Recipe: Spiny Lobster

Fingerling Potatoes and Baby Squash
with Spiny Lobster

Serves 4

In Australia, spiny lobsters (known there as rock lobsters) are harvested in one of the best-managed crustacean fisheries in the world. The Western Australia fishery has earned the seal of approval from the Marine Stewardship Council, a non-profit organization devoted to protecting the seas from irresponsible fishing practices. Unlike American (Maine) lobster, spiny lobster has no claws. It's usually sold frozen or thawed. Spiny lobsters are also harvested from Baja, California, and are also MSC-certified Caribbean. Caribbean lobster fisheries are not at all well managed, and lobsters from there should be avoided.

1 large spiny lobster or 1 pound lobster tails, thawed
1 pound French fingerling or other waxy potatoes, cut into 1-inch chunks
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, halved
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1 pound tender baby squashes, such as baby zucchini,
yellow squash, and patty pan, cut into bite-size pieces
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chervil or flat-leaf parsley
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Sea salt or kosher salt

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil (it should be as salty as seawater). Add the lobster; cook about 4 minutes per pound (slightly underdone). Remove from the pot, cool, and remove the shell. Once cool, cut the meat into bite-size nuggets.

Add the potatoes to the lobster cooking water; boil until tender, about 10 minutes. Transfer the potatoes to a bowl; drizzle with a few drops of olive oil.

Combine the olive oil, garlic, turmeric, and cayenne in a medium saucepan over low heat; cook until the garlic becomes soft and begins to sizzle. Add the baby squashes; cook 4 minutes, until crisp-tender. Add the lobster meat just to heat through. Toss the warm lobster mixture with the potatoes, chervil, lemon juice, and salt to taste.

Buy the Book!

from:
The Ethical Gourmet
by Jay Weinstein
Broadway
368 pages; Paperback; $19.95
ISBN: 0-7679-1834-7
Recipe reprinted by permission.