More to Love at Clearwater

Maybe it’s the decadence, the richness of taste and the sultry textures, but seafood has somehow become a staple component of Valentine’s Day. Seduction and lobster tails; the two go hand-in-hand, really.

So with the international day of love soon upon us, I made my way to Clearwater Seafoods in Bedford to find out what Nova Scotia’s leading seafood retailer has in store. You know, just in case Cupid needs a helping hand this February 14^th. 

Clearwater’s general manager of e-commerce/retail operations, Tom Miller, knew exactly what I needed. While the company has a wide array of products, ranging from fresh salmon and mussels to snow crab, and even masago, Tom introduced me to three offerings that fit the Valentine’s bill perfectly: prime lobster meat, bacon wrapped scallops and Clearwater’s order online option that delivers seafood goodness to your home.

So I bought myself a handful of items and came home to cook up a little love of my own…don’t get too excited, my folks were the happy beneficiaries of my efforts, but everyone needs a trial run, right? Here’s the scoop on Tom’s top three:

Prime Lobster Meat
I’m not sure lobster gets any better or easier than this. This product is raw lobster that is extracted from the shell through a high-pressure machine, ensuring not a single ounce of the precious commodity is wasted. The meat is then quick frozen and packaged by the type of meat, allowing the consumer to buy only the specific meat they actually want.

I picked up lobster tails, mixed lobster, as well as some claws and knuckles so I could take a wide variety of options for a test drive. Sounds terrible, right? Some might call that “taking one for the team.”

Because I love lobster tails, I wanted to cook them as a stand-alone item. The Clearwater website provided a fantastic recipe: lobster in tarragon butter.

Granted I modified the recipe slightly, swapping out the tarragon for a healthy splash of Pernod and cutting back the butter just a bit, but the end result of the cooked-from-raw lobster was superb and it was a hit with my dad, who is a seafood purist. Easy, delicious and pretty darned impressive. Fellas, are you listening?

What’s also great about the prime lobster meat is that it can be poached directly in its own packaging, making it even easier for the home cook who may be timid of cooking seafood. But truthfully, easy is an understatement. Boil up a big pot of water, pull it off the stove, drop the package in, let it sit for five minutes in the water, then let it sit for one minute on the counter and you’re done. Once cooked, I mixed the meat into a killer lobster mac n’ cheese recipe from the Queen of Decadence, Ina Garten.

If you have heart problems, stay away from this Gruyere and Cheddar-fueled dish. Otherwise, grab a bowl, a spoon and a local craft beer and settle in for a serving of comfort food. A word of caution ladies and gents: your mate is going to be prone to snoozing after this one!

Bacon Wrapped Scallops
If you’re really not a cook and just want something simple, delicious and impressive, do yourself a favour and buy a box of these and then hide the evidence. For that matter, even if you are a chef, take a break!

Either way, no one will know that you cooked these from frozen. Twenty to 25 minutes in the oven and you’ve got one of the all-time culinary classics without a smidge of fuss.

Order online – Through Clearwater’s online store, you can have lobster, scallops, mussels, salmon and a variety of other products shipped to nearly any North American location. So even if you and your sweetheart are land-locked in Ontario, you can still serve up Nova Scotia lobster to show your love. Head on over to the Clearwater website to learn more.

With all of this decadence, it might be time to declare Clearwater the unofficial sponsor of Valentine’s Day. Here’s to a love and lobster-filled celebration!