June 6: Grilled Lobster Tail with Mediterranean-style Bok Choy

One of the great things that has come from us doing this blog (and by default, talking about it) is that we get great new ideas and cooking advice from our friends and people we meet. Paul had picked up two lobster tails at the grocery store, switching things up a little bit from our regular once a week salmon habit. We just happened to meet up with some friends at Maifest who had experience grilling lobster tails and were able to give us some helpful instructions for preparing and cooking them.

I'm glad Paul was paying attention during that conversation. I was focused on my German beer.

Paul cut open the shells, and pulled them back to reveal the lobster meat inside. Inside one of the lobster tails, there was this weird green stuff. I spent about 20 minutes trying to figure out if I was going to die. In the meantime, Paul was busy washing it off. I think it was the tomalley (the liver). Whatever it was -- I clearly made it to blog another day.

After Paul split open the shell, he basted the meat with melted butter and minced garlic. While Paul cooked the lobster tails on the grill, I started on the side of bok choy, Mediterranean style.

I separated the stems from the leaves, and chopped them both. The stems take a little longer to cook than the leaves, so I put them on a couple minutes ahead.

Bok Choy sauted with a little olive oil.

At the very end of the recipe, you add capers, chopped black olives, and minced garlic and cook for just a few seconds.

We had only half a head of bok choy, so we cut the other ingredients in half as well.

After you turn the heat off the bok choy, you top it with either balsamic vinegar or lemon juice. I went with balsamic vinegar.

Paul cooked the lobster tails on a medium hot grill for 4 - 5 minutes on each side.

Hello, buttery, garlicky goodness.

And shown paired with the Mediterranean bok choy side.

We were going for speed, not cleanliness here. Sorry, folks.

Overall, I was pleased with our first foray into lobster tail cooking. The lobster tasted deliciously buttery and was the perfect amount of meat (for me). We had been told (repeatedly) that undercooked lobster was better than overcooked lobster, so we erred on the side of caution in terms of length of cooking. I thought the bok choy was a little salty -- between the capers and the olives, and then topping it with the balsamic vinegar, I guess that wasn't too surprising.

But I have a sad confession to make. I'm not sure I like lobster. (Eek. I know.) I love me some buttery and garlicky stuff (bread, shrimp, pasta), so I figured I'd be all over this. I have some issues with texture, especially with seafood and meat, so I'm thinking that may have been my problem. While it tasted really good, I struggled with the consistency a little. At first, I asked about cooking it more -- but Paul thought it would become rubbery, which I imagine would make it pretty much inedible.

I'm not ready to give up. Now I'm thinking -- lobster bisque? Lobster paella? Some sort of seafood bake? Gonna get back on the (sea) horse.