Lobster & Grits

It's like shrimp & grits, but BETTER. As some of you may have seen on our Facebook page last weekend, we had an inkling that EarthFare was going to have a lobster coupon on Saturday. They had posted a not-so-subtle status Friday morning about "lobbing" for fun and "tail" all your friends. So we had an idea what was coming in our usual Saturday morning text message. However, our plan had been to get up early to drive over to St. Augustine, not wait around for lobster tail. But alas, we waited until that coupon finally came through on my phone and Will was over there in a hot second to pick up our tail. See, lobster tail is really exciting because it's one of those things that as a college student, you cannot afford. I don't care if you're at a restaurant or at the grocery store-that shit's expensive. So when you get a coupon that's the equivalent of BOGO, you jump on it and postpone your trip plans for it!

Anyways, since we've never cooked lobster tail before, we were kind of at a loss for what to do. So I perused Pinterest and Will searched Food52 and he found the winning recipe! We wanted something simple because we had no idea what cooking a lobster tail would involve, and this recipe didn't seem to involve too many ingredients. So Will gave it a go and I came home from work Monday night to a lobster and grits dinner!

Cooking Notes: The only thing that was different from the original recipe was that Will decided to make this with grits, reminiscent of many amazing shrimp & grits recipes we've had since living in the South.

Butter Poached Lobster (adapted from Steamy Kitchen; serves 2)
2 uncooked lobster tails
1 tbsp water
1 stick salted butter, cut into 1 tbsp chunks
1 clove garlic, finely minced
2 tomatoes, cut into large chunks
3 fresh basil leaves

Prepare lobster: Use sharp kitchen shears to cut the shell of the lobster all the way down its back. Turn over and cut bottom shell all the way down. Peel off shell and remove meat.

In a sauce pan, bring 1 tbsp of water to simmer over medium-low heat. Whisk in 1 piece of butter. When butter has melted, add another piece. Continue with remaining butter pieces, one at a time. Make sure the mixture does NOT come to a boil, otherwise butter will separate. Keeping the heat on medium-low, add the lobster pieces and cook for 5 minutes, turning the lobster pieces every minute or so. Make sure the mixture does not boil. Remove lobster pieces.

In the same saucepan, with the remaining butter, turn the heat up just a bit and add the garlic. When fragrant, add the tomatoes and cook for just a couple of minutes until the tomatoes have released some of the juices. Throw in the basil and you're done! Prepare serving bowl with grits on bottom, lobster next and pour sauce over and enjoy immediately!

Recipe: Steamy Kitchen: Butter Poached Lobster

Parmesan Grits (serves 4)
4 cups water
1 cup grits
1-2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Salt, to taste

Bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Add grits, butter and salt. Bring to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, until water is absorbed and grits are creamy. Once creamy, stir in 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese.