A Very Special Lobster Dinner!

I can hear you asking yourself... Lobster? (Or, rather, Lobstah?) What an unusual post from the Barbershop! Yes, this is an unusual post, I agree. About 80% of the time, it's delicious desserts that come from the Barbershop (well, to be more specific, delicious desserts are the subjects of my blog posts; desserts do not actually make up 80% of my daily food intake! I know that's what you were wondering... :)). Anyway, back to the point! I recently decided to make lobster for a special occasion, our two-year anniversary! And by "our" I mean my and Mike's anniversary of the day we had our first date (through match.com ;-)). Mike loves seafood in general, and I know lobster is a favorite of his. I enjoy it too, but neither of us have cooked it at home! So I thought it was about time that we did so.

Here are the lobsters, still in the bag...trying to peek out! I got them from a well-known lobster company in Boston, James Hook & Co.

To go with our pound and a half lobsters, I also made mashed potatoes (red taters!) and roasted green beans and red peppers. Super simple and healthy! That's the best combination, isn't it? And speaking of healthy, lobster actually isn't all that bad for you either. It's probably not so good for you if you douse it in butter, but lobster meat itself is not too caloric (I thought it might be until I looked it up and saw that it's 142 calories per 1 cup - not too bad). You can check out the nutrition facts here. Lobster is an excellent source of zinc, potassium, and vitamin B12. Who knew? Not I! It is high in cholesterol, however. :-( (So just don't eat lobstah several times a week and you're good to go... ;-))

Okay, now let's get down to business with the actually cooking of the lobster. We boiled the lobsters by following this recipe from the Food Network. All we did, essentially, was boil some water and plop the lobsters right in the water! We let them cook for about 15 minutes, and that was it! So darn easy. Of course, we did have some fun with the live lobsters... We put one on the kitchen floor to see if Dude (the cat!) would react at all. He seemed puzzled by it at first and just stared. After a minute or so he got up the courage to explore it more closely with his nose and he "kissed" it. The rubber bands were on the lobster's claws, so don't worry, we weren't endangering Dude!! I know my brief description of the experience here is not all that exciting, but we were amused. :)

There's Dude, making friends with the lobster!

Yes, I held one... AND I put him into the boiling water! I'm heartless... :-\

It amazes me how bright red the lobster gets when it's cooked!!

As for the sides served with our lobster, they were easy too. For the green beans and red peppers, I just washed and sliced them, put them in a glass baking dish, and then drizzled with olive oil and spices (garlic and rosemary, I think it was). After baking them at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes, I put a few fresh scallion slices on them for a little extra flavor. Eeeeaaasy!

I followed this Cooking Light recipe (loosely) for the mashed potatoes. The reason I say I followed it loosely is because I did not measure the potatoes or the milk. I just eyeballed it! And I have to say, they came out quite well! The recipe doesn't really call for any extra flavors other than salt and pepper, but I added rosemary and scallions (at the end). Mmmmm. Oh, and I have a confession to make.  I had NEVER made mashed potatoes from scratch until making these! How crazy is that?! I will definitely be making them again, for sure. I left the skins on for some added texture and the aesthetic value of the added color. ;-)

Oh! I can't forget the beer! I did some research as to which types of beers pair well with lobster. I mean, I'm dating a beer guru; how could I not look into selecting an appropriate beer? I chose a beer from Cooperstown, NY actually (woohoo upstate NY!) from the Ommegang Brewery. It's called Hennepin, and it's the style of Farmhouse Saison. Here is a good description of the beer, right from Ommegang's website. Soooo tasty! It did accompany the meal quite well, I must say.

There's Dude again, wondering what happened to his lobster friend! Dude's thinking, "why is he bright red and on a plate now?! I'm confused!"

Anyway, if you've never cooked lobster yourself but enjoy eating it, I'd highly recommend trying your hand at cooking it at home. It's super easy and sooooo delicious. We ate every last bit of it! Can't let something delicious like that go to waste!

And last but not least, Happy Anniversary, Mike! ♥