GIVING TANKS TO LOBSTERS

Thanksgiving bringing visions of a turkey dinner with all of the fixings needs to be replaced by history as it really happened.  With the Mayflower floating at sea, the Pilgrims first landed in Provincetown, Massachusetts where the Native Americans introduced them to lobster.  Yes, it was the year 1620 as they spent five weeks drafting up one of the most famous documents in American history, the Mayflower Compact…In fact, you know you have approached P’Town when you see the Pilgrim Monument, the tallest all-granite structure in the US….That first Thanksgiving brought New England seafood where lobsters were considered the “turkey.” 

 

Once known as the “cockroach of the sea,” lobsters have become a mouth-watering delicacy especially to Susan Povich and her husband Ralph Gorham.   Susan’s family originally lived in Maine where the best lobster seems to be found.   While vacationing there Susan got a hankering for lobster.  She and Ralph first decided to share their food craving with friends by bringing back 20 pounds of it for a lobster dinner.   They came to the conclusion that a business investment would work even better with a move to Red Hook, Brooklyn.  Thus the Red Hook Lobster Pound begat selling lobsters maintained in tanks. 

With Red Hook going through a period of gentrification Susan and Ralph wanted to keep up with this new artsy area by turning his business into a restaurant.  Nothing fancy.  Ralph describes it as being a “shanty shack like you would see at the end of a wharf in Maine.”  I loved it!  Just a few blocks from the NYC ferry landing.  

What would then be the best way to serve lobster without having to cook them or even pick it apart?  Lobster rolls, another New England craze. “Maine Lobster”, one of the rolls, is tossed with a touch of homemade mayo piled on to a buttery split-top bun and topped with paprika and scallions. Susan has experimented with creating the perfect mayo that would enhance the lobster without overwhelming the flavor.   

Does the lobster meat come from the lobsters from their tank?   Are you kidding?  With the amount of lobster rolls sold here Ralph gets the meat from a company in Maine where they have machines that do the work.  It’s the knuckles and claws that have the sweetest and most tender meat.  Sometimes it can come from the legs as well.  Next time you get a whole lobster, use a rolling pin to push it out.  You may be surprised with the quantity.   Did I tell you that it comes with slaw, pickle and your choice of fries, potato salad or green salad?

Would you like the “Thanksgiving experience?”  Have a lobster dinner, especially on a Wednesday when the price is $25.  You get a Swimming-in-the-tank-fresh 1 1/2 LB Maine Lobster, boiled red new potatoes, corn and restaurant made cole slaw.  Bib and equipment provided. 

There are a few other items that you must indulge in.  One of them is soup.  If you are with someone, get two cups of two different “chowdahs.”   Down East consists of lobster, clams, haddock and mussels in a creamy tomato broth.  The other is a creamy old fashioned clam chowder. 

I have had fried pickles before.  Restaurants usually serve them in slices cross wise or length wise.  Ralph tells me that they dice them up, place them in a Brooklyn brine beer batter to fry and serve with a chipotle aioli.  There is always a next time for me.  

I’m not much for brussels sprouts.  I could now understand why it has become one of their best sellers.  Fry them in a caramelized lobster broth and make sure that they don’t come out raw or overdone.  Wow!  

You can’t imagine that the most popular sandwich is a Hook Burger.  That’s another one of Susan’s ideas and it won awards.  Dry aged prime custom blend. Burger itself is topped with lettuce, tomato, special sauce and American cheese. Add bacon...$1.50. Like all of the sandwiches, it comes with slaw, Brooklyn brine pickle and your choice of Fries, Potato Salad or Green Salad. Sweet potato fries extra $1.00.  This burger has been rated one of the top 25 in New York City.  

I had to save room for dessert (s).  Steve's Authentic Key Lime Pies is a local thing.  They come in tarts and use real key limes and egg yolks.  Although pies can be made with regular limes, these small key limes have a special flavor of their own.  It is topped with fresh whipped cream.  Since the Banana Mousse Pudding is made on the premises I needed to sample that as well.  OMG.  Whipped pudding with ‘nilla wafers topped with whipped cream. 

Here is the info low down.   Open Tuesday-Thursday: 11:30am-10pm Friday-Saturday: 11:30am-11pm / Sunday: 11:30am-10pm.  Phone number: 718-858-7650 

Red Hook Lobster Pound has some other locations, although none are full restaurants.  Their Montauk location is a basic shack with food to go and benches outside.  Another location is a main booth that is part of UrbanSpace Vanderbilt at 45^th St. in Manhattan.  Needless to say there are trucks, one of which you will find in Rockaway along the beach calling it Rockaway Clam Bar.  Cater your party by having a truck come to your home!  Happy Tanksgiving!

IT'S "THE CLAW"

After seeing Forever Dusty at the New World Stages, it was time to grab a bite.  Well, it was more than a bite with the three of us at this restaurant called Claw, located on 9th Avenue between 50th and 51st Street. They specialize is dishes with fresh steamed lobster although I did not see having a whole lobster on their menu.

It was a bit late and they were out of a few items such as the lobster mac and cheese as well as the lobster quesadilla.  Oh well, next time.

What did we eat?  Lobster Roll with butter and mayo.  Shrimp Roll.  Crab Beignets.  Lobster Bisque. Corn Chowder with spicy sausage.  Coconut Shrimp. French Fries. Chopped Salad with lobster.  

We each had a different beer. 

EATS AND DRINKS

How could I turn down going to Fairway Market with a sale on lobster at $6.99 per lb!  We're not talking ones that are a "pound and a quarter".  Two pounders...three.   The thing is, Fairway doesn't change the price with size.  You know what I'm talking about.   I got one female that was about two pounds and a male that was over 3 and half.

I had them take the life out of the female for me as I wanted to broil that one and I'm not really sure what I need to cut into.   There was lots of roe.  After broiling in my NuWave oven, I ate the tail and cracked the  claws.  I saved the knuckles, roe and claw meat for a near future lobster bisque or stew.  As for the body, I tore it apart and got every bit of meat.

The best way that I found to cook up a live one is to steam it in beer.   Maybe it gets drunk along the way....who knows.  All I know is that it gives a slightly sweeter flavor and a little less fishy....I do this for shrimp as well.  Being that it was a rather large size, cracking the claws involved my using a hammer!!  I would not recommend that large of a lobster if you are on the weak size.  Needless to say, the tail was huge!

Ate the body and the claws...after all the work!...I froze the lobster tail in its shell along with the knuckles for a future meal.  The advantage of having such a large lobster, not only is the size of the tail but the amount of meat that you can get from the body.   A smoked lobster corn chowder is planned.

I then explored the produce section where Fairway is buying local goods...local meaning the tri-state area.   Pickup up a Boston lettuce and red leaf lettuce.  Bargain was the watermelon at 29 cents a pound....so sweet and refreshing, especially with this awful heat.

It was lobster and a salad for dinner.  I'm working on a dessert using chocolate pudding...still too hot to potchka.  I will not prepare instant pudding!  I usually make it from scratch using cocoa powder, sugar, vanilla extract, milk and corn starch to thicken.   I bought My-T-Fine pudding that you cook!   That's what I grew up on.  Will let you know how it turns out.

I had a blueberry pie, instead.   Well, not exactly a blueberry pie.   It was Graeter's "Elena's Blueberry Pie".
I'm not a blueberry pie person.  This was awesome.  No blueberry bits...the real thing.   It both had the consistency and taste of eating a small amount of blueberry pie and a large scoop of vanilla ice cream!

I had also commented on Graeter's  sorbets being a bit too sweet for me.  Found a fabulous use other than making a smoothie.  A placed a scoop of sorbet in a small plastic bottle with water, shook and put it in the frig.  Like having lemon, strawberry or raspberry "ade".  Quite refreshing and keeps me hydrated.

Oh yeah....I bought loose rooibos tea at Fairway.  Combine the tea (which is really fine on its own and without sugar) with a small scoop of sorbet for extra flavor and sweetness.  Makes for a most delicious iced tea.

WHEN IN MAINE EAT LOBSTER

The next morning Norm and I were off to Richmond about an hour north of Portland. John Hathaway is the President of a Shucks, a company that shucks lobsters. He takes the live lobsters and puts them in a machine that uses water pressure to separate the meat from the shell. It's probably the most humane way of killing a lobster.

You now have the raw meat to remove from the shell and ship it to restaurants. Many chefs, especially from overseas, don't want frozen cooked meat. In other words, when you order a lobster tail, you are not getting a fresh lobster, unless the restaurant has live lobsters floating in a tank. The same goes for dishes such as lobster macaroni and cheese or lobster Thermidor.

So, for instance, the restaurant will purchase frozen raw lobster tails in the shell that will cook easily (best poached at a low temperature in butter). I watched the process and engaged in removing the shell to get the raw meat. You can easily view the assembly line of packing the lobster tails...or as I named it, the Retail area.

Lobsters can be gotten whole, or halved as well as buying a one pound package of meat from the claws and knuckles. Think lobster tacos and lobster bisque.

I used the meat to make a lobster mac and cheese. I purchased a box of organic semolina macaroni, then went into the deli section for a container of various cheese snack cubes. I had found the lobster meat to be sweet with just a hint of saltiness and with the cheeses didn't need any further herbs or spices. The website is www.shucksmaine.com

If you are up in the Richmond area, John will be able to give you a tour if available. Be ready to don yourself in boots, white coat, gloves and a hair net.

I had trouble donning the boots and had to substitute with plastic bags....good idea to carry with you in case it precipitates.

You can't dine there so we were off to a restaurant called Reds Eats located on Water Street in Wiscasset, a town noted for antiquing. It's a corner shack with tables and chairs to eat outside or take it to go. Upon arriving I saw a very long line of people. This place is just over a bridge and draws most of the attention due to what has to be the best lobster roll going! I think the hot dog type roll is just a vehicle for what has to be a minimum of a pound and a half of lobster meat with no fillers. You get the mayo or whatever you want to put on it on the side. The price that day was about $18 and varies by market price just as most places that sell lobster rolls. Think about the what size lobster you would have to order and the price to get that amount of meat.

They do not cook lobsters or get the raw meat. It is coming from a local place and fresh.

That's not to say that you can't get clams, a crabmeat roll or even a hamburger. I would suggest a side of Deep Fried Zucchini. They don't have a website. The phone number is 207-882-6128.

Let Them Eat Lobster

Happy Thanksgiving to all who are celebrating! Although it’s the official Thanksgiving here in the United States, the true date has absolutely nothing to do with turkey or Plymouth Rock. In fact, the Mayflower could have just crashed into the rock when they made there way from Provincetown, Massachusetts. Provincetown?

That’s correct. The first landing of the Mayflower took place at the tip of Cape Cod in Provincetown, on November 21st, 1620. It was there where they signed the Mayflower Compact in Provincetown Harbor and not Plymouth Rock, where they landed five weeks later, a year prior to the famous harvest feast. It was in Provincetown that the compact was about governing the new colony and they ate lobster and other fish from the waters, as well as corn and cranberries. In other words, Thanksgiving should be celebrated with an old fashioned Clam Bake!

As for that tiny rock in Plymouth, just feast your eyes on the Pilgrim Monument, the 252-foot, 7.5 inches tallest granite structure in the United States!

So, what did I do for Thanksgiving? Since I didn't get an invite and not wanting to sulk at home, I decided to go to McCormick & Schmick's in Manhattan for a lobster dinner.

I took public transportation into Manhattan. It's not unusual to find a Latino singer playing a guitar, or simply someone giving a "story" as to why he needs money, but this one was different! It was a portable magic act. The guy brings a wheelable table with stuff in it including a rabbit and dove.

Meanwhile at McCormick & Schmick's...I first had the pleasure of talking with Executive Chef Chris. Although each lunch and dinner menu are different, depending on the fresh fish that Chris gets, there were some new items on the menu as well that involved sushi and sashimi.

I started with the Salmon Lomi Lomi tossed tableside with chopped tomato, pineapple, onions and lime juice, followed by Kona Kampachi Sashimi with avocado, soy and truffle oil. Kona Kampachi is an Hawaiian yellowtail.



Then came my two-pounder! All meat was found and eaten. It came with a small ear of corn and I ordered a side of the sweet potato casserole, which was a sort of sweet potato pie. Chunks of sweet potato with marshmallows, cinnamon and maple syrup...I think. I saved it for dessert.

As I walked back to the subway I saw a group of dancers performing to hip-hop music and hoped for perhaps someone playing a violin on the way home. Wrong. It looked like we got some guy who seemed to know everything about everything and sharing it all the way to when I happily got off. What a day!