Barbecued lobster with brandy butter

Ingredients

4 X 700g live lobsters*

300ml dry white wine

Lemon wedges, to serve

Brandy butter:

3 cloves peeled garlic, sliced thinly

300g eschallots, peeled and sliced thinly

200ml brandy

500g unsalted butter, cubed and at room temperature

Sea salt and pepper

Method

To make the brandy butter:

Sauté the garlic and eschallots in 10g of the butter until soft and translucent,

deglaze the pot with brandy and reduce by half.

In a food processor, blend the onion, garlic and brandy mix until smooth.

Cool slightly.

Once cooled, mix the butter with the onion mix until fully combined.

Spoon the butter onto a sheet of baking paper or aluminium foil

and roll into a log shape about 35cm long and 4cm in diameter.

Wrap in plastic wrap, twisting the ends to secure and refrigerate until firm.

Preheat the oven to 250C, or heat a barbecue to hot.

Hold the lobsters down and dispatch the lobsters humanely

by using a knife to split them in half lengthways.

Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil.

Plunge the lobsters, one at a time, into the boiling water and cook

for 1 minute, then remove and immediately submerge in iced water

and leave until cooled.

This process makes it easier to remove the meat as it may stick to the shell.

When the lobsters are cold, remove from the water

bath and place on a chopping board.

Run a sharp paring knife around the gap between the head and tail.

Using scissors, cut down the two sides of the shell on the belly side.

Remove the digestive tract.

Place, cut-side up, in 2 large roasting trays, season the meat with salt

and add the wine and 100ml of water to each tray.

Roast or barbecue, with the lid closed, for 5 minutes.

Remove the lobster from the oven or barbecue.

Cut the butter into 1cm thick slices and place 4 over each lobster half.

Roast or barbecue for another 5 minutes or until the meat is just firm.

Arrange lobsters on a serving platter and melt the remaining brandy butter.

Pour brandy butter on top of the lobsters and serve with lemon wedges on the side.