Lobster
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Lobster BLTs
Shea Gallante's delectable sandwich is filled with crunchy bacon, sweet chunks of lobster (replacing the usual lettuce) and herb-spiked mayonnaise. "When you add lobster to a sandwich, there's no way it won't be great," he says.
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Curry Lobster Rolls
A classic beach-shack lobster roll becomes Asian-inflected when mixed with a mild curry mayonnaise; a few baked kaffir lime leaves on top add crunch.
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Steamed Lobster with Lemon Thyme Butter
Jeremy Sewall steams his lobsters over seaweed, but if that's hard to get, use large leaves of romaine (or even just a metal colander) to keep the lobsters from becoming submerged in the water. Lemon thyme, a type of thyme with a lemony taste, adds a fresh flavor to the melted butter for the lobsters.
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Chili Lobster
When Chris Yeo was growing up in Singapore, he went to restaurants to eat chili crab, the classic Singaporean dish of whole crabs in a potent red chili-garlic sauce. "Nobody made chili crab at home—it was so much work to prepare," he says. Here, he's modified the traditional recipe by adding a little ketchup to the sauce (a not-uncommon ingredient in southeast Asian cooking) and substituting lobster for the crab.
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Deluxe Lobster and Potato Chip Rolls
"Putting potato chips inside sandwiches has always been a favorite trick of ours," says chef Jon Shook. He and co-chef Vinny Dotolo serve chips on Tabasco-spiked lobster salad tucked into buttery toasted buns.
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Lobster Sliders
These are lush, miniature takes on classic New England lobster rolls.
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Spicy Lobster-Noodle Salad
This cellophane-noodle salad, with creamy avocados, crunchy peanuts and a chile-honey dressing, is an excellent showcase for Caribbean spiny lobsters. Also known as rock lobsters, they are sweet but can be slightly dense. This recipe uses Maine lobsters; they're more tender than spiny lobsters—and just as delicious.
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Roasted Lobsters with Verjus and Tarragon
Verjus, a cooking liquid pressed from unripe grapes, is a staple of classic French cooking; chefs love it today for its pleasant tang, which is much milder than vinegar. David Page uses verjus two ways here: to help baste the lobster as it roasts and to brighten a jalapeño-and-tarragon-inflected vinaigrette served over the sweet meat.
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Nantucket Clambake
In a classic New England clambake, lobsters, clams, corn and potatoes cook in a rock-lined pit. Smoke and steam from hardwood coals and seaweed create incredible briny, sweet-smoky flavors.
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Mini Brioche Lobster Rolls
These rolls, which are a delightful play on the traditional lobster roll, are quite substantial, so one per person is plenty, especially if you're serving additional hors d'oeuvres. Cooked shrimp or lump crab is a fine alternative to lobster.
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Ted Allen's Lobster Bouillabaisse
A classic bouillabaisse often contains six or more different kinds of fish. "But for my money, you really just need lobster, a firm fish and either mussels or clams," says Ted Allen. Even in a simplified version of the Provençal seafood stew, Allen still thinks it's important to make a broth; here, he uses the lobster shells. "For a stronger seafood flavor, add a bottle of clam juice to the finished stock," he says.
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Lobster with Fideos
Rossejat de fideos, a traditional seafood dish of Spain's Catalonia region, resembles paella but instead of rice, it calls for fideos, fine vermicelli-like pasta. Here, the pasta browns in hot oil until toasty, then cooks slowly in a deliciously rich stock, made with the lobster shells, soaking up all the flavor.
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Lobster Capellini with Leek-Tarragon Cream Sauce
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Pumpkin Soup with Creole Lobster
The Rushings' version is a pumpkin soup topped with lobster bathed in a spicy butter. The natural brininess of the lobster helps bring out all the deep, earthy flavor in the soup.
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