I've been craving a lobster roll from Mary's Fish Camp in New York as of late, but since I've already maxed out the bank account with a mini trip to Miami, Mary's will have to wait for October.
I'm hooked on their lobster roll, that's really the only reason I go there. If you are lucky enough to get a table, their "limited" supply lobster roll is at market price, usually around $33.
So here is my healthier (and cheaper) version that you can have at home -- yes, Mary's fans know it's not exactly the same. Yet it's still tasty and satisfies the craving, working out to about $12 a pop.
Summer leaves seafood lovers craving lobster in some incarnation, whether it be tucked into a buttery roll, scattered throughout risotto or luxuriating in the butter-cream bath of lobster Thermidor (thought to have been a favorite of Napoleon).
However you like your lobster, getting to its tender meat can be nightmarish, with spiny claws and juice flying everywhere. Not so in this excellent Howcast video, with a demonstration by chef Marc Murphy of New York City's Landmarc, who knows his way around the leggy critters. Who knew you could either snip open or crush those dastardly knuckles? Or crush the tail under a towel?
Danielle Johnson Walker. Photo: Daniel Doke Photography
When beachgoers dine at the celebrated southern Maine restaurant Arrows and its sister seaside bistro MC Perkins Cove for a ubiquitous lobster roll, it falls to sommelier Danielle Johnson Walker to find an ideal wine to match with what she calls the "lazy man's lobster."
A self-trained sommelier, Walker uses the winter months -- when Arrows is hibernating -- to pair vacations with winery visits throughout South Africa and Europe to add extra oomph to her vino repertoire. As summer kicks into high gear and our hankering for lobster on buttered buns borders on fixation, we quizzed Walker about secret cooking techniques, wines to avoid and what makes lobster rolls so bleeping addictive. What makes the lobster roll such a great food? It's the lazy man's lobster. When in Maine, you eat boiled lobster once or twice and after that you have the lobster roll. I don't think it's a food people can get sick of. It's like a good hamburger.
After the jump, the secret the the Arrows lobster roll and why to avoid oaked chardonnays.
After sunscreen, citronella candles and heat rash, does anything say "summer" more unequivocally than a lobster roll?
This baby, captured by VirtualErn at Flickr, appears to be the lobster roll to end all lobster rolls, the embodiment of the deceptively simple art of serving chunks of crustacean, barely dressed in mayonnaise, in a bun. Note the minimal accessories: lemon slices, crisp coleslaw and a drop of mayo. The better the roll, the fewer adornments it requires. If this specimen tastes as good as it looks, it most likely calls out for little more than a good appetite -- and, possibly, a bib.
The Today show is running a contest in which they are attempting to name the best sandwich in America. They solicited recommendations from all over the country and have now narrowed it down to the top five. The finalists are a New Orleans Muffuletta, Pastrami on Rye from Katz Deli, Vesuvio's Cheesesteak BLT, a Maine Lobster Roll and Chicago's Frenchy's Fantasy.
I'm really excited to see Philly made the list with the Cheesesteak BLT from Vesuvio's (although I must admit that I've never tried that particular sandwich). However, I am sort of surprised that there's no Primanti Bros. sandwich, as that's a fairly outrageous and delicious sandwich concoction. And, where are the options for vegetarians? I can't believe that there's not some amazing sandwich out there constructed of greens, cheese and eggplant. You can cast your vote here, but in the comments, why don't you tell us about your favorite sandwich.
On multiple occasions during my childhood, several branches of my extended family would gather on the Oregon coast for a week of vacation. We'd always go to crabbing, and would often come back with enough crab that everyone could eat until they were ready to burst and keep on going. I tell you this story to illustrate the fact that while there was plenty of shellfish available during my formative years, it was crab, not lobster.
Last Saturday I was out with some friends when we stumbled onto the top of shellfish. I was forced to admit to my friend Tony that despite the amount of crab I ate during those vacations, there was a vast hole in my shellfish knowledge, as I had never even heard of his favorite food until I was well into my 23rd year of life. His favorite food? Lobster rolls. He is passionate and particular about how a good lobster roll should be prepared and goes so far as to maintain a website devoted to his lobster roll recipe, mail order lobster rolls and the restaurant rolls he has known. In his book, simple is best, because you want to let the lobster meat be the star of the show.
If you want to try to make your own lobster roll, Tony's recipe is after the jump.
*The title of this post is a quote lifted straight from Tony's site. It was just too good not to use.
I'm spending my Fourth of July doing what much of the country is doing. Going to the local small town parade, hooting and hollering a bit, and then a huge chicken BBQ. Finally when the day is done and it's getting dark, then it's time to watch the fireworks and go Ooooh and Aaaah as they light up the sky and make you jump from the sound of the explosions.
For me it's the Thomaston, ME celebration; a parade where thousands come with chairs and coolers to line the streets six deep for half a mile. After the parade many of the folks are off for home to tackle either the grill or lobster pot. The others wander over to the celebration food stalls for hot dogs, burgers, French fries, enormous onion rings or blooming onions, flavored shaved ices, and since this is Maine, the obligatory lobster or crab rolls.
I started with a nice "Lobtsa Roll" and my first blooming onion. The first was excellent, the latter was a nightmare. Well I learned my lesson. No more blooming onions for me. I would love to hear what everyone else is eating on this day of the celebration of our Independence and of summer time.
After the jump a pictorial essay of food and people on the Fourth of July.
The Today show is running a contest in which they are attempting to name the best sandwich in America. They solicited recommendations from all over the country and have now narrowed it down to the top five. The finalists are a New Orleans Muffuletta, Pastrami on Rye from Katz Deli, Vesuvio's Cheesesteak BLT, a Maine Lobster Roll and Chicago's Frenchy's Fantasy. 
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