Like most people who’s day revolves around food, when on holidays we usually plan all our activities and sightseeing around our meal times. Pre-kid we would plan all of our meals out at cafes and restaurants, but with a 3.5 year old, we usually have to stay home for holiday evening meals so that our little one can go to bed at a reasonable time.
So, that means that as well as trying the local foodie favourite restaurants for brunch and lunch, dinner on holidays becomes a sampling of the best local produce the area has to offer while cooking up a storm.
One of our favourite areas in NSW is the south coast and as well as getting married down there, just before our little one was born we bought a block of land. 4 years on and we are finally getting around to planning what a house might look like down there, but whenever we can we have holidays in the area to fully immerse ourself in the community.
One of the best parts of the NSW south coast is the seafood, and whenever we get the chance, we head to Lucky’s Seafood (our favourite seafood shop) and buy whatever looks the best. The last time we were there we couldn’t resist the rock lobster and instantly decided lobster rolls were in order. It was locally caught that day and already cooked so we didn’t need to stress about that part of it.
Scott got to work breaking down the lobster as I gathered together the other ingredients. With lobster as good as this, you don’t really need to do much but get the balance right. So along with the lobster, we added a good quality egg mayonnaise (ours was chilli and lime but a plain good quality one will do perfectly), spring onions, celery, dill, chives and lemon. Mix it with the lobster and toss it in some heavily buttered and grilled soft rolls. Plate it up with a side of shoestring fries and you are good to go. Perfect for lunch or dinner. Quick, simple, delicious and yet very very fancy.
Lobster Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 large cooked lobster, flesh from tail and legs reserved
- 100gm good quality egg mayonnaise (we used a chilli and lime egg mayo)
- 2 spring onions, finely sliced
- 1 celery stalk, finely diced
- 1.5 tbsp finely chopped chives
- 1.5 tbsp finely chopped dill
- Zest of 1/2 lemon
- Fresh lemon juice, to taste
- 6 small bread rolls*
- 30g unsalted butter
- Shoestring fries (or crisps) to serve
Directions
Pull apart the cooked lobster tail flesh into thin pieces using gloved hands and cut the leg meat into thirds. Place in a large bowl and combine with the mayonnaise, spring onions, celery, chives, dill and lemon zest. Mix well to combine, then add fresh lemon juice a little at a time, mixing between each addition until the acidity balance is as you like it. Season to taste and set aside in the fridge while you prepare the rolls.
Now, you can easily just butter the inside of your rolls before adding the lobster mix if you like, but I take it a step further and do the below:
Slice down the middle of each roll top down ensuring you don't cut all the way through the base of the roll. Gently pull apart at the cut and open the rolls flat through the cut. Melt the butter over low heat in a large frypan and when the butter has melted and begun to foam, skim off the foam with a slotted spoon and discard. Place the rolls, cut sides down in the pan and increase the heat and cook until the insides are well toasted and golden.
Remove from the pan and close the rolls back up in their original shape. Stuff each roll with the lobster filling, then sprinkle with extra chopped chives and serve with fries and lemon wedges.
*We did look for brioche rolls which we thought would be perfect for these lobster rolls, but couldn't find them easily while on holiday so we went for these equaly delicious super soft artisan bakery bought mini rolls which worked a treat.
