This is by far one of the coolest dinners I’ve eaten all year, for several reasons. Because I love lobster. Because I’ve always wanted to try a lobster roll. And especially because one of my long-time blog readers helped make this meal a reality. Lovely Lydia who hails from Maine recently sent me a message to let me know that lobster has recently been at the its best price all season…and oh, by the way her husband is a Maine lobsterman and could help select and ship some lobsters for me. Seriously, how cool is that? Of course I couldn’t resist the opportunity to indulge in one of my very favorite foods, particularly when I could get the lobster from someone I (semi)know.
Now obviously this isn’t the kind of thing we can do on a regular basis but it is undoubtedly worth the occasional splurge. In fact I do believe this will become an end-of-summer tradition for us. This was my first time steaming whole lobsters, breaking them down, etc. It was quite an experience and a fair bit of work (not to mention I made an unbelievable mess), but again, totally worthwhile. We used half of the meat for these lobster rolls and saved half for a future meal. These were everything I was hoping for. As with many recipes of this sort, I think the key is lots of lobster and not much else. And I figured if I was taking care to make really good lobster rolls, homemade buns were a definite requirement. Instructions on how I did that below. Thanks to Lydia and everyone at Jones Lobster for the great customer service, fast shipping, and friendly touch!