River Cottage

If you’re cooking the lobster yourself, first put it in the freezer for 1 hour to render it unconscious. Meanwhile, peel and thinly slice the cucumber into rounds. Put into a bowl with the salt, sugar and cider vinegar and mix well. Leave for 2–3 hours in the fridge.

Bring a very large pan of well-salted water (about 10g salt per litre) to the boil. Add the dormant lobster, put a lid on the pan and bring back to the boil as quickly as possible. Boil the lobster for 15 minutes, then remove from the pan and allow to cool.

To extract the meat from your cooked lobster, first twist the big front claws away from the body. Using a small hammer or the back of a heavy knife, crack the claws in several places so you can pull the shell away from the meat. Be careful to remove all fragments of shell. Roughly chop the claw meat and set aside.

Now grasp the long tail section of the lobster and twist: it will come away from the head. Using kitchen scissors, cut along the thinner shell down the underside of the tail. Pull the shell apart, releasing the tail meat. Turn the tail meat over, so the back is uppermost, and make a cut along the length of the tail to reveal the dark intestinal vein. Ease it out with the tip of your knife and discard. Slice the tail meat into thin rounds. If there is any soft, pinky-brown tomalley in the head or tail and/or any firmer red roe, save it – it’s all good stuff. And keep the shell to make stock.

For the dressing, combine the mayonnaise with the yoghurt, lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil and mint, if using.

Drain the cucumber in a colander, rinse quickly under the cold tap, then drain thoroughly. Peel, quarter and core the apples. Cut each apple quarter into 3 or 4 wedges.

Gently toss the lobster meat (including any roe and tomalley), cucumber and apple with the dressing. Season with salt and pepper. Divide the salad between plates and serve with brown bread and butter. Rye bread is especially good.

LINKS

• Challenge Hugh and win a £2,000 River Cottage bundle
• Want more? Go to Hugh's Scrapbook at Channel 4