51st ANNIVERSARY WEEKEND EATATHON! VERY PIC HEAVY!!

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SmokinAl

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Jun 22, 2009
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Central Florida (Sebring)
This Sunday is Judy & my 51st anniversary. Last year I bought a 10# box of colossal king crab legs, and thought I would do the same this year. Judy said we should try something else so I bought a 10# box of lobster tails. They are the warm water spiny lobsters which we like the best. Each tail was 10-11 oz. We were thinking surf & turf, so I had a couple of 2 " thick filet mignons in the freezer from a whole tenderloin that I bought a while back. The lobsters were delivered Thurs morning. So I thawed out the steaks & we thought we would get the tails ready so we could have a few adult beverages & not have to worry about preparing a meal. All I would need to do was find the fridge & the grill. So after stuffing them it was obvious that we were not going to eat a tail & a steak too. I'm sure the tails weighed at least a pound or more. So I said lets have the steaks for lunch & the tails for dinner. So the celebration begins. Steaks for lunch, stuffed tails for dinner on Thurs., then stuffed tails again on Fri. for dinner. There was still enough stuffing for Sat. night too, but Judy wanted just a grilled tail & a SALAD for dinner Sat. OK then I'm going to take the rest of the stuffing & make blackened crab cakes for lunch. We just finished eating them & they were better than when the stuffing was on the tails. I think next time I stuff some tails I will use Cajun seasoning on the stuffing.

So here's the whole eatathon so far in color photo's.

Starting with the lobster tails.

Here is my recipe:

Crab stuffed lobster tails

Ingredients:

6-8 10 oz. lobster tails

1 lb. lump crabmeat

½ lb. raw shrimp, peeled & deveined

½ lb. bay scallops

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup colored peppers

1/8 cup capers

8 oz. whipped cream cheese with chives & onion

½ stick unsalted butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 TBS lemon juice

1 tube of Ritz crackers (crushed)

Directions:

Depending on the size shrimp & scallops you have, cut them into small bite size pieces. Finely chop onions, peppers & garlic. Melt butter in a sauce pan with the garlic. Just melt the butter, don’t brown the garlic.

Mix crab, shrimp, scallops, onions, peppers, capers, lemon juice, & cream cheese in a large mixing bowl. Then fold in the crushed crackers.

Cut lobster tail shells down the middle of the back, pull the shells apart to open them up. Do not cut all the way thru. Keep the meat & membrane intact. Put them on a foil lined pan, a cookie sheet works well. With the shells opened up, drizzle some of the melted garlic butter on the meat, then fill them up with the stuffing mix. I like to pile it high. Drizzle the stuffing with the rest of the garlic butter & season with Everglades fish & chicken seasoning (or your favorite seafood seasoning). Fire your grill up & get a temp of 350. The oven will work too. Put the coals on each side of the grill, and put the pan in the middle. I like to put a chunk of oak on the coals to give the dish some smoke flavor. Cook until the IT of the lobster is 135-140. 

Here's the box they came in.


Individually wrapped & flash frozen.


The ingredients for the stuffing.


Melting the butter & garlic.


Just enough to heat it but not burn the garlic, then let it cool.


All the stuff for the stuffing.


All mixed together, except for the crackers.


Crackers crushed & ready to fold in.


All mixed & ready to stuff.


Now cut the tail down the center of the back. Just the shell, not any of the meat.


Then spread the shell open. This is a 9x11 pan so you can see how big these guys are.


Drizzle some garlic butter on the meat.


Then fill them up with stuffing.


Then add the remainder of the garlic butter.


We like Everglades fish & chicken seasoning, but next time I am going to try Cajun seasoning.


There they are ready to go. I'm going to put them in the fridge so they are ready for dinner.


Since the tails are so big We're going to have the steaks for lunch.


2 filet mignons with Cajun seasoning. John (redheelerdog) got me started putting Cajun seasoning on steaks.

This is the only way we do them now.


I heated up some peanut oil & unsalted butter in a CI pan on the side burner of my gas grill.


Into the pan go the steaks.


I flipped them a couple of times & basted them with the brown butter.


One got done a little sooner than the other.


Both done & resting.


Perfectly done for us, nice & rare. Had to have a bun to mop up the juice with too.


Now back to dinner. Got the grill fired up & a couple of chunks of oak on the coals.


The tails ready to go on.


Indirect cooking with the temp at about 350.


Took them to an IT of 135-140.


Then rested them for about 5 minutes. They were absolutely delicious!


So fast forward to today. Still have a couple of tails set out for tonight, but I also have quite a bit of stuffing left.

Blackened crab cakes for lunch. Here we go. I molded the stuffing into patties.


Dusted them with Cajun spice.


Then into a CI pot on the side burner of the gas grill. There's peanut oil & unsalted butter in the pan too.


I flipped them & basted them with the brown butter.


I had a little trouble getting them out of the pan in one piece, but they sure were tender, juicy & full of flavor.

We both liked the stuffing cooked this way better than on the tails. Next time the tails will get Cajun seasoning.


Dinner time was lobster rolls. Start with a couple of tails


Just melted butter & paprika this time.


Same setup, indirect cooking.


Grill is at 350.


And they are done, 135-140 IT


Next add some chopped celery & mayo. You put the mayo on while the lobster is still warm.

Then put it in a colander, in a bowl & refrigerate for 30 minutes. The heat will make the mayo drain off,

leaving just a real light coating on the lobster. 


Then into top split buns that have been browned on all sides in butter.

As usual we over stuffed the buns. I know it looks a little sloppy, but they were real good!


Sorry this thread was so long, but I didn't want to turn this into 5 separate threads.

Man I still have tomorrow to go in our weekend celebration.

I may just order a pizza & watch football tomorrow!

UPDATE: SUNDAY MORNING BREAKFAST!

Got out 1/2 lb. of my bacon.


Judy's making Belgium waffles.


I'm cooking the bacon out back on the grill.


Here it is: waffles, bacon, & a couple of beers. This is how we start our anniversary day.

I probably should buy Judy some new jeans, but after the box of lobster, she'll have to wait for her birthday.

That's not too far away though. She was born on Halloween!


I just finished eating & I'm stuffed!

Definitely having salad for dinner!!!


Thanks for looking guys & gals!

Al
 
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Al & Judy Congrats May you have many more years. The meals look fantastic Points

Richie
 
AL & Judy congratulations and enjoy your weekend!!
Another awesome meal!!
51 years is point worthy.
 
Last edited:
Wow all that food looks terrific Al...nicely done! Thumbs Up. And a big congrats to you and Judy...Happy Anniversary!

:points:

Red
 
Food looks absolutely first class, congratulations on 51 wonderful years!

If you're having pizza try making a cast-iron Pizza they are amazing!
 
Congratulations, Al and Judy!!!!

You're killin' me with that food, Al! It looks delicious!! Those steaks are cooked perfectly. I've never had better at Ruth's Chris.!

I see that you and Judy are gaining on us, but we've still got half a decade on you! Keep up the good work!
 
Congrats on 51 years! Tasty looking food as well,hopefully she got you another shaker of Cajun spice looks like your running low!
 
Hi Al,

A sincere congratulations to a great couple!

Awe heck man, now I am going to have to make blackened crab cakes, wholly hell those look good.

The whole spread looks so good! The are absolutely all of my favorites... food Nirvana no doubt!

You got me going now, I was thinking about a blackened New York strip and wasn't too excited about it, and now it's GAME ON BLACKENED STYLE.
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Awesome my friend, Awesome!

 
Wow all that food looks terrific Al...nicely done!
icon14.gif
. And a big congrats to you and Judy...Happy Anniversary!

points.gif


Red
Thanks Red!

I really appreciate it!

Al
Food looks absolutely first class, congratulations on 51 wonderful years!

If you're having pizza try making a cast-iron Pizza they are amazing!
Thank you my friend!

I will try the CI pizza for sure!

Al
Congratulations, Al and Judy!!!!

You're killin' me with that food, Al! It looks delicious!! Those steaks are cooked perfectly. I've never had better at Ruth's Chris.!

I see that you and Judy are gaining on us, but we've still got half a decade on you! Keep up the good work!
Thank you so much!

Al
Congrats on 51 years! Tasty looking food as well,hopefully she got you another shaker of Cajun spice looks like your running low!
Thanks B!

I know, your right the shaker is getting real low.

ROAD TRIP!!!

Al
 
51 years ! Wow! Who said there's no such thing as true love?
All that food and you're thinking about ordering pizza? No leftovers?
Happy anniversary and may you have many more!!

Dan
 
WOW, congrats.

Awesome job on all that food.    Looks fantastic.

POINTS
 
Congrats and interesting recipe. Being on the Maryland border Crab has Mayo and a bit of Mustard as a binder. The cheese sounds interesting...JJ
 
Dang Al, talk about a few days of awesome food... WOW ! That all looks amazing ! :drool

Congrats to Judy & you on 51 years... How cool ! Thumbs Up
 
Happy 51st Al. that food looks great. Im sure Judy will keep you around cooking like that :yahoo:
 
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