Cooling it with Lobster

For taking the heat off a sultry summer's day and for taking it easy at serving time, it's difficult to imagine anything better than a huge platter of deviled lobster salad in the shell served in the cool of your blessedly air-conditioned digs. You should start with lobsters freshly boiled by yourself, if you can get them live, or else by your seafood dealer. In any case, our recommended one-and-a-half-pound lobsters should be boiled ten minutes and not a second longer; this will keep the meat from toughening. Transforming freshly boiled lobsters into salad will then be smooth sailing. The accompanying julienne (concluded on page 176)Cooling it(continued from page 98) potato salad takes somewhat more time and patience, but if you own a razor-sharp knife and if your kitchen is a heat-resistant oasis, you'll enjoy assembling this cold meal-on-a-platter salad.

[recipe_title]Stuffed Lobster Salad Platter[/recipe_title]

(Serves six)

[recipe]6 boiled northern lobsters, 11/2 lbs. each[/recipe]

[recipe]1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms, 1/2-in. dice[/recipe]

[recipe]1 tablespoon butter[/recipe]

[recipe]Salad oil[/recipe]

[recipe]Salt, pepper, celery salt[/recipe]

[recipe]3/4 cup mayonnaise[/recipe]

[recipe]2 teaspoons lemon juice[/recipe]

[recipe]2 teaspoons wine-flavored Dijon mustard[/recipe]

[recipe]1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce[/recipe]

[recipe]2 lbs. potatoes[/recipe]

[recipe]1/2 cup white- or red-wine vinegar[/recipe]

[recipe]2 cups onions, julienne[/recipe]

[recipe]1 cup leeks, white part only, julienne[/recipe]

[recipe]3 large cloves garlic, very finely minced[/recipe]

[recipe]2 cups celery, julienne[/recipe]

[recipe]4-oz. jar pimientos, drained, julienne[/recipe]

[recipe]2 ozs. anchovy fillets, drained, julienne[/recipe]

[recipe]1 bunch water cress[/recipe]

[recipe]6 hard-boiled eggs[/recipe]

Sauté mushrooms in butter and 1 tablespoon oil until all liquid has evaporated. Sprinkle mushrooms with salt and pepper; set aside. Detach lobster claws; crack claws and remove the large front section of each in one piece. Save the six largest pieces of claw meat for later use. Cut balance of claw meat and meat from behind the claws into 1/2-in. dice. Cut lobsters in half lengthwise. Remove sac in back of head and intestinal vein. Remove lobster meat from tail, including tomalley (the green liver) and roe, if any. Cut the meat into 1/2-in. dice. Save six of the halved lobster shells for stuffing. The remaining shells may be discarded. Stir mayonnaise, lemon juice, mustard and Tabasco in mixing bowl. Add diced lobster, tomalley, roe and mushrooms, tossing well. Add salt, celery salt and pepper to taste. Carefully pile the lobster mixture into the six shells. Place stuffed shells and reserved claw meat in a large shallow pan and cover with clear-plastic wrap. Chill in refrigerator. Peel potatoes and cut into julienne strips about 11/2 ins. long and 1/8 in. thick (the best procedure is to first cut them into 1/8-in.-thick slices and then cut slices into strips). Place potatoes in boiling salted water. When water comes to a second boil, potatoes will be almost tender. Cook only until tender; drain at once. Place potatoes in mixing bowl; add 1/2 cup salad oil and wine vinegar; set aside. Onions, leeks, celery, pimientos and anchovies should be cut the same size as the potatoes. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in large sauté pan. Sauté onions, leeks and garlic, stirring constantly, just until onions are limp, not browned. Add onion mixture to potatoes. Add celery, pimientos and anchovies. Toss all ingredients in bowl, adding salt and pepper to taste and more vinegar, if desired. Cover bowl and chill. Just before serving, place potato salad in a high mound in the center of a large platter. Then arrange stuffed lobster around rim of platter, adding sprigs of water cress between lobster and potato salad. Slice eggs with egg cutter and overlap slices on lobster. Put a piece of claw meat at the head of each lobster; then say goodbye to the summer culinary blahs.