Groomer’s Seafood Lobster Mania

Real Texas Lobster Quesadillas

(Editor’s note:  It is so good to have Ramona back posting some of her recipes.  I’ll give everyone  an update in a few days.)

Here’s a headline for you:  Live Maine Lobsters come to San Antonio, Texas by the thousands!

Groomer’s Seafood in San Antonio had it’s annual Lobster Mania last week.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many lobsters. It was a Real Texas Lobster Mania event!

Rick and Blake Groomer, owners of Groomer’s Seafood, explained how Lobster Mania came about when they accidentally received too many lobsters.  They decided to offer them at an incredible price of $6.95 each! Not per pound, but for each lobster, and the lobsters are between 1 to 1 1/2 pounds each.

I was so excited that I decided to create several recipes, including my Real Texas Lobster Quesadillas. (Scroll down for the recipe)  We ate lobster for 4 days in a row!!!  I am posting Vietnamese Lobster with Ginger and Scallions and Lobster Bisque with Sweet Basil.

And the best part about this, is that Groomer’s Seafood is planning on having another Lobster Mania this coming Labor Day weekend!  You can like their FaceBook page and get updates on the specific days…you will really want to get there early because at the last Lobster Mania they were supposed to have enough lobsters for Thursday, Friday and Saturday, but they sold their Saturday allotment on Friday.  Watch my interview with Rick and Blake Groomer, this is so exciting! Go to their website: Groomers Seafood and sign up for their weekly newsletter, great specials and recipes.

I have to confess, I don’t like to kill anything, but I love lobster!  The solution to this problem, is that I show you how to prepare the lobster hot tub, we pause the filming and David puts them in.  You have to cook them precisely so they are not raw, nor should they be over cooked and rubbery.  Can you get the tail meat out whole in just a couple of easy steps?

I’ll show you how.

This video shows how I prepare (with David’s help) and how to get all the lobster meat out in big pieces. The secret in removing the whole Lobster tail meat is to remove the tail fins and then poking your finger in the hole where the fins were and just pushing the tail out the other end….watch and I’ll show you how easy it is.

On Thursday, we had our friends, over for a Lobster Feast and we each ate 2 whole lobsters.  And they were delicious!  From cocktails, fresh Lobster, spinach salad, corn in Cilantro Butter, boiled potatoes, and a chocolate icebox dessert.

Friday, I pulled the meat from all the remaining lobsters and cooked down the carcasses to make a rich lobster stock for Lobster Bisque with Sweet Basil.  (All you do is take the lobster carcasses, add clean water to the boiling pot and boil for 2 to 3 hours. Then strain the lobster stock)

While the Lobster Stock was cooking down, I made Real Texas Quesadillas with Jalapeño Cilantro Butter, and served with Roasted Tomato and Serrano Salsa.  Enjoy the recipes and videos.

Roasted Tomato Serrano Salsa

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds ripe Roma Tomatoes, chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 small Sweet Texas Onion, chopped
1 Serrano Chile, minced
3 tablespoons fresh squeezed Lime juice
2 tablespoons fresh Cilantro, chopped
1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 450F degrees.  Place the Roma Tomatoes on a broiler pan and place in the oven.  Once the skin is blackened and split, turn over and blacken the other side.  Remove from the oven and cool completely. Peel and puree in a food processor.  Set aside.

In a saucepan, heat the oil.  Add the onion and fry until deep golden, but not burnt.  Approximately 8 minutes. Add the tomatoes, Serrano chile and at a simmering boil, simmer for approximately 15 minutes, stirring often, until reduced but not dry.  Add lime juice, cilantro and salt.  Transfer into a small bowl and set aside.

Jalapeño Cilantro Butter

Ingredients

1 cup fresh Cilantro leaves, chopped
1/2 cup Butter at room temperature
1 tablespoon fresh Lime juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Jalapeño Peppers, roasted, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1/4 teaspoon Black Pepper

Directions

Combine the Cilantro with the butter, lime juice, garlic and Jalapeños. Season with salt and pepper.  Set aside and leave a room temperature.

Real Texas Quesadillas

Ingredients

2 cups Cheddar Cheese, grated
2 cups Jalapeño Jack Cheese, grated
4 Maine Lobster tails, deveined and split in half lengthwise
8 Flour Tortillas
1/4 cup Butter, melted

Directions

Spread the Jalapeño Cilantro butter on both sides of the lobster meat and place on a plate.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes to harden and set the butter.

Preheat the grill.  Place the lobster tail meat, cut side down on the hot grill and cook until lightly browned, 2 to 3 minutes on each side.

With the melted butter, spread on one side of the tortilla and place the butter side down on the grill.  Spread approximately 1/2 cup of each of the cheeses on only 1/2 of the tortilla.  Place 2 halves of the lobster tail meat and fold the tortilla over.  You may have to press with a spatula to get the tortilla to stay folded.  Once the tortilla on the grill side is golden brown, flip over and grill the other side.

Remove from the grill, cut in half and serve with Roasted Tomato and Serrano Salsa.

Tagged as: Grilled Lobster, Groomer's seafood, Lobster Mania, Lobster Recipe, Quesadilla Recipe, Ramona Werst, Real Texas Recipe, Real Texas Recipes, texas cooking, Texas recipe