Lobster With Beer Sauce

• 1 pint of light beer
• 1 Chicken Lobster
• 3 Shallots
• Carraway Seeds
• Pepper

Cook the lobster from twenty to forty minutes, according to the size of the lobster. When it is tender, remove the flesh from the shell, and dice.

Bring the beer with the shallots, pepper and carraway seeds to the boil, thicken a little flour, and strain. Arrange the lobster on a plate and pour the beer sauce over it.

Spicy Scallops With Lime & Chilli

Ingredients

• 16 large scallops
• 1 tsp butter
• 1 tsp peanut oil
• 1 tsp crushed garlic & 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
• finely sliced spring onions
• grated rind of lime
• 1 small fresh red chilli (de-seeded and finely chopped)
• 3 tbs lime juice
• ½ tbs brown sugar

Trim the scallops to remove intestine, then wash and pat dry. Separate the corals from the white parts, then slice in half horizontally, making 2 circles. Heat the butter and peanut oil in a preheated wok. Add the garlic and ginger and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the onions and fry for another minute. Add the scallops and continue stir-frying over high heat for 5 minutes. Stir in the lime rind, chilli, lime juice and sugar and cook for another minute. Serve garnished with lime wedges and cooked rice.

Crab and Avocado Salad

Ingredients for 4 main course servings

• 4 avocado pears
• lettuce

Ingredients for Salad

• 2 cans crabmeat (or 1 large crab, or equivalent lobster or shrimps)
• 3 tbs finely chopped celery
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ pint mayonnaise
• 1 tbs tomato purée
• few drops chilli sauce
• 1 tbs lemon juice

Mix all the salad ingredients, saving 1 teaspoon lemon juice. Chill. Before serving, halve the avocado pears, sprinkle with remaining juice, pile filling high and serve on a bed of lettuce.

Variations:
Cheese and Avocado Salad - dice Blue, Rocquefort/Roquefort, Stilton, or Gruyère cheese very finely. Put either into the dressing as given above and serve in the avocado pears. More suitable for light main course.
Prawn and Avocado Salad - fill the avocado pear halves with prawns in mayonnaise.

Prawns In Piquant Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 cup shelled prawns
• 1 cup white sauce
• 2 tbs sherry or white wine
• 1 tbs tomato sauce or puree
• pinch sugar
• 1 tbs mayonnaise
• ½ tsp salt
• a pinch of chilli powder or cayenne pepper

Prepare the prawns by peeling and removing the black vein running down the back. Cook in a little salted water until done. Mix the white sauce with the sherry, tomato sauce, mayonnaise, salt, chilli powder and sugar and cook for a few minutes. Pour over the prawns and garnish with parsley.

Grilled Scallops (or escallops)

These delicious shellfish keep all their flavour when grilled.

Ingredients

• Scallops
• butter
• 1 lemon
• chopped parsley
• 1 red pepper
• soft breadcrumbs (optional)

Remove from the shell, wash and brush with melted butter. Cook steadily, turning well until tender. Garnish with lemon, chopped parsley and red pepper.

If preferred, roll scallops first in melted butter then in soft breadcrumbs before grilling.

Devilled Crab

Ingredients

• 1 medium crab
• 1 tbs starch-reduced breadcrumbs
• seasoning
• 1tsp mixed mustard
• ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp butter

Mix crab meat with all seasonings. Put back into the shell, cover with breadcrumbs and the butter and brown under grill or in the oven.

Shrimp And Tomato Mould

Ingredients

• 425ml (¾ pint) tomato juice
• 20g (¾ oz.) gelatine
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 2 or 3 minced gherkins
• endive, cucumber and shrimps to garnish
• seasoning as required
• dash of Worcestershire sauce
• 275g (½ pint) picked shrimps (fresh, frozen or canned)

Soften gelatine in 3 tablespoons cold water, then dissolve over heat. Stir in half the tomato juice and mix until gelatine is dissolved. Cool down with remaining tomato juice and add flavourings and seasoning to taste. Stir in shrimps last. When mixture shows signs of thickening, spoon into prepared individual moulds. Turn out shapes on to a lettuce or endive-lined dish, garnish with more shrimps and cucumber. Serve with salad dressing.

Prawn Chop Suey

Ingredients

• 3 tbls vegetable oil
• 6-8 large spring onions, cut into thick rings
• 1 green pepper, seeded and cut into thin strips
• 1 large carrot, cut into matchsticks
• 2 sticks celery, thickly sliced
• 1 tsp cornflour
• 3 tbls soy sauce
• 225g (8 oz) fresh bean sprouts
• 100g (4 oz) Chinese cabbage, shredded
• 450g (1lb) shelled, cooked prawns

Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok. Add the onion, pepper, carrot and celery. Stir-fry until just cooked. Mix the cornflour with the soy sauce and stir into the vegetables. Add the bean sprouts, cabbage and prawns and fork the mixture well together.

Toss over a moderate heat for a few minutes and serve immediately.

How To Prepare A Cooked Lobster

How to prepare cooked lobster in six easy steps

1. Twist off the claws and the adjoining 'arm' segments. Crack them and remove the flesh, taking out the blade-like cartilage in each claw.
2. Snap off the eight legs as close to the body as you can. Break at the central joint and remove the flesh from the legs with a skewer.
3. Using a sharp knife, cut down the back of the lobster from head to tail and open out.
4. Remove and discard the thread-like intestinal canal and the white gravel sac from between the eyes.
5. Scoop out the greyish-green liver, known as tomalley, and any roe (coral) from a female lobster. These are both edible.
6. Lift out the flesh and remove the greyish-brown, feathery gills. Chop the flesh for cooking or serving and clean the shell if using.