When we want to pull out all the stops for a really special meal, we'll grill lobsters — either for appetizers, or a main dish. We parboil them in Zatarain's Crab Boil first, stop the cooking with a dip in cool water, and separate the claws and tails. They can stay in this condition for a day or so, until you're ready to grill them.
We use a 25 gallon boiling pot, and add a 3 oz bottle of Zatarain's Concentrated Liquid Crab Boil, a sliced lemon and lime, parsley and rough-cut onion. When the water boils, we add the lobsters, one-at-a-time: they will cook 10 mins for the first pound, and 3 mins for every pound over one.... Then remove them and put them in a bucket of cool, clean water until you can handle them with your bare hands. Set them aside as you cook the other lobsters, then separate the tail sections and the claws. You can use the heads to make a wonderful seafood stock, but that's another story....
To grill, start a two-level fire with one side hot and the other fairly cool. When the fire is about 300-350 degrees, put the lobster tails hard shell down on the grill over the fire, and put the claws on the cool end. Cook the tails for about 3 mins and flip them to the soft shell side for about 2 mins. Then move the tails over the to cooler side, and put the claws over the fire for 2-3 mins, turning often.
We serve them with a sauce of:
1 stick butter
zest and juice of one lemon
1 Tbs fresh parsley
and lemon wedges on the side.
To make the tails into an appetizer, split them down the hard-shell side with a large, sharp knife. Each tail will now be two long, skinny pieces. Slice each of the pieces into 8 bite-size pieces, and skewer each one. Use a sheet of foil to place them on the grill, and cook them for about 2-3 mins, until the insides are opaque. Serve with the butter sauce for dipping, or try our spicy Remoulade!
