Annie Hall lobster
The story
Each month The TickeT Movie BiTes will select a dish from a film. We’ll give you the recipe and leave you in peace to do the shopping. Next week you can grab your pinny and join us for the cook-along. Then watch the movie that inspired your dinner. Tasty. (See panel for full details)
The movie
Woody Allen’s romantic comedy Annie Hall, released in 1977 to critical acclaim and ultimately collecting four Academy Awards. Its narrator and protagonist Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) spends the film analysing why his relationship with Annie Hall (Diane Keaton) was not meant to be.
The scene
In happier times, Alvy and Annie leave New York for a weekend in The Hamptons on Long Island. They stock up on local lobsters only for havoc to ensue when the crustaceans are accidentally let loose in the kitchen.
The food
When Alvy and Annie finally manage to get them into the pot, one can assume they made East Coast Lobster Bake. The shared experience of dealing with loose lobsters brings the couple closer together. There’s no doubt they would be able to look back on the photo Annie took of Alvy with the lobsters without cracking a smile.
The recipe
Lobster Cocktail (serves 2 generously or 4 at a stretch) We're going to keep things simple by using our luscious lobster meat in a posh version of the '70s classic, prawn cocktail. There are a few different theories on the most humane way to cook live lobsters. Freezing them for less than two hours before cooking is said to stun them. Another theory is to put them in a pot of cold water and bring to a gradual boil. The most traditional method is to just whack them straight into a pot of boiling water. For more information on cooking live lobsters, see bit.ly/lobstertips. If you can't get your hands on a live lobster, cooked prawns make for a decent stand-in. If you're cooking for vegetarians, use some fried tofu instead.
INGREDIENTS1,650-800g live lobster (We got our 670g lobster in Dublin's Kish Fish and it cost us just over €19)
Salt
4 tablespoons of mayonnaise
4 tablespoons of tomato ketchup
Worcestershire sauce Tabasco sauce
A few handfuls of shredded romaine or gem lettuce
Half a lemon
METHODOnce you've gotten your live lobster home put it in the freezer for 30 minutes to 1 hour. When the lobster is stunned, get your largest pot (make sure you have the lid) and fill about two thirds of it with water. Add a tablespoon of salt and bring the water to the boil. Lower the heat and pop in the lobster. Make sure it's submerged, adding boiling hot water if needs be, and put the lid on straight away. Simmer for 15 minutes for the first 450g and a further 10 minutes for each extra 450g. We simmered ours for 20 minutes in total.
Meanwhile, make your cocktail sauce by mixing the mayonnaise and tomato ketchup; add a good splash of tabasco and Worcestershire sauce to taste. You can get your cocktail glasses ready by placing the shredded lettuce in the bottom of the glass.
When your lobster is ready, remove it using a slotted spoon and put on a chopping board, allowing it to cool for 5 minutes. Now you can get the meat out. Twist off the claws and break them into sections. Crack the claw shell with a hammer or nutcracker. Remove the flesh. Twist off the legs from the body and break them into sections, using a toothpick to remove the flesh. Carefully split the lobster in half along its length from head to tail using a large, sharp knife. Remove and throw away the pale stomach sac, the gills and the dark intestinal thread that runs the length of the tail. You'll find some beautiful meat in the tail, which is easily removed in large pieces, and some soft flesh from the shell. (Here's how to use the leftover shell and body to make a stock bit.ly/lobsterstock.)
Divide the lobster meat equally between the cocktail glasses by sitting them on top of your lettuce. Squeeze a little lemon juice over each glass before spooning over a teaspoon or so of the cocktail sauce. Enjoy with a chilled white wine and think about how you’re going to explain the ordeal of cooking a live lobster to your analyst.
Aoife McElwain is a food writer. Never very far away from something edible, she blogs about food on I Can Has Cook? icanhascook.wordpress.com
The Ticket movie bites ONLINE
The Ticket will be hosting an online supper and movie club this Wednesday, April 18th. We'll be cooking our live lobster and watching Annie Hall from 7pm onwards, tweeting and facebooking our lobster progress along the way. Join in from the comfort of your own kitchen via Twitter@thetwicketand Facebook facebook.com/irishtimestheticket
