Lobster Rolls and New England Clam Chowder: Sound good?!

Contributor: MeliPixie MeliPixie
Recently I saw an episode of Chef Anne Burrell's Secrets of a Restaurant Chef. That woman is my HERO(ine). The episode was "The Secret to Lobster Rolls" and it was all about fresh, homemade New England clam chowder and lobster rolls. I was like, aw Chef, seafood is so expensive, why do you have to make it look so delicious?! It's already my favorite thing to eat! Wwwweeelllllll... All the things I'll need are on sale this week! Plus, boyfriend's boss gave us some frozen sea scallops (those are the BIG ones) that were about to expire (but who cares, they're frozen, right?). I guess I'm trying it out!

A whole seafood feast, for just over twenty dollars? Yes, please! Allow me to share with you the recipes! My changes: For the lobster rolls, I cut the recipe in half because there are only two of us, and I will be serving it on Italian bread because it's my favorite. For the chowder, I halved the amount of clams so I could incorporate the big, juicy scallops. So excited to get started!

Lobster Rolls
Ingredients
To cook the lobsters:

Kosher salt
1 1/2 lemons
1 head garlic, split horizontally
1 thyme bundle
2 dried bay leaves
2 (1 1/2-pound) lobsters

For the lobster rolls:

1/2 to 3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 celery rib, cut into 1/4 inch dice
1/2 bunch of chives, finely chopped
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Celery salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) of unsalted butter
1 clove garlic, smashed
4 top split hot dog rolls

Directions

To cook the lobsters:

Fill a large pot with water and season it generously with salt. Squeeze the lemons into the water and drop them in and toss in the garlic, thyme bundle and bay leaves. Bring the water to a boil and drop the lobsters in. Cover and cook for 11 minutes. Remove the lobsters from the pot and let cool.

Remove the lobster claws, knuckles and tails from the shells and coarsely chop.

In a large mixing bowl combine the chopped lobster, 1/2 cup of mayo, celery, chives and lemon juice. Mix together and season with celery salt. Add remaining 1/4 cup of mayo if you like the mix a little creamier (this is traditionally a very low mayo type deal). Taste to make sure the lobster is delicious and reserve.

Toss the butter and garlic into a large saute pan and melt the butter. When the butter is melted, bubbly and very garlicky smelling, remove the garlic clove and discard it. Add the hot dog rolls to the pan and cook in the garlic butter on both sides until the butter is absorbed and the rolls and crispy on both sides.

Divide the reserved lobster between the 4 buttered rolls and serve immediately.


New England Clam Chowder

Ingredients

4 dozen little neck or cherry stone clams, scrubbed
4 thick slices bacon, cut into lardons
1 large onions, cut into 1/4 inch dice
Kosher salt
11/2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch dice
3 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 bundle of thyme
2 bay leaves
1 to 2 shakes hot sauce, optional (recommended: Tabasco)
Extra-virgin olive oil

Directions

Place the clams and 1 cup of water in a large pot. Cover and place over a high heat and cook the clams for 6 to 7 minutes. Uncover and remove the open clams.Cover the pot again and continue cooking the clams that haven't opened yet. Cook the clams for another 2 to 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and discard any clams that have not opened. Strain the liquid from the pot through a mesh strainer lined with a coffee filter and reserve.

Coarsely chop the clams and reserve.

Drizzle a few drops of olive oil into the bottom of the clam pot and toss in the bacon. Bring the pan to a medium heat. When the bacon has let off a lot of fat and become brown and crispy, toss in the onions and season lightly with salt. Cook the onions until they are very soft and aromatic but have no color, 7 to 8 minutes. Add the potatoes and cook for another 5 minutes.

Sprinkle the flour over the onions and potato mixture and stir to combine. Gradually whisk in the reserved clam juice. When the clam juice has been whisked in and there are no lumps, whisk in the milk and heavy cream and toss in the bay leaves and thyme. Taste for seasoning and adjust if needed. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer and simmer until the potatoes are cooked through, 10 to 15 minutes.

Toss in the reserved clams. Taste and re-season if needed and add hot sauce if using.


Hope you all enjoy! ^_^ ~Pixie
Answers (public voting - your screen name will appear in the results):
Hell yeah!
MeliPixie , MK434 , Rossie , Airen Wolf , PeaceToTheMiddleEast , padmeamidala , MrWishyWashy , amazon , deltalima , Master DarkWolf , sexfairy , DreamWolf , Taylor , Zandrock , satinlady550 , brevado , EdenUser , wetone123 , Rory , Neotigress , rosythorn , Stinkytofu10 , Feisty , Missmarc , JackRaiden , Xarien , RedKyuubi , Melan!e
28  (78%)
Nah, no thanks.
mistressg , sXeVegan90 , anna1980 , BlooJay , Boyfriend
5  (14%)
Maybe!
*Camoprincess* , HarlequinBunnie , Gone (LD29)
3  (8%)
Total votes: 36
Poll is closed
10/18/2012
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Contributor: MeliPixie MeliPixie
Also, if anyone has any questions or comments, I'm here to chat for a little bit! ^_^
10/18/2012
Contributor: Chilipepper Chilipepper
Thanks for the lobstah roll recipe. ^_^ It's been years since I went to Boston and I miss them like crazy!
10/18/2012
Contributor: MK434 MK434
That sounds so good!!
10/18/2012
Contributor: Rossie Rossie
Yum! I'm going to bookmark this thread - both recipes sounded soooo delicious! I usually only order Clam Chowder when I'm visiting the coast, and now I can try to make some myself!
10/18/2012
Contributor: *Camoprincess* *Camoprincess*
I am game for the clam chowder lobster rolls I am iffy on since I am not to big into seafood.
10/18/2012
Contributor: mistressg mistressg
I'm not a fan of seafood.
10/18/2012
Contributor: Airen Wolf Airen Wolf
Quote:
Originally posted by MeliPixie
Recently I saw an episode of Chef Anne Burrell's Secrets of a Restaurant Chef. That woman is my HERO(ine). The episode was "The Secret to Lobster Rolls" and it was all about fresh, homemade New England clam chowder and lobster rolls. I ... more
OMG thanks so much I LOVE to eat just about anything that lives in the ocean. I am putting these in my recipe rolodex right now!
10/18/2012
Contributor: sXeVegan90 sXeVegan90
Not for me, lol
10/18/2012
Contributor: PeaceToTheMiddleEast PeaceToTheMiddleEast
Oh yes I miss this food from back home.
10/18/2012
Contributor: MrWishyWashy MrWishyWashy
Yummy!
10/18/2012
Contributor: amazon amazon
Ah! New England!! So delicious.
10/18/2012
Contributor: MeliPixie MeliPixie
Wow! Look at all this feedback! Glad I'm not the only weirdo who loves seafood so much I had a couple of hitches in my cooking, but nothing I couldn't overcome. To note: I cooked my clams in some of the leftover lobster broth, to help compound even more flavor into the food. When I first cooked the clams, all was well and good; there was no need for a few more minutes of cook time, as they were all open by six minutes, not a dead one in the bunch. However, I foolishly evacuated the pan of clams and added my scallops to cook in the clam broth without adding any more water. In the three minutes it took the scallops to cook (they are VERY fast cookers, don't overcook them!), the water had boiled away and a pool on one side of the pan, thankfully void of scallops, had scorched. When boyfriend gets home, we're gonna have to go buy a bottle of clam juice.

The second hitch isn't really fixable. I should not have halved the lobster roll recipe! It does NOT serve four, one recipe of the lobster rolls will only serve two. BEWARE THIS FACT. Our portions will be scant, but hopefully delicious.

The meal is not yet complete, so I'll let you know what each of us thinks after tasting!
10/18/2012
Contributor: deltalima deltalima
Quote:
Originally posted by MeliPixie
Recently I saw an episode of Chef Anne Burrell's Secrets of a Restaurant Chef. That woman is my HERO(ine). The episode was "The Secret to Lobster Rolls" and it was all about fresh, homemade New England clam chowder and lobster rolls. I ... more
Sounds perfect for the dreary weather here!
10/18/2012
Contributor: Master DarkWolf Master DarkWolf
Mmmmmm...
10/18/2012
Contributor: Intrepid Niddering Intrepid Niddering
Sounds really interesting. I love clam chowder and I love lobster, though I've never had lobster rolls. I might have to try these recipes sometime. However, there's very little chance I will get a sale on such items. The only seafood that is ever on sale here is shrimp and tilapia. :/
10/18/2012
Contributor: sexfairy sexfairy
Wow! Sounds soooo good!
10/18/2012
Contributor: DreamWolf DreamWolf
Quote:
Originally posted by Master DarkWolf
Mmmmmm...
Oooooooooooooooooooooo oooohhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!! !!!!!!! ~drooooooooooooooooooo oooooools over the keyboard
10/18/2012
Contributor: Zandrock Zandrock
Sounds delicious
10/19/2012
Contributor: satinlady550 satinlady550
Quote:
Originally posted by MeliPixie
Recently I saw an episode of Chef Anne Burrell's Secrets of a Restaurant Chef. That woman is my HERO(ine). The episode was "The Secret to Lobster Rolls" and it was all about fresh, homemade New England clam chowder and lobster rolls. I ... more
I haven't had really good clam chowder since I was in Maine visiting my mom...
10/19/2012
Contributor: brevado brevado
Sounds delicious
10/19/2012
Contributor: EdenUser EdenUser
Hell yeah!
10/19/2012
Contributor: GONE! GONE!
Sounds yummy!
10/20/2012
Contributor: wetone123 wetone123
I love lobsters without mayo in the recipe. I love sea scallops. Not a fan of clams, so substituting the sea scallops makes this sound yummy!. Sounds like you put together quite a feast for a little over 20 bucks tho' Kudos to you! Seafood is quite expensive and you rolled with it!
10/20/2012
Contributor: Rory Rory
Yes to the lobster rolls but I don't like New England chowder -Manhattan clam chowder for me.
10/31/2012
Contributor: Neotigress Neotigress
Quote:
Originally posted by MeliPixie
Recently I saw an episode of Chef Anne Burrell's Secrets of a Restaurant Chef. That woman is my HERO(ine). The episode was "The Secret to Lobster Rolls" and it was all about fresh, homemade New England clam chowder and lobster rolls. I ... more
Thank you!
10/31/2012
Contributor: rosythorn rosythorn
A thousand times yes!
11/01/2012
Contributor: rosythorn rosythorn
I just made the lobster rolls, though it was last minute so I sort of just winged it! My BF said it was his 3rd favorite of my dishes.
11/12/2012
Contributor: Stinkytofu10 Stinkytofu10
Quote:
Originally posted by MeliPixie
Recently I saw an episode of Chef Anne Burrell's Secrets of a Restaurant Chef. That woman is my HERO(ine). The episode was "The Secret to Lobster Rolls" and it was all about fresh, homemade New England clam chowder and lobster rolls. I ... more
Hell yeah!
11/12/2012
Contributor: Feisty Feisty
I would love to try out the chowder!
11/12/2012