Lobster Under the Umbrella

Brian was adamant about getting the grill out this week. I wasn't in the mood for a big honkin' steak or sausage, or the usual fare. We settled on grilled portabella mushrooms. We did our usual Saturday grocery shopping at Whole Foods. We picked up two medium size mushrooms then headed over to the fish counter. Brian still had his heart set on grilling some kind of meat. He was thinking of doing up a whole fish (not sure how that would go with the mushrooms), but after passing by the fish counter we saw large lobster tails were on sale. SCORE! Our cart welcomed the addition of two beautiful lobster tails. We were so excited for what we were about to make that, on the way home, I came up with the name Lobster Under the Umbrella because I told Brian to put the lobster under the mushroom :) Also, Georgians have a tradition of giving food names seeming unrelated to what they describe.

We really didn't have a set recipe until it was ready to go on the grill. The recipe is simple and you can put your own twist to it. First, we marinaded the mushroom in a mixture of apple cider vinegar, EVOO, italian herbs, and pepper. The lobster tails were cut in half and laid on plate, left to marinade in the fridge under EVOO, pressed garlic, lemon zest and pepper. There wasn't much time between when we returned from the store and when we wanted to start cooking. Both marinated for about two hours.

Further ingredient were prepared: sliced tomatoes, chopped parsley and cilantro, chopped red onion, grated fontina cheese, and sliced fresh mozzarella. Two pieces of whole wheat bread were buttered and set aside to make grilled toast.

On the side, Brian prepared his famous roasted rosemary potatoes. Quartered red potatoes were coated in a mixture of ground fennel seed, rosemary, salt and pepper, EVOO, and pressed garlic, then set into a 12 inch caste iron skillet.

The charcoal grill was prepared (lump charcoal, not bricquettes!). After heated, the potatoes were placed on first in the skillet over moderately direct heat. They took the longest to cook. After a while the lobster were placed directly on the grates over direct heat, shell side down (the coals were as far from the grates as possible to avoid burning the meat). After three or four minutes, the tails were flipped and chared on the meat side. They were then removed. The meat from one tail was removed from the shell and chopped. The meat from the other tail was removed and cut into four two inch strips.  The mushrooms were then placed directly on the iron grates and cooked on both sides until al dente.

The cooked mushrooms were placed into two eight inch iron skillets, then layered first with a slice of mozzarella, two tomato slices, chopped lobster, grated fontina cheese, onions, herbs, and FINALLY, the whole slices of lobster. All three skillets were left on the grill to slowly roast in the smoke filled drum! Oh, I forgot to mention, I drizzled clarified butter over everything! Just a bit, though, for flavor :-)

After everything was finished cooking, the skillets were removed. The mushroom skillets were garnished with fresh herbs and grilled bread. The roasted potatoes were served on the side.

Very niiiice!