Homard Thermidor et Homard à L'Américaine

So, Mike specially requested two different lobster dish as he didn't want all 5 lobsters to be 'wasted' in one dish. Well, thankfully, Julia Child's cookbook had 2 different lobster recipes. Lobster Thermidor which preparation I have already detailed in a previous post and Lobster à L'Américaine which shall be detailed here. This post shall end with photos of the final dish eaten the way it is meant to be eaten, which is outdoors in the sun with white wine!

Preparation of Homard à L'Américaine
(Animal activists go away! Brutal scene described below.)

So, the hardest bit of preparing this dish is to deal with the lobsters which is to chop them up alive. I got Mike to help me but he couldn't penetrate the shell so I had to have a go first myself. Thankfully I managed to find this video showing how to do it otherwise I would not have known how to even begin. But yea, it is literally the grossest thing I've ever done. I stood there with my knife pointed right above the head for nearly 2 minutes before I banged down on the knife with my left hand and proceed to literally saw through the head. All whilst the claws, legs and tail were squirming. After the head came apart, the tail is next, then the claws, then removing the tomalley (liver, green sac) and removed the unedible sand sack at the head and some greyish stuff which I have no idea what on earth it is. To err on the side of caution, I threw it away. Perhaps someone reading this can enlighten me as to what were they? The brain?

So, 2nd lobster I got Mike to try it coz I had to take some time to recover from the shock of poking around some poor sod's brain. Ugh. Mike nearly broke the shell when he attempted to split the tail so I had to take over and do the dirty deed again. The next step was to sauté the chopped up pieces in olive oil which took rather longer than I thought, about 10 to 15 minutes for it to turn bright red. Now the worst thing was the parts were still moving on the pan whilst sizzling. OMG. Anyway photos and videos:

Chopping up lobster alive.


WARNING: VERY VERY GROSS. DON'T WATCH IF OFFENDED TO CUTTING THINGS UP LIVE.
Video of my very very failed attempt of cutting up the lobster as humanely as possible.


Chopped up lobster with tomalley and brain(?) in the bowl.


Sautéing meat side down whilst pieces squirm about in the pan. =.=


Nicely bright red! The aroma from the cooked shells were absolutely divine!


First ever attempt at flaming with brandy wasn't quite as impressive as I had hoped it would be. Flames concentrated in one part of the pan coz the pan was too deep and the brandy collected in one part when attempting to light it up.


Simmering the lobster in white wine, chopped tomatoes, chopped parsley and tarragon, sautéed diced carrots and onions, brandy-flamed minced shallots and garlic.


Took out the lobster from heat source to prevent overcooking. To be added back to the sauce after adding the tomalley butter mixture into the sauce.

Preparing to Serve

Super securely wrapped refrigerated Lobster Thermidor from yesterday to fend off bad spores in my fridge!


Parmesan cheese to be grated and added to the Lobster Thirmidor before going into the oven at gas mark 7 for 10 to 15 minutes.


Nicely grilled Lobster Thermidor.


Completed Lobster à L'Américaine.

Final Result of 6 Hours Worth of Hard Work
(Not counting shopping time.)

Main courses and sides all set out in the back garden under the scorching sun.


Lobster Thermidor with salad and boiled new potatoes.


Half-eaten Lobster Thermidor in the hot scorching sun.


Half-eaten Lobster à L'Américaine in the hot scorching sun.