Grilled Stuffed Lobster

With Stephen Ryan

This is a signature dish for the Emerson Inn – one-half Lobster stuffed with fresh Seafood, topped with Lemon Beurre Blanc and served with their special creamed corn. Here is how this dish is made.

1. Par boil the lobster before splitting open, making sue that the tail section is about half-cooked so that it does not overcook while the final dish is in the oven.
2. After cleaning out the inside of the lobster, liberally brush and cover the insides with an herb butter mixture of garlic, butter and whatever fresh herbs you have available.
3. Next grill the lobster over high heat, which may cause it to flame a little due to the herb butter mixture, for a minute or two to get some grill marks and some smoky flavor.
4. Make seafood stuffing with shrimp, crabmeat, crackers and butter, place the grilled lobster open side up on an oven plate and fill the lobster cavity with the stuffing. Sprinkle with the juice of ½ fresh lemon.
5. Bake for about 10 minutes at 400 degrees F., being careful not to overcook the lobster tail.
6. Sprinkle a Beurre Blanc Sauce over the stuffing when serving.

Ingredients

1 whole lobster
For Herb Butter:
1 stick butter, unsalted
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 sprig fresh parsley (use any fresh herbs on hand)

For Seafood Stuffing:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter.
1 small Vidalia onion, diced
1 sprig fresh parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon tarragon (or fresh if desired)
6 to 8 ounces shrimp, chopped
6 to 8 ounces crab meat
1/2 cup oyster crackers, crumbled
Salt & pepper to taste

For Basic Beurre Blanc Sauce:
2/3 cups white wine
2 shallots, finely chopped
1 cup butter, unsalted, broken into chunks
Salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Par boil the lobster, about 5 minutes, and split down the middle.
2. Clean out the cavities and brush with herb butter.
3. Grill lobster meat side down on a hot grill about two minutes.
4. Fill with seafood stuffing and bake in 400 degree F. oven about 10 minutes.
5. Sprinkle the Beurre Blanc Sauce over the stuffing and serve.

Foe Herb Butter:
1. Heat butter and add other ingredients until well blended.

For Seafood Stuffing:
1. Melt butter in  large saute pan.
2. Add fine diced Vidalia onion, cook until soft but not browned.
3. Stir in chopped parsley and tarragon.
4. Add fine chopped shrimp, cook for 2 minutes more and remove to cool.
5. When slightly warm add crab meat and crumbled oyster crackers.
6. Salt & pepper to taste.

For Basic Beurre Blanc Sauce:
1. Heat wine on a medium temperature setting along with the shallotsuntil the volume of the liquid has been reduced to approximately 1/4 of a cup.
2. Allow mixture to cool before placing it over low heat and quickly whisking in three quarters of the butter broken into chunks.
3. Strain, if desired, and add salt and pepper to taste.

Recipe courtesy of Stephen Ryan, Emerson Inn, 2010.

A Massachusetts native, Chef Ryan started cooking professionally at age 14. He briefly attended Johnson and Wales in Providence, Rhode Island, but basically he learned how to cook in the “school of hard knocks”. He has cooked in Colorado, New York, Florida and all over New England.

In 2002 he decided to perfect his craft and went back to school at the Italian Culinary Institute for Foreigners (ICIF) in the town of Piemonte, in Italy. While in Italy, Chef Ryan experienced a new way to cook utilizing fresh herbs, local vegetables and fish right of the boat. Near the end of his Italian journey, Chef Ryan interned on the Isle of Sardinia on the Mediterranean Sea. At that point he understood that cooking is a form of art and he wanted to become an artist and considers himself to be a culinary artist of sorts today.

As a true New Englander, Chef Ryan move back to the States and settled in his hometown of Boston. Once back in Boston, he worked at The Franklyn Café, where he managed to win several awards including 2002 Zagat- Top American Eateries, 2003 Improper Bostonian “Best Issue,” 2004 Phantom Gourmet “Great Ate” Award among many others.

After a few years in Boston, Chef Ryan moved to the historic, artsy town Rockport where he joined The Emerson Inn by the Sea and its restaurant “Grand Cafe” early this summer. At Grand Cafe, Chef Ryan’s sophisticated fare is the perfect combination to the quaint atmosphere of the Emerson Inn By The Sea.