Lobster Spec-Tac-U-Laaarrrrr: Spicing It Up

One of my favorite kitchen pastimes is to try new recipes...and then fiddle with them. It drives my mother crazy, as she doesn't see how I can recreate anything with my constant fiddling, and it makes it hard for me to tell her exactly how to replicate a dish of mine. I worry about this less, and simply try to enjoy it. Recently, I found a new recipe for a "Spicy Adobo Shrimp Cocktail" in the August issue of Gourmet. I made it the first time just as directed in the recipe. I enjoyed it a lot - it was a huge hit in my house!

The next time I made it, I changed it a bit...in some areas more than others. They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Just in case this is true, I serve lobster fairly often! I swapped in some lobster meat for the shrimp in the recipe, making it a "lobster cocktail" instead. As you've gathered that lobster is popular in my house, this was a strategic alteration. The shrimp are great, but the sweetness of the lobster meat was an even better play against the adobo's heat. Still, I wasn't satisfied. The recipe, as you see, calls for celery. There's just something about celery that doesn't quite work for me. I'd cut back, but not enough to suit my tastes. And I added more other vegetables, but still could have gone with a higher veggie volume.

When the time came to plan the Lobster Spec-Tac-U-Laaarrrrr, I suggested this instead of a salad. You still get the goodness of a healthy spoonful of vegetables, and it is spiked with some heat and a yummy helping of lobster. This was met with immediate approval, but I knew I still wanted to make some adjustments.

What I did differently:
Protein: instead of all shrimp, I used about a half pound of shrimp and the chopped lobster meat from three tails, about 3-4 oz. each
Celery: omitted completely
Avocado: increased to two
Tomatoes: increased to three or four - I like tomatoes
Sauce: all components (ketchup, lime juice, adobo sauce, water) increased to 1.5 times the recipe amount (e.g., instead of 2 Tbsp. of water, I used 3 Tbsp.)

This does present a dish a little more like a fresh seafood salsa, but the flavors are very balanced, with the sweet meat, spicy sauce and fresh vegetables. If you like spicy, add in a little extra adobo sauce too (I confess - I added a little more!). The heat, sweet and sour mingle to create a clean flavor that is deeper than you'd expect.

A few tips that worked for me: I make the sauce first, in a big bowl. Then I chop the rest of the vegetables, piling them into the big bowl on top of the sauce. Gently stir together, cover and refrigerate. This lets the flavors meld and deepen. Then prepare your protein. My preference is to stir in the protein about a half hour or so before serving, so the sauce can permeate the meat a bit. Do as you wish!

This makes a lovely light dinner for two, perhaps with a salad and some bread. When I served it as such, it made me a very popular lady. It's also a lovely first or second course, as it was for the Lobster Spec-Tac-U-Laaarrrrr. In this instance, I served it in simple glass bowls or cocktail glasses. This made it a little fun, and sharing good food with good friends should be, above all, about fun, about enjoyment, about the pleasure of all of it - the food, the company, the evening.