This was such a beautiful dish to plate despite its simplicity. Lobster is such an extravagant ingredient--definitely a luxury food item. I don't know about you, but I don't get to eat lobster very often, so I wanted to make sure that this recipe was made in a way that the lobster was highlighted in the dish. You can easily go wrong with lobster--under or overcook it, under or over season it, or worse--lose its stellar presence by burying it under stronger flavours in your overall dish.
Okay, now that we've got the niceties and formalities out of the way, let's get right down to business. This dish is going to take 2 cooking steps for the lobster. First, you'll need to boil it for a few minutes and then you'll finish it via sous vide in order to pack it in with flavour and cook it to the right temperature. I use the Anova Culinary Sous Vide Precision Cooker because you get perfectly cooked food every single time. It's amazing--definitely the gift that keeps on giving. You download the Anova app on your phone and you pick the recipe or temperature guide for the food you're cooking, and it'll do the cooking for you. I usually do my sous vide cooking while I am at the gym and when I get back, the precision cooker keeps it warm without cooking it down more.
INGREDIENTS:
2 lbs lobster, headless, in shell
bamboo skewers, 2 for each lobster
2 tbs butter
2 sprigs of tarragon
1/4 tsp dill, thyme, and parsley
one package of Better Than Noodles
For the Alfredo sauce:
1 cup heavy cream
3 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
2 oz. grated Parmesan cheese
2 tbs butter (unsalted, grass-fed)
1 large egg yolk
juice of half a lemon
pinch of salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste
Optional herbs: parsley, basil, garlic, thyme
DIRECTIONS:
Place lobster flat on a cutting board and skewer through on both sides--getting as close to the shell as possible. Prepare an ice bath (a big bowl of water and ice cubes) for the lobster and set it aside.
Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil and boil lobster for 1 minute. If you're cooking lobster claws, let those cook for 4 minutes longer. But if you're only cooking tails, then remove them from the water after 1 minute and dunk them into the ice bath. Remove the skewers first and then the shell. One way to do it is to squeeze the sides of the shell inward until it cracks. Then turn the lobster over belly-up and pull the sides of the shell outwards. You should be able to peel the lobster meat off completely. Do this gently so you don't tear at the meat and leave any on the shell. That's precious stuff!
Next, play all the lobster meat in a zip bag or a vacuum bag. I use these ones which are especially made for the Anova and comes in a complete set. Put in the butter and the herbs and choose the temperature and texture you want for the lobster. I picked the "Tender and succulent" setting which only cooks it for 20 minutes. It's sheer perfection and the herby, buttery flavour is completely absorbed by the lobster. Once cooked, keep it warm while you work on your noodles and Alfredo sauce.
The Sauce.
Melt the butter and the cream cheese together in a small pot over low heat. Whisk them until they're combined well. Add in 1/4 of the heavy cream and turn the heat up to medium low and keep stirring. Then add 1/4 of the parmesan cheese. While continuously whisking the sauce, alternately add the cream and parmesan cheese until they are thoroughly combined.
Beat the egg yolk and when the sauce starts to bubble, add the yolk while whisking. Turn down the heat a little lower and keep whisking until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon.
The Noodles.
These noodles are the easiest things to work with. You literally just take it out of the packaging and rinse it off until you get rid of the 'funky' smell. That funky smell is actually the limewater they use to keep it fresh for you. Once you open a package, you need to use it all up. When you're done rinsing, dump the noodles into the cream sauce and stir it until it's completely mixed together and the noodles are soaked through. Add in extra herbs of your choice, lemon juice, and fresh cracked pepper. That's it!
I love to plate my dishes well because eating begins with our eyes. If it looks delicious and inviting, the eating experience is made even better. After I plate the lobster on the noodles, I like to squeeze a bit more lemon juice over the whole plate to brighten the dish and enhance the flavour of the lobster.
Serving size for the sauce: 1/3 cup
410 calories
9g Protein
3g Net Carbs
41g Fat
Noodles serve 2 per package; 15 calories per serving. 0g carb
Lobster tail is 171 calories per small lobster; 0 carb
36g Protein
1.5g Fat