I love Lobster roll. When I left Long Island and moved south I resigned myself to the fact that Lobster roll would be a special treat when we went home to visit once a year. Our trips home always included at least one stop to Bracco's on the Nautical Mile in Freeport. There's nothing like a Lobster roll and an ice cold Corona on the deck overlooking the water on a hot summer day. Years ago I tried looking for a recipe online to replicate but it seemed to be a well guarded secret. One day an article appeared in the newspaper reviewing a restaurant that was within driving distance. The dish that the reviewer raved about was the Lobster roll. What!? I had to try it out. I dropped the kids off at school and made the 45 minute drive and boy was it worth it! This Lobster roll was almost as good as Bracco's. It was only almost as good as Bracco's only because there was no hot, sunny, summer day. No ice cold Corona (I still had to drive myself home) and no waterfront dining.
The first time, I was too embarrassed to eat alone so I got the Lobster roll to go. I ate it in my car in a remote part of the parking deck. The first few bites of cool, sweet, salty lobster salad inside the warm, toasty, buttery bun. Yum! It was pure heaven. The second time, I tried to look for a nice park nearby to eat at to no avail. I drove around fervently, all the while, my lobster roll was getting colder and colder. I eventually wound up in a church parking lot. After that I said screw it and I ate at the restaurant. Funny thing is, I began to notice that other people were dining alone also. They weren't sad or pathetic or lonely. They were just people out for a meal. Then I didn't feel so weird anymore. Sadly, the restaurant was a victim of the bad economy and closed down about two years ago. Since then I have been forced to figure out a way to make it at home. It was difficult to find a good recipe online so I just kinda winged it and cobbled this together. It's a actually a pretty simple recipe. You don't need alot of the "sauce". You want the lobster to be the main attraction. The sauce is just an enhancement. Top split hot dog buns are the most authentic New England style but top split buns are hard to find. If you have to use regular buns just trim off the sides. Then you butter the sides and cook them in a pan like you would a grilled cheese. You can also use croissants in a pinch. I just cut them in half and pop them in the toaster oven on a tray so that the insides stay soft and don't crisp up. But you should make sure the croissant is well stuffed so that the lobster salad is the star of the show.
As it is, I have exactly one supermarket nearby that sells fresh lobster and they'll steam it for me too. So I let them do that part. They usually just have a stock of 1 1/2 pound lobsters. I always ask them to look for one with big claws. I prefer the claw meat over tail. I take the lobster home and I can break that sucker down in under 10 minutes. Put it in the fridge to cool down and we're good to go.
This recipe is based on the ratio of lobster available. I kind of eyeball it all up.
Lobster Roll
Lobster meat from a steamed 1 1/2 pound lobster
1/4 cup low fat Hellman's mayonnaise
1 TBS low fat sour cream (opt)
1 rib celery chopped
1 teaspoon capers - chopped
1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
splash of lemon juice
Top Split hot dog buns or a croissant
Mix everything together except the lobster.
Put the lobster in a separate bowl and add the mayo mix to it a little at a time. It only takes a small bit to cover the lobster. You don't want the lobster to be too wet. Sometimes I don't even use all the sauce.
If you have a top split hot dog bun, butter the sides and cook them in a pan. Add lobster salad and eat!
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