Megsiemay Makes: Lobstah Rolls

Confession: Even after four years of living on the east coast, I had yet to eat a lobster roll. Until Saturday.

Oh, I had several opportunities - but ordered something else instead (most of the time I just panicked at the though of spending $20 on a sandwich).

Mr. S loves lobster rolls. He's had the real thing though - Grandpa Stevens has a house in Maine. Most summers of his youth, Mr. S enjoyed the delights of true north coast living. Tiny blueberries, ice-cold water, beautiful sunrises, and lobsters at $2.50 a pound (or less!).

Needless to say, the lobsters we found here in CA were slightly more expensive than that ($7.99/lb at the local Asian grocery - $23 for two), and probably had never even heard of Maine.

But man - after I got over my "Ewww they look like giant bugs. I don't want to touch them!" squeemishness, they tasted delicious!

Mr. S had no such fears, and proceeded to do an impromptu puppet show to show me how nice they were. The lobsters seemed less than amused.

Then their misery was ended. By a pot of boiling water.

After a few minutes, pull those bright red suckers out.

And dump them into an ice bath.

Let them cool for a few minutes and then break off the claws and the tails. Just use your muscles. You don't need the knife just yet.

Next, break out your big chef's knife. Turn the tails over and cut them down the middle. Split open the shell to get the delicious tail meat.

Next, the claws - wrench off the little thumb pincher. Sometimes the meat will come with it, sometimes not.

Take your gigante knife and, using the base of the blade, knock a line of little holes into the base of the claw.

Break the claw open and admire the yummy meat. Mmmmmm.

And don't forget the knuckle meat! Break the leg joints open with the knife and get all that lobstah goodness out.

Chop all the pieces up into 1 inch chunks. Bite size.

Toss them in a bowl with a tablespoon of mayo, a few inches of green onion, salt and pepper, and a gentle squeeze of lemon juice.

Now - the bun! If you don't have the split-top buns at your local grocer (we didn't) get the un-cut sandwich rolls. Slice off the sides, and slice down the middle.

Brown the sides in a pan of melted butter.