New Year's Day Surf and Turf

My husband and I have long held the tradition of a grilled steak with lobster dinner affectionately known as surf and turf in the restaurants as our New Year's Day meal.  The surf (sea) portion is the lobster while the turf (land) portion is the steak.  We live in beautiful southwestern Ontario where the weather can be blizzard conditions on New Year's Day but that does not stop us from firing up the outdoor grill!  The whole day is focused of surf and turf foods so it is a day long feast fit for a king leaving us so stuffed that eating the next day is almost impossible.

I made crabmeat dip as an appetizer.  This has has been a long time family favourite appetizer that I've been making it since the early 80's.  If I recall correctly I got the recipe from my husband's aunt who is actually the same age as he is.  She is every bit the sweetheart he is but that's another story.  This appetizer does make an appearance at many family functions throughout the year.  The dish is ever so easy to make a few hours ahead of time and as party dishes go is rather on the inexpensive side.  Once the topping is on the cream chees there is a tendency towards weepage.  The trick to preventing weeping is to press the crabmeat firmly to remove any liquid before making the topping.  Doesn't it look gorgeous on my new cheese server?

We bought a box of Cuban rock lobster tails from Elite Gourmet Food Service.  I have dealt with this company for several years now and while the prices are on the higher end, the quality supreme.  A box of 8 - 7 oz lobster tails cost $139 or $17.38 each.  Considering a T-bone steak was being served with each lobster tail the entrée cost per person was about $28 including potato and salad.  Before you splutter at the cost, this was actually a frugal meal.  If we wanted surf and turf, we would have to drive at least an hour each way, with the price of travel adding to the cost of the meal.  A nice surf and turf dinner in our area costs about $30 plus appetizer, drinks and gratuity.  At home the appetizers and drinks cost next to nothing but the cook always appreciates a gratuity (hugs or kisses only LOL)! A a meal goes, it is on the expensive side but it is once a year and this is the reason frugal meals are served the rest of the year.

It was rainy and cold threatening freezing rain yesterday when my husband bravely went out to start up the grill.  We have a charcoal and propane combination grill so I expected he would use propane.  Nope!  He fired up the charcoal side then once the coals were going put the potatoes on.  Shortly before putting the steaks on he added an apple wood smoking puck.  The steaks were grilled to medium rare.

I have cooked a lot of live lobster but not frozen lobster tails.  I boiled the lobster tails in salt water 1 minute per ounce.  The tails curled during cooking but they still tasted heavenly!  The next time I boil them I will use the skewer trick to keep the lobster tail straight for presentation.  Doesn't our surf and turf dinner look devine?  What a way to welcome 2012!

To boil frozen lobster tails:  Thaw the lobster tails in the refrigerator 8 to 10 hours or cover them with cold water in the sink to thaw faster.  Bring salted water (I used about a quart per tail and good splash of sea salt) to a boil.  Place the lobster tails in the boiling water and cook 1 minute per ounce of tail.  Drain and serve with hot melted butter.

Note: to prevent the lobster tail from curling, run a skewer from one end to another.  Split the soft shell and place skewered tails in the boiling water.  Cook as above.  Remove skewer for serving.