A New England Seafood Cookout

Saveur

With lobster, oysters, and fresh sweet corn on the grill, creamy shrimp chowder, potato and iceberg salads, baked beans, and more, this menu of classic coastal New England dishes is perfect for entertaining outdoors this summer. Make the sides ahead of time, and enjoy a cooling gin and tonic while you man the grill; once the fire's going, the oysters and lobster cook quickly. Finish it all off with a blueberry slump-an uncomplicated dessert that beautifully showcases our favorite summer berry.

The Menu

More About This Menu

For the iceberg salad, associate food editor Ben Mims has a great tip on coring lots of iceberg lettuce quickly. See Our Video on How to Core a Head of Iceberg in 3 Seconds »

For more lobster options, see our gallery on How to Prepare a Lobster Bake as well as our collection of Lobster Recipes.

Blueberry slump is just one of many options for dessert-summer fruits bake up beautifully in all kinds of pies, cobblers, crisps and tarts. See our gallery of Summer Desserts »

For an alternative to storebought tonic water, you can make your own with a little tonic syrup and seltzer. Assistant web editor Anna Stockwell loves John's Premium Tonic Syrup.


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RECIPE: Grilled Lobster with Cilantro Butter
Zesty cilantro butter is a fun way to dress up grilled lobster. This dish is popular in Boston, where shellfish is plentiful. SERVES 2 - 4

INGREDIENTS
4 oz. unsalted butter, softened
3 tbsp. minced cilantro
4 Fresno or Holland chiles, stemmed, seeded, and minced
1 lime, zested and quartered
2 (2-lb.) live lobsters
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

RELATED: Sweet Summer Corn »

INSTRUCTIONS
1. In a small bowl, stir together butter, cilantro, chiles, and lime zest; set aside. Plunge the tip of a large kitchen knife at the top of each lobster body, just behind the head, to kill lobsters quickly and humanely. Using a heavy cleaver, split each lobster in half lengthwise through its head and tail. Scoop out and discard the yellow-green innards and cut off the claws. Transfer the lobster halves, shell side down, to a baking sheet; crack the lobster claws and transfer them to the baking sheet. Drizzle lobster halves and claws with oil and season with salt and pepper.

2. Build a medium-hot fire in a charcoal grill or heat a gas grill to medium-high. (Alternatively, heat a 12" cast-iron grill pan over medium-high heat.) Place lobster halves (flesh side down) and claws on grill and cook for 5 minutes. Turn over lobster halves and claws and spread each with some of the cilantro-chile butter; continue cooking until cooked through, about 3 minutes more. Serve with lime wedges.

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RECIPE: Grilled Corn
Corn can be grilled in the husk for a ''greener'' flavor, or shucked for a smokier taste. Soaking corn in the husk in cold water for a few hours before grilling lets the corn steam as it grills-making it moister-but isn't necessary. SERVES 4

INGREDIENTS
4 ears of corn, in husk

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Prepare grill. Let a bed of coals burn down until they're glowing and covered with ash. Place corn on grill and cook, turning several times with long-handled tongs. Cook shucked corn for 3-4 minutes, corn in husks for 6-8.

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RECIPE: Blueberry Slump
A sticky biscuit dough is dropped onto blueberries in this classic New England dessert, which is called a "slump," "grunt," or "cobbler," depending on who you're asking. This recipe first appeared in our June/July 2012 issue. SERVES 8

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INGREDIENTS
2 cups flour
1 ¾ cups sugar, plus more for sprinkling
4 ½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
1 ¼ cups milk
1 ½ lb. blueberries
1 cup fresh orange juice
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
Vanilla ice cream, for serving

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INSTRUCTIONS
1. Whisk together flour, ¼ cup sugar, baking powder, and ½ tsp. salt in a large bowl; add butter, and using your fingers, rub butter into flour until pea-size crumbles form. Add milk, and stir just until a moist dough forms; cover and refrigerate dough until ready to use.

2. Heat oven to 400°. Bring remaining sugar and salt along with blueberries and citrus juices to a boil in a 12″ cast-iron or enamelware skillet over high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Remove pan from heat, and using two tablespoons, portion and form chilled dough into 2 to 3″ oval dumplings, and drop them evenly on top of the blueberry mixture. Sprinkle dough dumplings with sugar, and transfer skillet to oven; bake until biscuits are cooked through and blueberry mixture is reduced, about 25 minutes. Serve hot with vanilla ice cream, if you like.

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