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Shell out for lobster

You can afford to splurge on lobster - the spiny Florida variety - by making a little go a long way in luxurious recipes.

As luxury foods go, lobster has few peers.

The price certainly has something to do with that, as do the sweet, succulent meat and melted butter served alongside. Now, that's rich.

Maine isn't the only state with these expensive "bugs" every summer. The Florida spiny lobster season opened this month and continues through March. Sport fishermen got a head start with two days of lobster hunting in late July.

The warm-water crustacean off our shores doesn't have claws, but many say the tail meat is as delectable as the Northern variety. (Of course, those who do probably aren't from the Pine Tree State.)

At up to $12 a pound for a whole one or $22 for a pound of tails, lobster is definitely a special treat. Yet, because Florida's lobster is easily deshelled, the meat is more tempting and easier to use in cooking, while big Maine lobsters are best left to diners and their own scrappy claws.

Rather than serving whole Florida tails to guests, consider Lobster Pot Pies or Lobster Nachos With Asian Guacamole; both stretch a pound of lobster a long way deliciously.

"You just can't go wrong with fresh lobster, warm- or cold-water," says Robert Cameron, owner of Ward's Seafood Market in Clearwater.

Unfortunately, the early supply isn't as plentiful as last year, he says. Most of Florida's bounty is harvested at the southern end of the peninsula, and the July hurricanes - Emily and Dennis - may be partly to blame.

Whatever the reason, prices are about $1 more a pound than last year, he says. He does not expect them to drop much because the better supply is usually at the beginning of the season.

More reason to learn how to stretch a pound of lobster.

Early in the season, the lobsters are usually sold whole, weighing 1 to 2 pounds. About 33 percent of that weight is edible, Cameron says. The bodies can be used to make stock, and Cameron says that buying whole lobster ensures freshness.

Ward's, and other fishmongers, will remove the tail and split the shell for buyers. They'll give you the body and tail shell for stock, if you'd like. Kitchen shears make splitting tails at home easy.

My first experience a few years ago with spiny lobster was disappointing. I broiled the lobster in its shell and was left with curled rubber. Too much dry heat for too long.

According to Steven Raichlen, who wrote about Florida cuisine before becoming the Barbecue Guru, the spiny lobster needs to be cooked in moist heat. Broiling without basting is a recipe for disaster, making the meat tough and, in my experience, inedible.

Raichlen says Florida's lobster has a stronger flavor than Maine's, so it holds up well next to assertive ingredients such as ginger and hot peppers.

To serve tails whole, Cameron cooks them on the grill, split in half with shell side down and meat coated with olive oil and garlic. The juice from the meat plus the olive oil prevent drying. He loads the top with bread crumbs and herbs and flips the tails for the last 45 seconds of cooking to brown the crumbs.

Forty-five seconds? That's right for the flip side.

It doesn't take long for lobster to cook; the meat needs to go from translucent to opaque, which happens in about five minutes for the first stage of cooking.

Think scallops. Think shrimp. Overcooking makes them tough.

Enjoying lobster is a splurge, especially when it is the main attraction in individual lobster pot pies. Make them in 1- to 2-cup gratin dishes or use any shallow baking dish.

This isn't diet food, for the waistline or the wallet. Two words: butter and cream.

You save a few calories on the crust, which is just a topper of puff pastry; there is no crust on the bottom.

What I like about this recipe is that with more stock and cream, the luxurious filling becomes chowder.

The filling can be stretched with peas and carrots, but I use only corn and potatoes so as not to dilute the seafood flavor too much. Generous sea scallops cut into half-inch pieces up the wow factor.

I spike the filling with aged amontillado sherry, fresh chives and dried tarragon, traditional flavor companions for lobster. Brandy would work nicely, too.

A more casual presentation of Florida lobster is Nachos With Asian Guacamole and Spicy Sour Cream. Versatility plays a part here, as the recipe can be adapted for party food, a sit-down dinner first course or ladies' lunch salad. How you want to serve it will determine how you fry the wonton skins, used in place of tortilla chips, the traditional, but heavier, nacho dippers.

Cut in strips, fried wontons become the light crunch on top of a salad. Fried triangles are the dippers for a bowlful of a layered lobster-guacamole-sour cream melange. When the skins are fried in their square, uncut form, they become a sturdy base for an architectural arrangement of flavors and textures and an elegant first course.

To save calories, bake the wontons in a 350-degree oven on a sheet coated with nonstick vegetable spray. Give the uncooked pastry a light spray, too. It'll take about five minutes for them to turn golden, but keep a watchful eye on the oven. They go from golden to gold dust quickly. Same is true for skins fried in oil.

Fresh ginger enlivens the guacamole in an ingenious way. You may be tempted to lighten the dish by using low- or nonfat sour cream. An admirable idea, but you'll be disappointed by the watery spread of the sour cream. The real deal, even if it's just a tablespoon, holds its shape better.

I diced the lobster and sauteed it in butter with just a sprinkle of cayenne. Cool before assembly.

The taste of luxury doesn't get much better than this.

-- Janet K. Keeler can be reached at 727 893-8586 or krieta@sptimes.com