Lobster pot pie

One of the culinary treasures in Cincinnati is Findlay Market, the state's oldest running public market. There is stall after stall of great fresh ingredients -- every cut of meat you could imagine, fresh pasta, an amazing spice counter, and terrific seafood.... all amidst the delicious smell of buttery waffles from Taste of Belgium.

On a trip to the market on Friday, there was a special at Luken's -- $10 for a whole cooked lobster. Um, yes please. I had taken advantage of this around Tyler's birthday when I made lobster rolls but I hadn't seen it since. When I saw it on Friday I was excited because it's the holidays and I wanted us to have a special meal to keep up the holiday spirit -- seafood always makes us jolly!


When I got home, I mulled over what to do with this lobster. The idea of cold lobster on its own wasn't too appetizing to me. It snowed here, I wanted something warm which would stick to my ribs. I have never made lobster pot pie before and after some research on the internet, I came up with the combination below based on what I had laying around at home (a more dedicated cook probably would have made the crust or purchased some crust, but I had some Ritz crackers to get rid of and this was a perfect opportunity). I also tossed in some crawfish meat, but it is definitely not essential to have that in this dish -- lobster on its own in this is delicious. It was soooo good! And so decadent. It made us feel fancy and all warm inside, which is really what makes a good holiday dinner. Next time I'll make the crust and get one of those cute little lobster cookie cutters.... bon appetit!



Lobster filling: 

Meat from two cooked lobsters, cut into chunks
1/2 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 tbspns. butter
2 tbspns. all purpose flour
1/4 cup sherry
1/2 tspn. paprika
1/2 cup of clam juice or fish stock
1 1/2 cups half and half
1 tbspn. chopped parsley
Salt + pepper to taste

Crust 
1 sleeve of Ritz crackers, crushed by hand or pulsed in a food processor
1 1/2 tbspns. melted butter
A splash of hot sauce (optional)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Melt the butter and sautee the onion + garlic until the onion is translucent. Toss in the lobster heads if you extracted the lobster meat yourself. Add the flour and sautee until all the flour is cooked (no white powder left in the pan). Add the clam juice, sherry, salt and pepper. Simmer for 3 minutes. Stir in the half and half and parsley then take off the heat. Place the mixure into 2 big individual ramekins, or a shallow baking dish.

Mix the Ritz crackers and melted butter together (and the hot sauce if you're using it). Place the crumb mixture over the lobster in the ramekins or baking dish. Bake until the lobster mix is bubbling and the mixture is a nice golden brown -- 10-15 minutes for the ramekins, 15-20 for the baking dish.