Steamed Lobster

1 1/2 pound lobsters (one per person)

Unsalted butter

Salted butter

Lemon juice

Bring an inch of water to a boil in the bottom of a large pot with a lid. Take a sharp chef’s knife and plunge it quickly into the back of the lobster’s head in between the eyes, to kill it instantly. Remove the bands from the lobster’s claws and place lobsters into steaming water. Steam for 7 1/2 minutes, shaking the pot once to rotate the lobsters. After allotted time, remove lobsters and allow to rest for five minutes. Meanwhile melt equal parts salted and unsalted butter in a small pan, squeeze in half a lemon per person and serve alongside boiled new potatoes and a simply-dressed iceberg lettuce salad.

 

Rebecca Charles’s Lobster Rolls

4 1/4 pounds lobster meat (about one lobster per person)

1 celery rib, chopped very finely

Squeeze of lemon

½ cup mayonnaise (Pearl Oyster uses Hellman’s/Best Foods)

Salt and pepper to taste

2 teaspoons unsalted butter

4 top-loading hot dog buns, preferably Pepperidge Farm

 

Roughly chop the lobster meat into half to three-quarter inch pieces and add to a bowl with the celery, lemon juice, mayonnaise, salt and pepper. Mix the ingredients until thoroughly combined. Cover and store the lobster salad in the refrigerator until you need it, but no longer than overnight.

To prepare the sandwiches, melt the butter on low-medium heat in a small saucepan. Place the hot dog buns on their sides in the butter. Flip the buns over a couple of times so that both sides soak up an equal amount of butter and brown evenly. Remove the buns and stuff them with the lobster salad.