GRILLED LOBSTER TAIL WITH CHIPOTLE-LIME BUTTER

I began this blog one year ago in April. Since then you have suffered through 127 posts ranging from top notch to trash compactor quality. Some of my favorites:

Blueberry Burgers
Chilled Melon Soup Shots
Sour Cream Sugar Cookies
Curried Sweet Potato Latkes
Rosemary Pears on Flatbread with Fresh Mozzarella
Shrimp with Green Chile and Pumpkin Seed Sauce
Grilled Cornish Game Hens with Peach Something-or-Other
Garden Peach Margaritas
Chicken Cashew Chili
Chocolate Pumpkin Truffles
Wasabi Crusted Chicken Breasts stuffed with Apples, Honey, and Curry
Make Up Your Mind Apple, Blueberry, Banana, Whole-Wheat Muffins
Sweet Potato Soup with Orange Creme Fraiche
Apple Pie Ice cream Sandwiches
Slow-Braised Pork with Grapes and Balsamic
Green Tea Chicken Pasta
Beer Pancakes


I also caused a bunch of people to cover their eyes (and then light a cigarette) with my submission to Sugar High Friday.


I've discovered that I really enjoy this food blogging business. I can return to my archives and pull out electronic recipe cards for past dishes that I've been happy with. That was the motivation which lead me to start this site, a virtual Adderall pill to help control my kitchen ADD.

But over the last few months, I've slowly tapered off from posting as often as I did in the beginning. Initially I was averaging around 10 or 11 posts each month, and often times more. That average has fallen like a soggy cake to roughly 5 or 6 posts per month. Our life is blessedly full and I find myself juggling various pastimes in the precious free time I find. My poor little blog often sits...and waits...alone and sad like a courtesan with the clap.



I sat down recently and lamented the fact that I hadn't been as diligent in writing down my kitchen creations and photographing the results. I opened my blog document folder and discovered a handful of recipes that were never posted.

Yay! I've discovered some filler!




I grilled these lobster tails last month. It would be the first time I'd introduced the delicate meat of lobster to the brutal flame of the grill and I was a bit wary of producing lobster meat that was overcooked and tough. A low fire and careful vigilance paid off. The meat was so butter-soft that I could have sucked it out of the tail in one inhalation. The exotic butter worked perfectly and provided an interesting flavor that broke the simple drawn butter habit. Bingo! Another "keeper" for the files.

GRILLED LOBSTER WITH CHIPOTLE-LIME BUTTER
Inspired by a recipe on Epicurious

4, 6 oz lobster tails

1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 TBS fresh lime juice
1 tsp finely minced canned chipotle chilies, plus a touch of the adobo sauce from the can
1 tsp grated lime zest
2 TBS chopped fresh cilantro
touch of salt to taste

Prepare butter by combining all ingredients, except for lobster, until well emulsified. Add additional adobo sauce from canned chipotle chilies to taste, being careful not to make the butter so hot as to overwhelm the delicate lobster flavor.




Prepare outdoor grill and heat to medium temperature. Place lobster tails on work surface, shell side down. Using heavy shears, cut away most of the thin shell on underside of tail, exposing the meat. Use a sharp knife to loosen meat away from shell slightly, but do not remove. Use a pastry brush to slather butter mixture into tails well. Try to brush butter down the insides of the lobster shell as far as you can. Coat all the lobster meat very generously as butter will run off during grilling. Run a skewer down length of tail so that they do not curl while cooking. Place tails on grill, meat side down and cook for just about a minute or two. Turn lobster over so that the meat side is now up. Continue cooking until lobster meat has just turned opaque in the thickest portion of the tail. Brush additional butter over lobster if needed while grilling. Total cooking will likely be less than 10 minutes. Take care not to overcook. Remove and serve immediately.