In times of hardship, everyone needs a little splurge. The COVID-19 Pandemic of 2020 is no exception. We are part of the lucky. We both have jobs that can be worked from home, and we both are doing our part to keep this great country of the USA moving forward; albeit at a snails pace.
Florida Lobster used to be used as bait for the local finfish industry. The growth of Florida Lobster as a human food can be directly attributed to the growth of Key West as a destination. The Florida Lobster harvest peaked in the 1970’s, when the Bahamas closed their waters to international fishing.
Even though the Florida Lobster fisheries are heavily regulated and enforced, the tails remain a local delicacy and are hard to find in retail.
We are under strict “Stay at Home” orders to help curtail the infection curve of COVID-19. As of this writing, there still is no end in sight for our “New Normal”, nor do we even know if COVID-19 will become a new seasonal infection like the flu, or if humanity will be able to kill it off like Small Pox. We just don’t know.
Because of this, we can’t go get our own. Boo. So, we supported a local business and ordered from Key Largo Fisheries! Yay! Link below.
Our recipe is simple, just like most of Mike’s recipes.
- Butter
- Minced Garlic
- Lemon Juice (fresh or whatever its a pandemic)
- 2 Lobster Tails, legal size of course
- 2 Pre-husked Corn Cobs
- 1 pound of charcoal
First, we light the grill. We are using the Weber Smokey Joe 16″ for our small meal. 1 pound of charcoal should do the trick, about 17 briquettes. I use a charcoal chimney and paper to light the charcoal, it does it faster than lighter fluid, and doesn’t leave a taste.
Weber Smokey Joe: https://amzn.to/2YlloFA
Weber Charcoal Chimney Starter: https://amzn.to/35eUh0y
After the grill is heated up, we cook the corn. It will take the longest and is the most forgiving if you over cook it. Just place the still-in-their-husks corn on the grill and cover. Cook time for the corn is about 30-45 minutes, depending on the size of the corn cobs. Rotate the corn about every 5-10 minutes… or don’t. You basically are boiling the corn inside the husk.
After about 30 minutes of cook time with the corn, you’ll start to see some char on the husks. Time to start the lobster. With a good heavy knife, cut the tails in half. This makes it much easier to judge your cook time, and to remove the meat from the shell. In Florida, we do not eat the heads, so if you lobster has heads, wring them. You twist the head carapace until it separates from the tail. Discard the heads.
Place the tail halves directly on the grill, shell side down. You’ll see some juice start to bubble up after a few minutes. That is good, it means your grill is working. Flip the tails to the meat side down after about 5-10 minutes.
You’ll notice during the cook the tail shells start to turn bright orange/red. This is good, but don’t expect the entire tail to change color. Its quite normal for small parts of the shell to stay dark brown.
At this point, take your butter, throw in a dash of minced garlic and melt the butter. A microwave is easiest to accomplish this. Most microwaves have a melt feature now.
After another 5-10 minutes remove the tails and corn from the grill. Serve immediately with the butter dipping sauce on the side.
Keep a trash container, plate, whatever on or near your table. Those shells and corns husks will need a new home.