Jack Stein’s lobster with chips

Back in the early 1990s, my dad had recently been commissioned to do his first series for the BBC and, to celebrate, he made lobster and chips (pictured above), with a 1987 burgundy. It’s a combination that would’ve been frowned on back then by many, but, to me, exemplifies his love of simple things and his blithe disregard for what people think.

SERVES: 4 TAKES: 45 MINS

INGREDIENTS

4 cooked lobsters (around 500g) 4 tbsp clarified butter 150ml fish stock 100g butter, cold and cubed ½ lemon, juiced handful of tarragon leaves, roughly

chopped mixed salad leaves, to serve lemon wedges, to serve

FOR THE CHIPS

500g Maris Piper potatoes, peeled

and sliced into 2cm-thick batons sunflower oil, for deep-frying

METHOD

First, prepare the chips. Rinse the potatoes to remove the starch, then immerse them in boiling water for 6 mins. Drain and dry, then double-fry them in the oil: first at 140C for 4 mins, before leaving to cool for 10 mins, then at 180C until crisp and golden. Season with salt.

Heat the grill. Cut the lobsters in half and season with salt, then pour over the clarified butter and set on a tray. Grill for 8-10 mins (the internal temperature should have reached 68C). If you’re cooking in batches, keep the cooked lobsters warm on a plate under foil.

Heat the stock until boiling, then whisk in the cold butter until emulsified. Season with salt and finish with the lemon juice and tarragon. Scoop out the cooked head meat and anything left on the tray and add to the sauce. Serve with salad, and drizzle the sauce over the salad and lobsters. Taken from Jack Stein’s World on a Plate (Bloomsbury Absolute, £26)