Love and Lobster Tails

Did everyone survive Valentine's Day? It will go down in history forever as our first married Valentine's Day - the one where Bryce got a parking ticket while bringing me flowers at work! I fought hard and successfully resisted the urge to upload a bouquet pic to social media. 

Sure, it's a made up holiday and pretty annoying overall, but it often makes us treat our loved ones a little nicer for a day and gives us great excuse to have a fancy meal. As usual, Bryce and I opted to celebrate at home. Surf and turf seems to be our Valetine's Day go-to dinner. This year we upgraded to lobster tail! I'm so pleased with how they turned out, as it was my first time making them.

Another cause for celebration was the arrival of our new dining room table! We've been eating in the living room since we got to Seattle back in November and it took us far too long to find and decide on a table set. This beauty (complete with a bench!) arrived the day prior and our Valentine's dinner feast was the first meal to christen the table. [The next piece of furniture will be the matching hutch/server to replace our industrial shelves. This is a direct result of Bryce visiting home improvement stores on the regular for work!]

On Tuesday night we stopped at Whole Foods on our way home from work. I was rambling on to the man behind the seafood counter and asking him a bazillion questions about lobster tail. First, he gave me a great recipe card which included instructions on how to butterfly the little creatures - awesome. Then, he told me if I came back the next day that lobster tail would be buy-one-get-one-free - INCREDIBLE! I paid just $6.50 per lobster tail and followed that guide to a T. Thus further proving that Whole Foods is the best store on Earth and that never shutting up can pay off, from time to time??!!

Butterflying them wasn't hard at all, thankfully! You just cut right up the back, then separate the shell from the edible portion with your fingers along both sides before gently pull the "meat" out of and above the shell, leaving it connected at the very base/bottom.

The glove, sadly not an ode to MJ, is to protect your mitts from the little spikes on the tail.

Lobster Tails for Two

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2 lobster tails

1 Tbsp of chicken stock

1 Tbsp of lemon juice

1 clove of garlic, chopped 

1 Tbsp of whole wheat panko

1 Tsbp of parmesan cheese

1 Tbsp of chopped parsley

A pinch of paprika

1 Tbsp of melted butter

Once you've properly rearranged the lobster tail like a crustacean Mr. Potato head, the hard work is done. Set your oven to broil and place the top rack about 6" from the top.

In a small bowl, combine the chicken stock, lemon juice, and garlic. Brush half of the mixture on the lobster and pop it in the oven for 4 minutes, then repeat - brush with mixture and cook for 4 more!

In another small bowl, combine the panko, parm, parsley, paprika, and melted butter. After the lobster's 8 minutes in the oven, top the tail with the panko mixture and cook for just one more minute. The meat of the lobster should be white/opaque when it's finished and the shell a bright red.

Adapted from Craig's All Natural recipe.

It was fancy, tasted delicious, and used all ingredients that we have at home (aside from the tails themselves). The presentation rocked and the flavor was just as beautiful. How could we have made them better, you ask? Chosen bigger lobster tails!

Our lobster was served with steak and the best brussel sprouts we've ever made! Oh yes - two recipes in one day. Heyyyyyoooooooo.

Brussels Sprouts with Maple Syrup

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1 pound of brussels sprouts, halved

3 Tbsp of maple syrup

2 Tbsp of EVOO

10 garlic cloves, halved and peeled

Salt and pepper

Preheat your oven to 400* F. Toss all ingredients together and bake, on a baking sheet, for 18 - 20 minutes until lightly browned. 

They're not to sweet and a perfect combination between the syrup and garlic. It's insane how good they taste and I'll never be able to look at the little green sprouts the same way!

Adapted from a Women's Health Magazine recipe.

The best part of this meal is that so many of those candies are still around, the table will last for years and years, and there are 2 more lobster tails in the freezer! Happy Valentine's Day, yinz guys.

If nothing else about this post/"holiday" makes you smile, do it because it won't be around for another year! If you need an excuse to eat lobster tail, just blame it on me.