Melissa Clark - Food Writer

Farmers' Market Dinner: Grilled Lobsters and Corn

My friends gave me an idea. "We got lobsters, we're making lobster rolls," my friends said, "we got them last week too, they are fantastic."

These days there are an oversupply of lobsters, making them sustainable and cheap (well, cheap for lobsters). Still the two that I ordered came to $26.

"You'll love them," the fish lady promised.

A menu started taking shape in my head: I'd grill the lobsters along with some of the corn I'd picked up, and douse everything in a garlic-lemon butter that I'm currently obsessed with (you'll see a variation of it next week in my column, seasoned with cayenne and served over clams).

The question then became, how to dispatch the lobsters before putting them on the grill. Should I par boil them? This is the easiest, least confrontational way. You chuck the lobsters in a water-filled pot, clamp on the lid and try not to listen to their death rattles as they frantically try to escape their sauna-like demise.

I could stick a knife between their eyes a la Julia Child.

Or I could follow Trevor Corson's wise advice. A lobster expert, his exhaustive research shows that if you freeze the crustaceans for 15 to 20 minutes to numb them, then plunge a knife into their guts, they die instantly and humanely.

Another friend laughed in my face when I told her about my dilemma. I didn't want to plunge my knife into a lobster gut, but wasn't keen on boiling them alive either.

"Do what's easiest for you, " she said. "It's a lobster for god's sake, why are you worried about being humane to a shellfish?"

A year ago, before I ever even contemplated the idea of lobster pain, I would have boiled the creepy little fellows alive. But now I don't think I could ever go back there. Even if I want to steam them for serving, I'll kill them first, as humanely as possible.

Except, come time to do the deed, in that moment I lost my nerve. Even frozen for 15 minutes, the critters were still moving.

Luckily, Daniel was not intimidated by waving claws and antennae. He volunteered and I took a video of his handiwork. I hope that it will inspire other people to try this (hopefully) humane method of seafood slaughter. It's not hard if you're not squeamish (I'm embarrassed by my temporary squeamishness, but so it goes, I'm planning to do the dirty work myself next time, and I have done it before for this article I wrote for the Times, so I'm not a total wimp...)

Anyway, after Daniel killed the beasts, we put them back-side down on the grill, covered it, and let the lobsters cook until their shells went red and the pearly flesh went from translucent to opaque. It took about 10 minutes, and we added the husked corn to the grill after 5.

The recipe for garlic-lemon butter is easy: stir together 4 tablespoons melted butter, 1 garlic clove that you've pasted with a pinch of salt, a few drops of lemon juice, and a bunch of chopped herbs (we used tarragon). Add more salt and some pepper.

Since I don't cook lobsters regularly at home, we didn't have any tools like crackers or shiny forks, but we used a garlic press to crack the claws, and the tips of sharp knives to extract the meat. It was primitive, but effective. And it all somehow felt right, sitting outside on the deck, being gnawed on by mosquitoes, while we gnawed on what are ostensibly just large, tasty $26 insects. With a bottle of rosé, of course.

I ran into some friends at the farmers' market this weekend. I was waiting on the fish line, debating on the sustainable options for dinner. Squid or clams? Mussels or porgy? Ho hum, it was beginning to seem like a terrible rotation, no matter how much I love seafood. My friends gave me an idea. "We got lobsters, we're making lobster rolls," my friends said, "we got them last week too, they are fantastic." These days there are an oversupply of lobsters, making them sustainable and cheap (well, cheap for lobsters). Still the two that I ordered came to $26. "You'll love them," the fish lady promised. A menu started taking shape in my head: I'd grill the lobsters along with some of the corn I'd picked up, and douse everything in a garlic-lemon butter that I'm currently obsessed with (you'll see a variation of it next week in my column, seasoned with cayenne and served over clams). The question then became, how to dispatch the lobsters before putting them on the grill. Should I par boil them? This is the easiest, least confrontational way. You chuck the lobsters in a water-filled pot, clamp on the lid and try not to listen to their death rattles as they frantically try to escape their sauna-like demise. I could stick a knife between their eyes a la Julia Child. Or I could follow Trevor Corson's wise advice. A lobster expert, his exhaustive research shows that if you freeze the crustaceans for 15 to 20 minutes to numb them, then plunge a knife into their guts, they die instantly and humanely. Another friend laughed in my face when I told her about my dilemma. I didn't want to plunge my knife into a lobster gut, but wasn't keen on boiling them alive either. "Do what's easiest for you, " she said. "It's a lobster for god's sake, why are you worried about being humane to a shellfish?" A year ago, before I ever even contemplated the idea of lobster pain, I would have boiled the creepy little fellows alive. But now I don't think I could ever go back there. Even if I want to steam them for serving, I'll kill them first, as humanely as possible. Except, come time to do the deed, in that moment I lost my nerve. Even frozen for 15 minutes, the critters were still moving. Luckily, Daniel was not intimidated by waving claws and antennae. He volunteered and I took a video of his handiwork. I hope that it will inspire other people to try this (hopefully) humane method of seafood slaughter. It's not hard if you're not squeamish (I'm embarrassed by my temporary squeamishness, but so it goes, I'm planning to do the dirty work myself next time, and I have done it before for this article I wrote for the Times, so I'm not a total wimp...) Anyway, after Daniel killed the beasts, we put them back-side down on the grill, covered it, and let the lobsters cook until their shells went red and the pearly flesh went from translucent to opaque. It took about 10 minutes, and we added the husked corn to the grill after 5. The recipe for garlic-lemon butter is easy: stir together 4 tablespoons melted butter, 1 garlic clove that you've pasted with a pinch of salt, a few drops of lemon juice, and a bunch of chopped herbs (we used tarragon). Add more salt and some pepper. Since I don't cook lobsters regularly at home, we didn't have any tools like crackers or shiny forks, but we used a garlic press to crack the claws, and the tips of sharp knives to extract the meat. It was primitive, but effective. And it all somehow felt right, sitting outside on the deck, being gnawed on by mosquitoes, while we gnawed on what are ostensibly just large, tasty $26 insects. With a bottle of rosé, of course.