Help in planning a Down-East lobster dinner menu

Just found out I'm in co-charge of a LobsterFest for the Hinsdale Rotary Club to be held on Fridary, February 19. It was announced today in our weekly newsletter. First I'd heard about it.

We hold it in a community house which has a pretty decent commercial kitchen, so the equipment shouldn't be a problem. We'll be boiling between 60 and 80 live lobsters. We traditionally serve fried corn fritters with this (we haven't done it for about eight or ten years, so I'm a little rusty.)

I'd like to have fried clam strips either as a side or appetizer. (I spent 4 years hanging out at the sidewalk kitchen in front of Ivar's Acres of Clams on the waterfront in Seattle, soaking up his remarkable fried clams, and I have very fond memories.) I make a mean Tartar Sauce, so that's not a problem.

I priced FedEx-ed live Maine lobsters... so we will probably get them from a large Chicago seafood distributor, Supreme Lobster, which is conveniently nearby.

I need other suggestions - apps and nibbles, sides, desserts, and so I have turned again to my always-reliable staff at ChefTalk!

I'll appreciate your suggestions as I always do.

Thanks

Mike

 

Thanks, gang -

We're off to a good start and I appreciate it all!

Don't know why I didn't think of chowdah and Indian pudding right off the bat. Lived in and around Boston for 12 years, so I should have had it in mind.

My wife does an excellent chowder, and I've recently made Durgin Park's recipe for Indian pudding. That will definitely be on the bill of fare. With a nice vanilla ice cream. By the way, if anybody gives you an Indian pudding recipe that calls for corn syrup, cross him off your cooking list. Only dark molasses (not blackstrap - it's too strong) is appropriate.

Keep going! :thumb:

Mike

and...

I'm with Suz'... corn on the cob ain't with it in February, and frozen - or even TJ's canned is quite good, so we'll stay with fritters, most likely.

 

KCZ-
Sounds like you come from the right place to advise me...

How about the steamed clams? (You may not wean me away from my beloved fried clam strips (with tartar sauce) but I'd like to think about them.

Can you refer me to a recipe?

Thanks

Mike

 

Hey, Dan...
All you have to do is join the Hinsdale Rotary Club, and you can come, too!

Mike

We gotta get together one of these days.

 

"burr ridge, how far are you from STL?"

Not too close, Shroom' - it's at the far end of I 55, just outside Chicago. But, if you want to come up and give me a hand, let me know. :roll: We could certainly use an actual caterer!

I'm pretty much a Missouri type, myself. Born in St. Louis; mother from Troy, and father from a farming family in Jackson, just up the road from Cape Girardeau. They met at the U of Missouri, Columbia (the only one at that time.)

They went east, though, and I grew up in Bethesda, MD, so I'm part of that Eastern Establishment. Do my best to live it down, since I've come back and lived in flyover country since 1961, though with a 10-year hiatus on the West Coast, where I acquired a taste for Dungeness crabs...:thumb:

Mike

 

PJ-
Obviously, I have to acknowledge your regional expertise...

But since I'm in charge (and doing most of the cooking) by jing I'm gonna have fried clam strips! Just a little gourmetic license.

As a matter of fact, our likely supplier, Supreme Lobster, sells prepard, battered clam strips, so I expect we will just get a bushel of these and supply the hot oil ourselves.

Thanks for reminding me of the baked beans; another lapse of memory on my part. They're on the tentative menu now. And, the strawberry shortcake will be an excellent excuse for the large quantities of whipped cream suggested by many on this thread.

I continue to be grateful for your interest and help. :thumb:

Mike

 

Interesting idea.

Can you refer me to a recipe?

Thanks

Mike