A Lobster Roll dinner with family

We are starting the weekend early over here with my brother and sister-in-law an my niece who are arriving from out of town this afternoon. Today is my brother’s actual birthday, and while I have a birthday party planned for hime with a larger group of family members tomorrow night, I thought we’d have something special tonight as well. It’s a perfect meal for a hot summer night!

MENU:

Greek Bruschetta

Lobster Rolls with Cape Cod chips and dill pickle spears

Aperol Spritz Martini

Greek Bruschetta

4 TBSP extra virgin olive oil

1 TBSP red wine vinegar

1 English cucumber, diced

1 large tomato or one pint cherry or grape tomatoes, diced

3 scallions, chopped

~6 oz feta cheese

1/2 cup diced kalamata olives

1-2 TBSP fresh oregano, chopped

Extra virgin olive oil for toasting bread and drizzling over finished bruschetta

French baguette, sliced

salt to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place the oil, vinegar in a bowl. Dice the tomatoes, cucumber and scallions, and mix together with chopped kalamata olives and 1-2 TBSP fresh oregano.

Season with salt and set aside. Cut the baguette in 3/4″-1″ slices. Drizzle olive oil on top of the slices and toast in the oven for 5 minutes, until crispy.

Take out the sliced bread and top with the tomato cucumber mixture. Top with fresh feta crumbles and then drizzle with more olive oil. ENJOY!

***Alternately you can grill the bread for excellent results. Brush both sides of bread with 4 TBSP oil, and grill until lightly charred, about 2 minutes per side.

Lobster Rolls

(Adapted from Food and Wine)

This recipe serves 6.

1 1/2 lbs Fresh lobster meat (1 lb of lobster meat will yield about 4 lobster rolls)

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons mayonnaise

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1/4 cup finely diced celery

2 TBSP fresh lemon juice

Pinch of cayenne pepper

4 top-split hot dog buns

2 TBSP unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup shredded Boston lettuce

Blot the lobster well to get off any moisture. In a large bowl, mix the lobster meat with the mayonnaise and season with salt and pepper, and add the celery lemon juice and cayenne.

Blend well.

Heat a large skillet. Brush the sides of the hot dog buns with the melted butter and toast over moderate heat until golden brown on both sides.

Transfer the hot dog buns to plates, fill them with the shredded lettuce and then the lobster salad, and serve immediately along with potato chips and pickle spears.

Aperol Spritz Martini

We enjoyed Aperol Spritz’s throughout our travels to Greece and Italy, and since I’m serving Greek Bruschetta, I thought this twist on the Spritz sounded like a perfect accompaniment. How fun to kick off the weekend with Prosecco and Aperol! CHEERS!

1 oz Aperol

1 oz vodka 

4 to 6 TBSP (2 to 3 ounces) chilled prosecco 

Freeze a martini glass for 30 minutes. Combine the Aperol and vodka in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Cover and shake vigorously until completely chilled, about 30 seconds. Pour into the chilled martini glass. Top off with 4 to 6 tablespoons prosecco.