Langoustes grillées au beurre vanillé (Grilled Lobsters with Vanilla Butter)
Langoustes grillées au beurre vanillé (Grilled Lobsters with Vanilla Butter) is a traditional New Caledonian recipe for a classic dish of barbecued or grilled lobster served with a butter, vanilla, lime, white wine and vinegar sauce. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic New Caledonian version of: Grilled Lobsters with Vanilla Butter (Langoustes grillées au beurre vanillé).
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It's not well known, but New Caledonia is a vanilla producer, yielding some of the world's best vanilla, so it's not that surprising that vanilla is used with the local seafood, as in this recipe.
Ingredients:
4 lobsters
3 vanilla pods
270g butter
3 limes
3 tbsp oil
400ml dry white wine
130ml white wine vinegar
Salt and freshly-ground black Pepper, to taste
Method:
Place a small saucepan over medium heat. Pour in the white wine and vinegar then reduce the liquid down to 2-3 tbsp.
Split the vanilla pods in half lengthwise, then scrape out the seeds with a knife. Place them on a small plate. Then dice the butter.
For the lobsters, slice them in half lengthways.
Pre-heat your oven to 250°C (or, if you are going to barbecue them pre-heat your barbecue now).
Heat the oil in a large roasting tin. Arrange the lobster halves, flesh-side down in this then either bake in a hot oven for 5-6 minutes or cook on a barbecue for 6-8 minutes (again, flesh side down). Turn them over half-way through, then season with salt and pepper.
Heat the wine and vinegar reduction over low heat. Briskly whisk in diced butter, adjust the seasoning to taste and add the vanilla seeds. Mix well.
When ready to serve, arrange the lobster halves on warm plates, shell-side down. Drizzle a little of the vanilla beurre blanc over the flesh. Serve the rest in a sauceboat.
Finally, garnish the plates with lime quarters.
Note: don't discard the left-over vanilla pods, stick these in a jar with sugar to make vanilla sugar.
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