LOBSTERS, to Boil.
Ingredients.—¼ lb. of salt to each gallon of water. Mode.—Buy the lobsters alive, and choose those that are heavy and full of motion, which is an indication of their freshness. When the shell is incrusted, it is a sign they are old: medium-sized lobsters are the best. Have ready a stewpan of boiling water, salted in the above proportion; put in the lobster, and keep it boiling quickly from 20 minutes to ¾ hour, according to its size, and do not forget to skim well. If it boils too long, the meat becomes thready, and if not done enough, the spawn is not red: this must be obviated by great attention. Rub the shell over with a little butter or sweet oil, which wipe off again. Time.—Small lobster, 20 minutes to ½ hour; large ditto, ½ to ¾ hour. Average cost, medium size, 1s. 6d. to 2s. 6d. Seasonable all the year, but best from March to October.
To Choose Lobsters.—This shellfish, if it has been cooked alive, as it ought to have been, will have a stiffness in the tail, which, if gently raised, will return with a spring. Care, however, must be taken in thus proving it; for if the tail is pulled straight out, it will not return; when the fish might be pronounced inferior, which, in reality, may not be the case. In order to be good, lobsters should be weighty for their bulk; if light, they will be watery; and those of the medium size, are always the best. Small-sized lobsters are cheapest, and answer very well for sauce. In boiling lobsters, the appearance of the shell will be much improved by rubbing over it a little butter or salad-oil on being immediately taken from the pot.
LOBSTER CURRY (an Entrée).
Ingredients.—1 lobster, 2 onions, 1 oz. butter, 1 tablespoonful of curry-powder, ½ pint of medium stock, the juice of ½ lemon. Mode.—Pick the meat from the shell, and cut into nice square pieces; fry the onions of a pale brown in the butter, stir in the curry-powder and stock, and simmer till it thickens, when put in the lobster; stew the whole slowly for ½ hour, stirring occasionally; and just before sending to table, put in the lemon-juice. Serve boiled rice with it, the same as for other curries. Time.—Altogether, ¾ hour. Average cost, 3s. Seasonable at any time.
LOBSTER CUTLETS (an Entrée).
Ingredients.—1 large hen lobster, 1 oz. fresh butter, ½ saltspoonful of salt, pounded mace, grated nutmeg, cayenne and white pepper to taste, egg, and bread-crumbs. Mode.—Pick the meat from the shell, and pound it in a mortar with the butter, and gradually add the mace and seasoning, well mixing the ingredients; beat all to a smooth paste, and add a little of the spawn; divide the mixture into pieces of an equal size, and shape them like cutlets. They should not be very thick. Brush them over with egg, and sprinkle with bread-crumbs, and stick a short piece of the small claw in the top of each; fry them of a nice brown in boiling lard, and drain them before the fire, on a sieve reversed; arrange them nicely on a dish, and pour béchamel in the middle, but not over the cutlets. Time.—About 8 minutes after the cutlets are made. Average cost for this dish, 2s. 9d. Seasonable all the year. Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons.
LOBSTERS, to Dress.
When the lobster is boiled, rub it over with a little salad-oil, which wipe off again; separate the body from the tail, break off the great claws, and crack them at the joints, without injuring the meat; split the tail in halves, and arrange all neatly in a dish, with the body upright in the middle, and garnish with parsley.