Saturday Beefcake: Sam Talbot

Sam Talbot's Lobster Roll for The Surf Lodge


Ingredients
• 1 lb. cooked lobster meat, cut into chunks (instructions following)
• ¼ cup diced red onion
• ¼ cup diced celery
• 1 T. celery seed
• 1 T. celery salt
• ¼ cup fresh lemon juice + zest of two lemons
• 1 ½ cups mayonnaise
• ¼ cup Dijon mustard
• Old Bay seasoning to taste (about 2 T.)
• ¼ cup melted, clarified butter at room temperature
• 5 brioche burger buns (or hot dog rolls), toasted
• lettuce leaves, tomato slices


Directions:
You can use frozen lobster meat, thawed in the refrigerator and cut into chunks.

For fresh lobsters (about five 1- to 2-lb. lobsters will yield 1 pound of meat): Fill a large pot three-quarters full of salted water (about a tablespoon per quart of water) and bring to a boil. Submerge lobsters completely – you may have to cook in shifts – and cover. Cook approximately 18 minutes (more for larger lobsters), until shell is red. Drain, cool, remove meat from shell and cut into chunks.

Combine the lobster meat with all other ingredients, except the butter. (To clarify butter: Melt in saucepan and skim off white foam; cool to room temperature.) Brush butter on toasted buns and fill with lobster mix. Serve with lettuce and tomato.

It must be said in the era of so-called reality television shows that there really is no such thing. They are game shows in a new incarnation. Top Chef is an addictive one. Perhaps because it's about food. Perhaps it's because there's always an appealing male contestant. Last week when gay chef Richard was eliminated, he openly wept. He was fun to watch, not because he was a great chef, but because he was openly proud about being gay and even referred to Tom Colicchio as a gay bear icon. It helped recall Season 2 when Ilan and Sam Talbot were on. So many fantasies were fueled by the two of them. If only the recipe could have been a man on man heat up. At any rate, here's a recipe of Sam's which he probably serves up in his new restaurant the Surf Lodge. There's also a photoshopped photo using his head. Apparently there were more than one fantasy fueled by the fetching young chef.