Help! What do I do with my Lidl lobster?

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Last time I was in Lidl I was scouting for bargains (as you do....) and picked up a frozen lobster for £5.99. Yum. A bargain indeed. It was in an opaque bag and frozen in a block, so I naively thought it would be "prepared" in some some way.

But no. I've just defrosted it, and it's......a whole lobster, shell, legs and all.

WTF do I do with it? How do I even tackle it?

I didn't think this through, did I?

Can't offer much advice. Was tempted myself. Last time I got one there wasn't much meat on it. We just smashed it up and got the meat out of the tail and the claws and just ate it there and then . The challenge would be how to make the most of it to make a decent meal. I think I'd do some kind of pasta dish with it next time. Watching to see what everyone else comes up with.

It seemed like a good idea at the time.

I occasionally have this dream where there are a few lobsters or crabs roaming about my kitchen trying to get me. For this reason I have never taken one home. However, when I was young my father had a boat and he'd occasionally go out and catch crabs (I'm not a fan of ooh er miss), and I imagine you'd cook lobsters similarly. Big pan of boiling water (and it's probably their ghosts haunting my dreams) until the shell changes colour, lemon butter dipping sauce, special tongs to crack into them with, and a bib! Like artichokes eaten this way, it would only ever be a starter, but a very special one. If you want to make it into a dish then you'll find loads of recipes online.

Have a look on the BBC Food website, in Techniques there is plenty of information about cooking a raw lobster or preparing a ready cooked lobster, I don't know which you have.
You will need a good large knife and if you have nut crackers they will be useful too.
You will also need mayonnaise!

Also have a look here for a recipe and photo guide on how to cook lobster:-

emilysculinaryadventures.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/sunday-cookbook-adventures-peas-and.html

Warning, the whole recipe is very long and 'cheffy' but it does give amazing results and shows you how to use all the bits of the lobster that you wouldn't normally touch in order to make a lobster stock as well

I am sure those Lidl lobsters are already cooked - if the shell is pink they are. Make some mayo, defrost lobster, pick out & eat. Yum!

I didn't think you could freeze whole raw lobsters because of the risk of food poisoning being so high. I must have dreamt that!

I'd guess it's cooked, right? If so, get some nutcrackers for getting the meat out of the claws, get some mayo and some big wedges of lemon, maybe some crusty bread with real butter on, and tuck in!

A really nice Sauvignon blanc would be a perfect accompaniment too

Those little forks that go in the end of corns on the cob are also good for getting into the fiddly bits of crab and lobster.

I'm drooling now...

Put it in the bin. The one I had was disgusting - rubbery texture and super-salty. I fear it's one of those things that just shouldn't be frozen...

I tried one of those ages ago. They are ready-cooked and really quite small, even as a starter... I think I followed some instructions, cut down the middle to add some flavouring/dressing, possibly heated/grilled it, and then we picked the meat out and tackled the claws with a nutcracker...

Thanks all for the suggestions.

Yes, it was already cooked, so DD1 and I assembled an arsenal of weapons and got bashing. There was plenty of meat in the tail (plus a load of eggs; I wasn't sure if these were edible so we scraped them out), and some in the claws. We chopped it up, added some mayo and a squeeze of lemon, and tucked in!

Luckily no one else in the family was interested, because it was barely enough for two, and quite a palaver getting the meat out. For that reason, I'm not sure I'd buy it again. But it was fun, very moist and tasty, and the first time DD1 had tried lobster. Thumbs up.

everything in a lobster is edible, even the icky green gizzardy paté innards.

We catch them in the summer....hurl pots off the rocks at low tide, and fetch them in next low tide.

Dh like hot lobster, so once they are cooked I tend to half them, drizzle over some chopped chives, breadcrumbs and melted butter and give them a flash under the grill/top of a very hot oven

But the lemon and mayo is great too.

Smaller ones are dealt with and the meat put into ravioli and such.

Easy, take shell apart with a pair of chicken shears. Then do what you want with the meat. I cooked mine Chinese style with ginger and spring onion. It was LIDL and it was yummy.

How funny this thread was just resurrected. I have JUST put the phone down to DH who had rung me to tell me a friend has just told him frozen whole lobsters in Lidl are on special offer today for £2.99!! He's given me instructions to pop in on the school run to buy a shed load.
I have to admit it's not the best lobster but I love it served as a cocktail with crayfish and crab. Yummy. Looking forward to a lobster binge this week end

At least it's dead all my local supermarkets only sell live ones!

We had this at Xmas, DH did it in Thermidor sauce. The most delicious thing ever (though one lobster doesn't give a lot). I can ask where he got the recipe if you like.