slowly to start the pink color—use a low heat for doing this. In another saucepan, melt the remaining tablespoon butter, add flour, salt, a dash of paprika. Add cream or evaporated milk, stirring constantly, cook over low heat until thickened. Remove from heat, turn into beaten egg yolks. Turn back into pan, return to heat, stir again until thickened. Add the heated lobster and lemon juice, serve at once on toast points. Serves 4.

From Cooking Down East by Marjorie Standish

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Maine-Style Chef’s Salad

Traditional chef’s salads are made with cold cuts and thinly sliced cheeses. Here we have a delightful twist on that old favorite: the luscious tastes of the Maine coast—shrimp, smoked salmon, and lobster—combined with fresh peapods, beets, carrots, and local cheeses. Remember to snitch a bite or two for yourself as you create this masterpiece of delicacies.
Serves 6 to 8

Salad Vegetables:
    6 c mesclun greens
    2 c baby spinach
    1 c baby carrots
    2 c fresh snow peas
    1 lb fresh asparagus
    3 large portobello mushroom caps
    1 c sliced cooked beets (optional)

Dressing:
    4 T balsamic vinegar
    4 T olive oil
    1⁄4 c chives, chopped
    1 clove garlic, minced
    1⁄2 t salt
    1⁄2 t pepper

Seafoods and Cheeses:
1 lb clean fresh cooked Maine lobster meat
1 lb fresh cooked Maine shrimp
8 oz smoked salmon
4 oz Mystique Cheese Rosemary Chèvre
4 oz Mystique Cheese Herb Chèvre

Wash the mesclun greens and baby spinach and place them on a large platter (or on individual salad plates, if you prefer).
Quarter the baby carrots lengthwise to create long, thick matchsticks. Trim the ends off the snow peas.
Trim the bottom ends off of the asparagus. Blanch the asparagus in boiling salted water for 3 minutes. Remove and rinse with cold water. Set aside.
Lightly wash the portobello mushroom caps and slice into 1⁄2-inch strips.
In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, olive oil,  chives, garlic, salt, and pepper. Place the mushroom slices in a large resealable plastic bag and pour the dressing over the mushrooms. Set the bag in a bowl and chill while you assemble the salad.
Arrange the lobster, shrimp, smoked salmon, chèvre, carrots, snow peas, asparagus, and beets (if desired) on top of the greens. You can be creative here, arranging the ingredients decoratively (for example, like the spokes of a wheel).
Drain the mushrooms carefully into a bowl, reserving the dressing. Place the mushrooms on the greens.
Drizzle the dressing over all of the ingredients. There should be just a touch on the seafood and vegetables, allowing the flavor of each element to come through.
Serve chilled.

From Fresh Maine Salads by Cynthia Finnemore Simonds

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Baked Stuffed Lobster

to split a live lobster:
Place the lobster on its back. Cross the large claws over its head and hold firmly with your left hand. This is it! Make a deep, quick incision with a sharp pointed knife and draw the knife quickly down the entire length of the body and tail

to clean lobster:
Spread the lobster flat. Using a teaspoon, remove the tomalley. This will go into the stuffing. So will the coral or roe, if it happens to be a female lobster. The next step is to break the intestinal vein where it is attached to the end of the tail. Use the handle of the spoon to do this. Before you remove this vein there is another step: Use your fingers to remove the sac or stomach (a lobster's stomach is under its head). Using two fingers, remove this sac in one fell swoop. As you do this, it will break the other end of the intestinal tract. Now, use the teaspoon handle again and complete the removal of this tract. Make sure the cavity is cleaned out; you may do this by holding under running cold water. Turn lobster over and allow to drain. It is now ready for stuffing.

Stuffing for Lobster:
For 8 lobsters use the following amount:
1/2 pound butter, melted
2 cups dried bread crumbs, ground fine (make this a generous amount)
2 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce
a little salt
tomalley and coral, too

Preheat oven to 325 °F. Mix all together. Fill cavity of lobster with the stuffing, using a spoon for this. Divide the amount of stuffing among the number of lobsters you are baking, using amounts above as a guide. With this amount of butter in stuffing, no need to "dot" any on top. For a drier stuffing, use more bread crumbs.</p>

Place stuffed lobsters in foil-lined pan. Alternate heads and tails so they will fit better in pan. Bring edge of foil up over end of tail of each lobster. Press foil, so it secures end of tail firmly to edge of pan. If you do not do this, tails are apt to curl up as they bake. Remove plugs from claws if you wish.
Bake for 50 minutes, depending upon size of lobsters.

From Cooking Down East by Marjorie Standish

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