Homaro Homard the 5.5 LB Lobster [Pictures}

LTH,

For Valentines day MsWiv and I decided to stay home and have a romantic dinner, just the two of us. Well, the two of us and Homaro Homard, the 5.5 lb lobster.


Homaro was not enthused at the prospect of joining Ellen and I for dinner, suggesting I take off his claw bands


and then we'll see who ends up in the pot.


Luckily Homaro ended up in the pot, not me, but he was still steaming.


Homaro Homard was, of course, the main event at our V-Day dinner.


Homaro was served with clarified butter, baked potato and asparagus. Mumm champagne complimented Homaro nicely.


Here's a picture of one of Homaro's claws. That's a full size, 750ml, bottle of champagne in the background.


I bought dessert at Vanille. Quite good, but serious overkill by the time we were done with Homaro.


Thank you Homaro Homard for making our V-day, not only special, but delicious.

Enjoy,
Gary

Vanille Patisserie
2229 N. Clybourn
Chicago, IL 60614
773-868-4574

Dirk's Fish Market
2070 N Clybourn Ave
Chicago, IL. 60614
773-404-3475

Damn Homaro, damn him all to hell!

Beautiful pictures of your dinner. However, I didn't see the potatoes Anna. Oh, I forgot!

I am no lobster expert, but I was always under the impression that small to moderate sized lobsters taste best, and when they get huge the meat loses a lot of taste and tenderness. I've always shied away from the giants.

Gary, how did the meat compare to other lobsters you've enjoyed?

Best,
Michael / EC

HI,

Very impressive claw size.

How long did you boil him? Did Dirk's recommend a cooking time or did you do independent research? When I had a similar sized lobster a few years ago, I simply had to guestimate which I don't like to do with something so precious or large.

While trying to find information related to how old your lobster may be. Along the way, I found something you may find quite interesting especially for Valentine's day.

A one pound lobster is estimated to be 5-7 years old, which is a wide range of time. One variable is water temperature, warmer water allows faster growth and cold water slows. So far there appears to be no reliable standard to age lobsters.

Thank you for sharing your holiday dinner with us.

Cathy2 wrote:How long did you boil him? Did Dirk's recommend a cooking time or did you do independent research?

Cathy,

Dirk both gave me a mimeograph instructional sheet and a quick verbal tutorial when I bought Homaro. The essence of which was, just because Homaro is double the size of most lobsters does not mean Homaro should be cooked twice as long. Lobster cooking instructions may also be found on Dirk's web site <Here>

I cooked Homaro in a 13.5 quart pot of lightly salted boiling water, with a few halved lemons added, for approximately 20 minutes.

I've actually cooked a few 5+ lobsters in the past, though those were par cooked, by us, in a steamer and then split and grilled over lump charcoal. While they grilled we basted with butter using a brush made from fresh Rosemary. Damn, those were good lobsters!

A few of the other 5+ lobsters I've bought were in Houston, less expensive than Dirk's, but not your near magic number of $4.99 lb.

Enjoy,
Gary

eatchicago wrote:I am no lobster expert, but I was always under the impression that small to moderate sized lobsters taste best, and when they get huge the meat loses a lot of taste and tenderness. I've always shied away from the giants.

Gary, how did the meat compare to other lobsters you've enjoyed?

Best,
Michael / EC

Michael,

Homaro's flavor/taste/texture was wonderful. Not tough, as some say large lobsters can be, not overly strong flavored, just pure lobster goodness in a slightly larger package. Ellen prefers the tail, I like claw, a 5-lb lobster is perfect to split between the two of us.

When I was buying Homaro at Dirk's he, Dirk, actually addressed large vs small misconceptions. It's also mentioned on Dirk's web site <Here> .

I'm not the type who believes everything he reads on a web site, though I'm pretty sure Pam Anderson really does have a 180 IQ, but in my limited experience with larger lobsters I've not noticed a loss of quality in comparison to smaller lobsters.

Enjoy,
Gary