ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Wednesday, July 17, 1996               TAG: 9607170014
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 10   EDITION: METRO 
COLUMN: summer & smoke

THERE'S NO REASON TO LET LOBSTER INTIMIDATE YOU AT THE GRILL

Lobster is not usually taken lightly by grillers. It is expensive, and many people find it intimidating to cook and intimidating to eat.

But Red Lobster restaurants, which are currently promoting the curious-looking crustaceans in a New England bake, say that tasty, low-cal, -fat and -cholesterol lobster is worth a look.

According to Red Lobster, live lobsters are usually greenish-brown with an orange underside (although they can also be blue, red, white and yellow-spotted). All turn red when cooked. A 11/2-pound live lobster yields about 6 1/2 ounces of cooked meat, which means that the largest recorded lobster, at 45 pounds, must have made quite a meal; the tail accounts for about one-third of the total. The meat is done when an instant-read thermometer registers 165,F.

Eating lobster can get messy. Hence, the bib, which etiquette consultant Hilka Klinkenberg says should not be donned until the lobster is served. It should be removed promptly when the meal is finished.

To eat the whole thing, twist off the claws; crack each with a crab cracker; separate the tail from the body by arching the back until it cracks; bend back and break the flippers off the tail; insert a fork where the flippers broke off and push; unhinge the back from the body (despite its strange color, the green tomalley or lobster liver found here is not spoiled and is considered a delicacy); open the remaining part of the body by cracking apart sideways.

Use your hands to separate the claws from the body, pull apart the shell or hold the small claws to suck out their meat and juice. Otherwise, use a knife and fork.

Recipes for:

STEAK 'N LOBSTER KEBABS

GRILLED LOBSTER TAILS

Summer & Smoke will run weekly in the Extra section throughout the cookout season. If you have a great grilling recipe or other grilling-related information that you'd like to share, send it, along with your name and phone number to Summer & Smoke, c/o the Features Department, The Roanoke Times, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke 24010.

LENGTH: Short :   49 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  Low-cal, low-fat and low-cholesterol lobster claws and 
          tails are a delicacy for barbecuers.