Text 2222, 86 rader
Skriven 2006-06-16 22:22:58 av DAVE SACERDOTE (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av RUTH HANSCHKA
Ärende: That Big Bug
====================
RH> BTW - the Bloomfield Stop & Shop had a giant bug in its 
RH> lobster tank that was so big and ugly it was begging me 
RH> to put it out of its misery with lots of drawn butter.  
RH> The thing had to be over five pounds and was almost 
RH> deliciously ugly.  

RH> It was the biggest one I've ever seen, at least someplace 
RH> where it could be eaten.  I wonder if anyone's eaten it yet.  
RH> I told Dave S where it was via email before posting to the echo..... 

I showed the email to Maryanne, but just last week the Stop & Shop
here in town had a special on lobster (all sizes) for 6.99 a pound,
and we had eaten our fill that week.  The n00b at the cash register
rang the entire bag of lobbies up at a total of $6.99, so you can
guess how happy I was that evening.

Anyway, chances are that the lobster is a real bargain, because S&S
is getting in hardshell lobsters right now, and hardshells are LOADED
with meat.  You'd really get your money's worth at 6.99/lb since the
regular price for bugs that size is about 13.99/lb most places.

I know you say you'd have blown your food budget for the week with that
purchase, and I sympathize there, too.  I've been there.  But there 
have been times when we've had pasta for a week because a rare treat
came along that happened also to be a budget-buster.  That's one of the
things we have in common with Michael. [g] Well do I know, however,
that my sometimes spendthrift ways are not for everyone. :)
 
= =

And now I will tell you about the biggest lobster I have ever seen.
It also happens to be the biggest lobster I have ever helped eat.

Seafood of all kinds have always been part of my diet, ever since
I was a kid.  We had fish often, but we had shellfish too, and I grew
up eating steamers, cherrystones on the halfshell, oysters, crab,
lobster, mussels, etc.  The expensive stuff - lobsters etc - we 
didn't have very often, but often enough that I knew at a young age
how to eat a lobster and how to get every bit out of it.  My mom
didn't do any canning, but we had a huge canning kettle because it
could fit a big mess of lobsters and steamers for the family.

One day, my dad came home with the biggest lobster I had ever seen,
before or since. My mother was so amazed at the size of it that she
had to weigh it before she cooked it.  Her kitchen scale was no 
match for it, so she weighed it on the bathroom scale; it came in
at 25 POUNDS.  It fit into the lobster pot, but just barely, and
there was hardly any room for any water in there, so mom steamed 
it instead of boiling it (the first time she ever made a steamed
lobster to my knowledge.)

There were six of us in the family, and all of us had all the lobster
we could eat.  It was a hardshell, too, and my dad used a mallet to
crack it.  We did not crack the claws, though - we removed the 
knuckles and extracted the meat carefully through the resulting holes.
My mother suggested we bring the claws to school for show-and-tell,
and they were quite a hit: the cutter claw was almost a foot long
and the crusher was more than 9 inches.  My mother will still 
reminisce about that bug when one of says, "Hey, Ma, remember that
huge lobster Dad brought home?"

= =

The biggest lobster I have ever bought as an independent adult was
purchased at the Price Chopper in Ellington last year.  It was an
8.75-pounder (dinky compared to that amazing beast of my childhood.)
It was more than adequate for the three of us.

= =

It is only a myth that big lobsters are "tough" or "stringy."  I
believe that people tend to overcook massive lobsters and this
has given them a bad reputation.  The secret to not overcooking
big lobsters is to steam them - put only about three or four inches
of water in the pan - and place the bugs head down in the pot as 
soon as that shallow measure of water is at a rapid boil.  Then
cover the pot and steam hard for twenty minutes.  From then on, 
check the lobster's tail every five minutes.  When it reaches a
nice white opacity the lobster is ready and should come out.  The
flesh won't get any whiter, but the bug will get plenty tougher
if it's allowed to overcook.

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Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum, 
minutus carborata descendum pantorum
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