"You're gonna need a bigger boat." - Chief Brody, Jaws

To make these amazing lobster rolls, I used a recipe for lobster salad from an old Gourmet magazine. I don't normally like the flavor of black licorice (like in anise, fennel or tarragon), but I have found that fennel (both bulbs and seeds) and tarragon work really well with seafood without lending too "licorice-y" a flavor for me.

To make it easier on us (since we don't have outdoor space or a good enough hood on our stove to keep our apartment from stinking like cooked lobsters), I purchased steamed lobsters from James Hook in downtown Boston. You can call ahead and ask for your preferred size lobster, to buy uncooked or pre-steamed. They'll even chill them for you after steaming, so you can take them home and put them right into your fridge until you're ready to use them. My husband and I put down brown paper bags across our dining table and then went to work. They were really hard-shelled lobsters, but after a good half an hour or so, we had the meat ready for the salad (and I got to eat the meat out of all of the legs afterwards!).

We buttered squishy hoagie rolls and toasted them so that they'd hold up to the salad. I followed the recipe for the salad exactly as written (but halved), steamed some corn on the cob (unfortunately from Florida this time of year, but hey) and sprinkled it with Old Bay, and made some creamy coleslaw. I halved the coleslaw recipe, and salted the shredded cabbage in a colander for about half an hour first to get the liquid out so we wouldn't end up with watery coleslaw. Otherwise, I made the recipe as written (substituted creme fraiche for sour cream because that's what we had in the fridge), but we didn't end up liking the flavor. It was too mayo-heavy, probably because the creme fraiche didn't have nearly as much tang as sour cream, so my husband suggested some dijon mustard to kick up the flavor (and the vinegar) a bit. I put in about 2 heaping tablespoons of dijon, and that did the trick, but it still wasn't great. Next time I'll try a non-mayo coleslaw, but this menu called for a less assertive coleslaw (it wasn't barbecue, after all).

We enjoyed our lobster dinner while watching Jaws and drinking an inexpensive 2009 Rhone rose to kick off summer in New England.