Lobster

 My husband, John, and I love to eat lobster tail on special occasions. After many years of trying to order it at restaurants, paying the price and being disappointed we came up with this method of preparing it at home.  First of all, I want to say that we only buy the lobster's tails.  Here in North-Central California, we pay around $20 per pound at our local Costco store.  We like them around the 1/2 pound size and we look for the color of the meat to be as white as possible.  They are usually frozen, so we thaw them in the fridge over night.  John does the hardest job - getting the lobster out of the shell.  We found that cooking the lobster out of the shell and under the broiler makes it easier to control the doneness, if it is too done it will be chewy. I like to think of the lobster tails as very large prawns.  I like my prawns and lobster to be done but succulent.  That means you don't want to over cook it!  The first thing I do is start soaking 2 wooden skewers per lobster tail in water, so that they don't burn when you put them under the broiler.

This is the presentation we like!

And now, for the how to.............

After thawing and rinsing the lobster tail, use kitchen shears to carefully cut both sides of the membrane - on the bottom side of the tail.

Use your fingers to grab this membrane and carefully pull it away from the tail. 

Reach in, under the shell, and gently pull the lobster meat away from the shell. 

Remove the meat completely from the shell.

Use the shears to trim any black 'hanger onners' from the side of the meat.  Now, insert the soaked wooden skewers into the lobster meat.  Leave a space between the two skewers.

Line a baking dish with foil and spray it lightly with Pam.  Brush melted butter on the lobster meat, squeeze on some fresh lemon juice and season lightly with season salt.  Place meat approximately 6 inches under the broiler element and cook for 5 minutes on each side.

After you have cooked it for 5 minutes on both sides, remove pan from oven and with a sharp knife, cut the lobster between the skewers - not quite all the way through.  The lobster meat will 'lay' open and allow you to see how done it is in the center.  See, it doesn't look quite done in the center.  Return it under the broiler and watch it finish cooking just until the center is solid white.  You want the meat to be done but not overcooked.    

This is what you want the lobster meat to look like!  Juicy and succulent, but done!  Now, use a twisting, turning motion on each of those wooden skewers and remove them from the lobster meat.  Serve your lobster with lemon wedges and melted butter.