Panroasted Lobster with Chervil and Chives

This is a recipe for Jasper White's Panroasted Lobster with Chervil and Chives more or less as described in his excellent cookbook Jasper White's Cooking From New England.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 lobsters - The recipe calls for 1.5 to 2 pound lobsters, but we recommend going for 2.5 pounders or even bigger ones. If you do use bigger lobsters, scale the remaining ingredients accordingly. (1) According to conventional wisdom, larger lobsters are tougher, but having lived in New England for years now and having eaten many lobsters, we can assure you that this rule does not apply to lobsters weighing less than ten pounds. So, go to town. (2) Also, some people may have qualms about killing lobsters. If you cannot bring yourself to kill and butcher lobsters, you will be unable to cook this dish. This will leave more lobsters for us.
• 2 tbsp peanut oil - Planter's is AOK.
• 0.25 cup bourbon - Maker's Mark, Wild Turkey, or others. Yes, you would have expected rum in New England cooking, but bourbon is what makes this dish work.
• 0.25 cup white wine - anything not too sweet. We used Mondavi jug wine and it worked just fine.
• 4 tbsp butter - Land O'Lakes or, even better, Katie's.
• 2 tsp finely chopped fresh chervil - The cookbook says you can use parsley, but I wouldn't waste the lobsters on this variation. It may be hard to get FRESH chervil, but it is worth it. More supermarkets seem to be carrying it in the produce department.
• 2 tsp finely chopped fresh chives
• salt and black pepper

STEP BY STEP

1) Bring a small pot of water to boil. It only needs to be big enough to hold the lobster claws. Preheat your broiler to full ahead.

2) Kill the lobsters. Some people say that the best way to do this is to shove the knife between their eyes, but even if this works, they do keep moving for a while, just like chickens.I recommend using a good sharp knife and cutting off their heads, that is, the top third part of their central segment with the eyes at its front. Discard the heads. Highlander fans note, there will be no quickening.

3) Butcher the lobsters. Before you lose your nerve, turn the lobster dorsal side up and split it in half from stem to stern as we say up here in New England. Remove the intestinal tract from the tail. Then cut off the claws. Cut each half into a front and back part so you have four pieces from the body of each lobster (plus two more including each claw).

4) Boil the claws for about 3 minutes or a bit longer for larger lobsters. It is actually hard to overcook lobster, so don't go nuts on the timing here. Then, drain the claws and if you want, crack them for easier eating later.

5) Preheat a saute pan large enough to hold all of the lobster bodies - at least 12 inches. Put the peanut oil in the hot pan and put the lobster body pieces in shell side down. Cook for 1 minute. Then turn them over so they are shell side up and put the pan under the broiler until the shell starts to blacken a bit. This may take from 1 to 3 minutes.

6) Put the saute pan back on the stove and toss in the claws. Pour in the bourbon and light it up!

7) Turn off the lights and enjoy the flames.

8) When the flaming is over (the lobster, not on the net), add the wine and cook for another minute or two, stirring.

9) When most of the liquid is evaporated, add the butter and herbs and blend them in. Season with salt and pepper.

10) Toss everything together and then serve.