This section is from the book "Mrs. Owens' Cook Book", by Frances E. Owens. Also available from Amazon: Mrs. Owens' Cook Book.
TO CHOOSE. BOILED. SCALLOPED.
The heaviest lobsters are the best. Sometimes a comparatively small one will weigh as heavily as one considerably larger. If fresh, the claws should move with strength and it should be lively. Hen lobsters are prettiest for salads on account of their coral. The tail is broader than that of the male. The male is preferable for boiling. The shell is brighter and the flesh firmer than that of the female.
Allow half a teaspoon of salt to a quart of water. When it boils fast put the lobster in head first. It dies instantly. Boil briskly half an hour, then remove and drain. Wipe it dry and rub over with sweet oil or butter. Break the claws off and remove the meat from the shells and lay on a small platter. Serve with melted butter sauce.
Butter a pudding-dish. Put in it a layer of lobster meat, picked in small pieces. Do not cut it. Sprinkle it with pepper and salt, and a little juice of lemon. On this strew a layer of fine bread crumbs with lumps of butter, then a layer of lobster as before, having bread crumbs for the top layer. For a quart of the mixture, use about 1/2 cup of butter. Pour a pint of cream or milk over it and bake half an hour, and serve hot.
 
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