Seafood Stuffed Lobster Tail #FishFridayFoodies

It's hard to believe that it is coming up on 2 years since I started this fabulous group called Fish Friday Foodies.  What makes it so fabulous?  The amazing, supportive and loving group of bloggers who join me each and every month.

We take turns each month choosing a theme.  This gives us all inspiration to get creative and have some fun.  This month, with Thanksgiving breathing down our necks, I had stuffing on my mind.  I love stuffing and thought it would make a perfect theme for this month's Fish Friday party.

I asked the members to join me in stuffing fish or seafood, or using seafood or fish in a stuffing.  Stuffing is not just for turkeys! I can't wait to see what the others have decided to share with us today.  You will find links to all of their recipes at the bottom of this post.

I am so excited about the recipe I am sharing.  Frank does not care for shellfish.  He will eat shrimp and he likes certain types of fish but stays away from clams, lobster, crab, oysters, etc., so I was taking quite the chance serving up this Seafood Stuffed Lobster Tail.

This decadent dish contains not only the lobster meat that you removed from the shell but shrimp an crab as well.  All this succulent, tender meat gets sauteed up in butter, stuffed back into the shells and then gets topped with butter soaked Ritz crackers.  This was the most wonderful seafood dish I have ever made!!

I picked up these frozen lobster tails when my local grocer had them on sale for $5 each.  They are great to have in the freezer, especially during the holidays.  I use them for Lobster Bisque or Dragon and Phoenix Soup, I steam them and serve them with drawn butter, I add them to Pot Pie.  If you are lucky enough to have leftovers when you are done stuffing the shell, you can turn them into a Seafood Roll and enjoy it for lunch.  That's what I did!

Removing the meat from the shell is easy peasy.  Just cut down both sides with some kitchen shears and then cut across the tail to remove all of the membrane on the underside of the shell.  Wriggle your fingers under the meat and it pops right out.  The shells are perfectly ready and waiting to be stuffed.

I served this up with pan seared Filet Mignon as the surf portion of Surf and Turf, just in case Frank hated it.  I need not have worried....he was very surprised how much he enjoyed this preparation of seafood.  How could he not?  If you are a seafood lover, you will be swooning over this dish and if you are on the other side of the fence, give it a shot, you may just be as surprised as Frank.

Seafood Stuffed Lobster Tails

adapted from Cuisine at Home

4 (4 oz) lobster tails, removed from shell and cut into chunks, shells reserved

3 oz. shrimp, peeled and deveined, cut into chunks

8 oz. crab meat

1 stick butter, divided

Juice and zest of  half a lemon

dash of cayenne pepper

2 T. chives, minced

24 buttery crackers (like Ritz)

Melt 4 T. of butter in a large skillet over med high heat.  Add the lobster and shrimp, cook and stir until pink.  Add the lemon juice, zest and cayenne.  Remove from heat and stir in the crab meat, 16 of the crackers that have been crushed and chives.  Let cool and then spoon mixture into the reserved lobster tail shells.

Place the remaining 4 T. of butter into a small microwave safe bowl and cook until melted.  Stir in the remaining 8 crackers, crushed, and sprinkle over the top of the lobster tails.  

 Tails can be refrigerated, covered, for up to 24 hrs before baking.  When ready to serve, bake in a preheated 400* oven for 15-20 minutes, until topping is crisp and stuffing is heated through.  Print Recipe

Scrumptious Stuffed Seafoods

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