Quail & Lobster

[Neil]

Picked up a box of bacon wrapped quail breast and legs at Sam's the other day. Thought I might try them for the Super Bowl this afternoon so I am wondering if I should follow the directions and bake at 400* for a 1/2 hour or should I smoke them. Your opinion is requested.

Also, I bought some lobster tails because one of the funeral directors my wife works with would like us to cater her wedding next summer and she wants lobster and prime rib. The PR is a snap, going to fix that the way the Poohbah showed me. Should lobster tails be cooked over direct coals or indirect or smoked? I will experiment with your ideas. Thank You.

[jpw23]

I thought you were supposed to steam or boil lobster.

[qman]

Neil, my opinion:
I would cook the quail in my smoker, running temp up to 325-350°. That will give you a little smoke flavor, and should crisp the bacon.

The lobster, I cook in-direct over coals. Too hot, too long will dry and toughen the lobster meat. Also lobster soaks up smoke as bad as or worse than shrimp.

[thirdeye]

Neil,

This is about as good as it gets for lobster. It is actually pretty easy ... It's just that Houndog can get more long-winded than I can but rest assured he included all the details. Despite the modesty in the last sentence, he is a top notch cook.

Dwell in the Shell

Posted By: Houndog
Date: 1/14/2001 at 01:37:09


Ingredients:

4 Huge Lobster Tails
1 bit Peanut Oil
1-2 Ea Limes
Garlic Powder
1 Touch Lawry's Seasoning Salt
(Optional) New Mexican Green Chili Powder
Butter
Minced Garlic
Serves 2


Preparation:
Picked up 4 huge lobster tails. Thought at first, 1 pound tails for each of us would be ok. Naaaaahhhh - if two tails would be good, 4 tails for the two of us would be better, right ? Get your shears and cut the clear membrane off the belly of the tail, getting rid of the tiny feet, exposing the meat. Rinse them good, dry them with paper towel and place them shell side up on a cutting board. Take a heavy knife or cleaver, place it longwise (parallel) in the center of the shell and tap the back of the blade into the shell, cracking it ever so slightly. This is so our tail will lay flat on the grill. Do not take meat out of the shell ! Now flip them over, belly side up. Take a bit of oil ( I used peanut )and pour a small amount on your fingers, and lightly rub the meat. Don't use much at all, barely a drizzle. Grab a lime or two and squeeze juice and pulp all over the meat, liberally. Then shake on garlic powder and a touch of Lawry's seasoning salt. I then have to throw my favorite ingredient of all time, which goes on everything I cook, New Mexican green chili powder. Don't worry if you don't have this, it's hard to find, and your lobsters will still be far and above any lobster you ever had before. Place covered tails in fridge for an hour or so to marinade while your gettin' your cooker ready. Get a good hot bed of lump going and preheat your cooker to 400 - 450 degrees.

As all of you know, when it comes to seafood and a good hot fire, you must move swiftly because every minute counts. Place tails, meat side down on the grill and press them flat. This is why we weakened the shells earlier with the tapping cleaver. Set your metal cup on the grill also with butter and minced garlic so it will melt and sauté' the garlic. Close the lid. If you don't have a metal cup to use on the grill while you're cookin', get one ! Open the cooker after 5 minutes and with a leather glove, carefully turn tails over onto their shells so meat is facing up towards the sky. Take your (cup grab it with a leather glove please) with the butter and garlic, and spoon sautéed mixture onto the lobster tails. The tails will form a slight cupped shape which will hold most of the butter in place, but your fire will rage for a minute, and that is great. Close the lid down and slowly begin to close top and bottom drafts so they can "Dwell in the Shell" for 5 more minutes.

Remember - with a good hot fire, 5 minutes per side, that's it. With 50 dollars worth of lobster on the grill, you definitely want to pay attention. I don't recommend holding any conversations with your company while you're fixin' this supper. Tell your family and friends that you'll socialize again after this crucial 10 minutes is over. Once everyone tastes what you've agonized and sweated over for 10 minutes, no more explanations will be necessary. Simply, Heaven on Earth ! Serve with long grain and wild rice, corn on the cobs, asparagus, salad, just about anything. Even though we had melted butter to dip the lobster in, it wasn't really necessary. It was so good that were doing it again for the family tomorrow night. They'll be surprised when they get beef tenderloin steaks and lobster tails out of their brisket and pulled pork Houndog. I'm not that good a cook, but these tails are truly world class. Give 'em a try.

[Lazy Dawg]

Hey Neil,
My sister had her wedding 2 summers back and the caterer split the whole lobster in half. They ran about 1 3/4 pounds.This may be more cost effective for you then just tails. Here on LI you can buy the whole lobster cheaper pound for pound then just the tails. He grilled them over medium direct heat for about 10-12 min. It may take a few runs to get the time just right. Lobster is funny, to long its like rubber, to short and ..well sushi. It was presented on a bed of rice with drawn butter and lemon wedge. It will be well worth the effort. It filled the plate and It was fabulous. Good luck!!

LD

[bowhnter]

Originally Posted by thirdeye

Neil,

This is about as good as it gets for lobster. It is actually pretty easy ... It's just that Houndog can get more long-winded than I can but rest assured he included all the details. Despite the modesty in the last sentence, he is a top notch cook.

Bookmarked, sounds great

[J Appledog]

Houndog's lobster recipe is the best! The day he posted that I went out and bought lobster to cook on my mini BGE. I tried modifying it twice and it was nowhere near as good as the original.

[Neil]

Thanks for the input. Hounddog sounds like he knows what he is talking about. I'll do a test run next weekend.

[we'll smoke u]

Hey Neal,
I don't know much about the lobster but I do alot of quail hunting around here.
the best way I have found to make quail is.
1.Debone the breast.
2.then I butter fly them.
3.I use pepper jack cheese(you can use what you like) sometimes a hot pepper and roll the quail around that.
4.then I wrap bacon around that and stick a tooth pick thru it to hold it together.
5.you can season it with what you like before you wrap with bacon.I prefer not to.
6.Then I put it in the smoker at about 300 or 325 til bacon starts to crisp.

I know yours are all put together already and they will be good to.

[MoKanMeathead]

Neal,
Picked up a couple of boxes myself. Plan on cooking them in the oven after I sprinkle them heavily with a mix of brown sugar and chipoltle powder. Probably cook them here, put them in a 1/2 pan and reheat at the party.

I would probably smoke them but its not worth firing up the smoker and cleaning it afterwards for 50 bacon wrapped pieces of quail.

Enjoy!!

[BigBarry]

If you split the lobsters for grillng, crack the claws with back of knife or cleaver.

Never smoke lobster or shrimp.

I like to grill it over hot coals. Just takes a few minutes. Watch the meat and as soon as it gets a little browing on it and is firm, take it off. You can should also see the "fat" bubbling (white goo) out from the cracks in the claws.