Lobster Tails w/Basil Rose’ Butter Sauce

Serves 4

4 lobster tails (uncooked), about 7 ounce each or 4 whole lobsters (uncooked), about 1 ¼ pound each
              Note: Hard-shelled lobsters have more meat per pound, soft-shelled lobster meat is sweeter.
½ cup dry rose wine (or dry white wine)
2 Tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 small shallots, finely minced
2 tablespoons heavy cream
4 oz butter, very cold
salt and ground pepper to taste
4 basil leaves, sliced thinly (tarragon, thyme, and lovage are equally delicious)
2 sprigs parsley, chopped

1. To steam the lobsters, fill a large stock pot with 2 inches of water. Add 2 teaspoons of kosher salt. Cover and bring the water to a boil.
2. Put the lobster tails or whole lobsters into the pot and cover. Steam the tails for 10 minutes and the whole lobsters for 20 minutes. Prepare the sauce while the lobster is steaming.
3. To prepare the sauce, place the wine, vinegar, shallots, and the cream into a small saucepan. Bring the ingredients to a boil and cook until reduced to 1/4 cup, about 3-5 minutes.


4. Remove the saucepan from the heat.  Whisk in the very cold butter one tablespoon at a time until the sauce is thick and creamy. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. Add in the chopped basil and parsley. Set the sauce aside and leave at room temperature until the lobsters are ready. Cover if necessary, to keep warm.
5. When the lobster has steamed, remove them immediately from the pot and let cool until you can handle them. Break open the tails and remove the meat in one piece. Remove the rest of the lobster meat and add the meat to your meal or reserve for another use. Slice the tail meat into slices.
6. Serve the lobster meat on top of salad greens, cooked rice, cooked pasta, steamed corn, or steamed spinach. Stir up the butter sauce and drizzle over the lobster. Serve with lemon wedges. If you need to reheat the butter sauce, just barely warm it so it does not separate.

To warm butter sauce after it has solidified:
Do not warm in a microwave. There is very little control over the heat and you can break the sauce easily.
Place the solid butter sauce in a small sauce pan. Place over hot water and stir until it just begins to melt, stirring the whole time it is slowly warming. This might only take 20-30 seconds or less. Do not melt the butter. You are only warming it enough so you can pour it over your meal.