Keep it simple for supper with Trine Hahnemann’s luscious lobster salad, a dish bursting with juicy freshness
Buying a whole live lobster will ensure that the meat is fresh, but it does mean
that you will have to kill it, which is not a job for the squeamish.
Lobsters have to smell very fresh and still be lively when you pick them up: if you straighten out their tails, they should swiftly curve them back under their bodies.
Serves 4
Ingredients
• 2 lobsters
For the brine:
• 5 litres [quarts] water
• juice of 1 lemon
• 3 dill sprigs
• 1 Tbsp sea salt
For the vinaigrette:
• 1 Tbsp finely chopped shallots
• 4 Tbsp lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp honey
• sea salt and freshly ground
• black pepper
For the salad:
• 2 heads of white chicory [endive]
• 1 fennel bulb
• 1 Tbsp salted butter
• 10 dill sprigs
• bunch of watercress
Method
1 For the brine, take a large pot and pour in the water, then add the lemon juice, dill and salt. Bring it to the boil over a high heat.
2 Kill the lobsters: take a sharp knife, pierce the point into the heads and swiftly make a cut down through the shells. Add the lobsters to the boiling water and boil for 8 minutes, then take them out of the water, stretch out the tails so that they are straight and let them cool down.
3 Meanwhile, whisk all the ingredients for the vinaigrette together until well combined. Now, for the salad, take the meat out of the lobster shells and claws, and cut it into smaller pieces.
4 Cut the heads of chicory lengthways into thin wedges. Cut the fennel super-fine and place it in ice-cold water so that it curls up.
5 Melt the butter in a frying pan and fry the chicory wedges on each side. Place them in 4 dishes, then arrange the pieces of lobster in between.
6 Drizzle with the dressing and decorate with the fennel, dill and watercress. Sprinkle with pepper and serve right away.
Recipe courtesy of Trine Hahnemann, extracted from Copenhagen Food by Trine Hahnemann (Quadrille £25) Photography: Columbus Leth
