Tuesday was Lobster Leftovers day in our house.
My sister had stayed with us Monday night on her way back to Philly. She had arrived with four 2.5-pound lobsters from Bourne, where she had stayed with relatives for a week.
So, I steamed the four beauties. We each ate one, along with corn on the cob. The deep-thinking Joseph Campbell in “The Power of Myth” refers to this as one’s “bliss state.”
A “bliss state” is often followed by a “gumption trap,” described by Robert Pirsig quite eloquently in “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.”
Waking up Tuesday morning I could feel myself morphing from “bliss state” to “gumption trap” while staring at 4.5 pounds of lobsters shells, one cooked unshelled lobster and eight ears of cooked corn.
What to do? What to do?
Here’s what:
I sliced the corn off the cobs. I shelled the leftover cooked lobster (which yielded 7 ounces of meat).
For lunch I made Lobster-Stuffed Tomatoes: Chop the lobster meat, mix equal amount of corn, add one tablespoon each of mayo and sour cream, chop some fresh basil, a touch of salt and pepper, juice from half a lemon. Mix together. Hollow out two one-pound ripe tomatoes (save pulp for lobster stock). Fill cavities with lobster-corn mix. Drizzle your best olive oil over all. Serve.
Feel yourself morphing back to “bliss state.”
Now that the endorphins are kicking in, proceed to make lobster stock:
In a huge pot, saute a large onion, sliced, and a head of garlic that’s been sliced in half horizontally, in some olive oil. A few shakes of crushed red pepper is always nice. Throw in the shells from the four lobsters and the three pounds of shrimp shells you saved in your freezer. Saute it all a good five minutes, stirring as needed.
Throw in a 28-ounce can of tomatoes, the leftover pulp from the stuffed tomatoes, a whole bottle of white wine (just the liquids, not the actual can and bottle).
Fill with cold water until the shells are completely covered.
Simmer for a couple of hours. Taste the liquid. The stock should have depth, like “The Power of Myth” and “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.”
Strain through a cheesecloth. Store in nine 2-cup containers (That’s right, I made 18 cups of stock). Freeze until needed, like for paella or risotto.
And don’t let those “gumption traps” get you down.
— LOU
Your falling into the gumption trap didn’t come along with all that wine you consumed and staying up too late while dining on all that lobster did it? I find that combo really does rob one of gumption.
— LUCY