Hello everyone and thanks for visiting us here at the Eaton Street Market Seafood Blog! Wherever you are, we hope your summer is going as well as ours is down here in Key West. There’s been plenty of beautiful weather, fun, and great food down here all summer long, but now that July is winding down we’re preparing for a truly special occasion– the beginning of Key West Lobster Season!
Lobster season begins down here in the first week of August, and to get the deliciousness started off right, we’re going to commemorate this delectable time of year with a pair of lobster recipes over the next two posts. This time out, we’re going to share a fantastic spiny lobster tail with cilantro relish recipe. You can serve it with your favorite risotto or pasta dish and it will prepare your taste buds for the bounty of delicious Key West that’s about to become available!
Spiny Lobster Tail With Cilantro Relish
Prepared with risotto or pasta, this recipe will serve 4 people. We’ll start off with the cilantro relish, which you’ll want to prepare in advance and refrigerate. Then, we’ll share one of our favorites to cook lobster tail. Of course, we highly recommend that you order fresh Key West spiny lobster tail directly from us. Next day lobster delivery will be available all over the country starting next month.
How to Prepare the Cilantro Relish
Here are the ingredients you’ll need:
1/3 of a white onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup of chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup of lime juice, preferably fresh
1 tsp sugar
1/3 cup of fresh mint, finely chopped
1 thinly sliced Serrano Red Chile
1/3 cup of vegetable oil
To prepare, simply mix these ingredients up in a medium sized bowl, cover, and refrigerate.
Spiny Lobster Tail Recipe
Now, here’s everything you’ll need to prepare the spiny lobster.
4 (7-9 oz) spiny lobster tails, split open but left in the shell
1/4 stick of unsalted better kept at room temperature for proper softness
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Fresh Lemon
Here are the directions for cooking the lobster tail. This recipe calls for broiling, but if you’d prefer to grill the tails, you can simply adjust the directions accordingly.
- Preheat the broiler to medium high
- Make sure the tails are opened up down the middle and place them on a cookie sheet
- Spread the softened butter evenly over the lobster meat
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Put the lobster under the preheated broiler and let it cook for about 7-8 minutes
- Remove the lobster from the broiler and let them cool a little
- Serve the tails warm with fresh lemon the cilantro relish
Don’t Worry if You Run Out. We’ll Catch More.
As you can tell, this is a fairly straightforward recipe. If you add in the time needed to cook the pasta or risotto, the whole meal shouldn’t take much more than an hour total. Just follow these simple directions and you’ll have a lobster dinner for four that’s second to none. And just in case you didn’t know, Key West lobster tail should only be broiled or grilled, never boiled. Boiling is for the lobster you find up north.
And here’s the best part– you can tell your guests that there are plenty more spiny lobster tails where those came from! The waters around Key West will (literally) be crawling with them for the next several months. We hope to see you soon, either in person or right here on our website. Until next time!
