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How to Cook Lobster and Crab

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Category: CookingTackling Seafood

Making lobster and crab at home is a lot easier than you think, and Sam Talbot is here to show you how to create the impressive meal in just a few easy steps. By pre-soaking the crustaceans in vodka and cooking them in a simple bouillabaisse, you can achieve delicious flavor in less than 20 minutes.

 Sam Talbot's Crab and Lobster Recipe

Step 1: Vodka
Mix equal parts of water and vodka into a large chafing dish and soak your lobster or crabs for about 30 minutes. The vodka will help relax the muscles and tendons of the shellfish. Then drain.

Step 2: Bouillon
In a large pot make a bouillon of white wine, water, mirepoix (chopped celery, carrots and onions), lemons and peppercorns. Bring to a boil and then let it come back down. Carefully pour your bouillon over your shellfish ensuring that the fish is completely immersed.

Step 3: Timing is Everything
For a two-pound lobster, it takes exactly 12 minutes; for a two pound crab, about 16 minutes. Let the shellfish sit for the allotted time, and then simply remove and allow to get to room temperature. Do not rinse with cold water or you will wash away the flavor of bouillon.

Step 4: Crack and Serve
Serve with lemon, drawn butter or just the flavor of the bouillon and vodka and enjoy!

Items You'll Need for this GMC Trade Secret

  • 2lb Lobster
  • 2lb Crab
  • 4 cups Vodka
  • 4 cups water
  • 2 cups White Wine
  • 1 Celery
  • 1 Carrot
  • 1 medium Onion
  • 2 lemons
  • 1 tablespoon Peppercorns

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Doris Potter

I am amazed and frankly appalled that so many people think that taste trumps everything. Obviously boiling an animal alive is cruel. As to the level of pain, it is a moot point, give the lobsters the benefit of the doubt and eat something else!

March 24 2013 at 9:37 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
rritenu2

i refuse to eat anything that casts a shadow.
I refuse to eat anything that ever ate anything else

March 18 2013 at 1:30 PM Report abuse -2 rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to rritenu2's comment
wizmir23

What do you eat? I grow a garden every year, and at some point in the day the plants are going to cast shadows.

March 18 2013 at 7:25 PM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down Reply
tdmci

Grew up on the shores of Mass. & Maine. Have prepared and eaten tons of lobster, crab, clams, etc. Never heard of this recipe - sounds crazy. Lobster is best simply steamed, then eaten with melted butter or butter substitute.

March 18 2013 at 1:01 PM Report abuse +3 rate up rate down Reply
david

lobsters are just sea bugs....big cockroaches! we don't worry about the pain they may or may not feel when poisoning or stepping on them!

March 18 2013 at 12:58 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
leslattery

Lobsters do feel pain. They have a large cluster of nerve cells (ganglia) above and below the mouth and smaller ganglia elsewhere in their body. Although lobsters do not have a cerebral cortex like humans, they have a complex nervouse system that enables them to feel pain. Boiling them alive is simply barbaric.

March 18 2013 at 11:51 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
arenadood

Lobsters have no nerve system to enable them to feel pain. The sound made is air escaping their body, not a scream.

March 18 2013 at 11:10 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
MSC

They did not look alive when they were soaking, but he never said if they were or what to do before putting them in the vodka...???

March 18 2013 at 9:34 AM Report abuse +3 rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to MSC's comment
bildaws

What you do before putting them in the vodka is have a couple of shots of crown royal, works for me.

March 18 2013 at 10:56 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jeff

That's my question also. Do they get drunk and pass out? How do they fully cook if your just submerging them in tepid broth?

March 18 2013 at 1:50 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
tptm

Lobster + white wine + other ingredients= 3/4 tank of gas, pass the mustard for my hot dogs

March 18 2013 at 9:24 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
docleanhow

Yes, they suffer when they are boiled, and cows suffer when they are skaughtered, chickens suffer when they are beheaded, and waht about the hook that pierces the mouth of that rich-in-Omega 3's?. Enjoy your lettuce!

March 18 2013 at 9:20 AM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down Reply
etinamax

What you ought to know is that these animals suffer when being boiled. They are also loaded with cholesterol. I would love to eat these crustaceans, but I have a sense of compassion and refuse to eat anything that suffers.

March 18 2013 at 8:40 AM Report abuse -3 rate up rate down Reply

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