Oct 2009 - Grilled Local Lobster & Lobster Sandwiches

We go up to Carpinteria, CA quite often.  It's about 20 mins south of Santa Barbara.  We are fortunate and thankful  because my husband's parents has a vacation place up there.  One of our favorite things to do when we are there is to have cocktails on the beach while we watch the sunset.  Our first toast always goes to Mom & Dad:o)  

I love when local lobster is in season  It goes from October thru March.  They are spiny lobsters without claws and are much bigger than Maine lobster.  We go to the Harbor in Santa Barbara and buy lobsters & crabs direct from the fisherman.  They are there most Saturday mornings and the pricing is affordable compared to regular markets.

 Par Boiled Lobster

This one was a 4 lber!  We par-boiled it first then hubby cut it in half.  It's too hard for me to cut it!  I may have boiled it a wee too much;o)  Then I slather it with claried butter and put it on the grill for a few more minutes. 

Local Spider Crab

We also got a local Spider Crab or they also call them Sheep Crab.  I made a Crab Bisque out of it, but don't have any pictures of it:o(  It looks huge, but they were only about 2 1/2 lbs each...we got two of them.  I actually prefer the Local Rock Crab.  It tastes like Stone Crab from Florida.  I've actually seen on menus describing them as "local Stone Crab", which is a laugh because they charge exorbitant prices when you can get them from the fisherman for $2.50 a lb!  The Spider Crab didn't have much meat in it and the shell was hard to crack!

 Grilled Spiny Lobster

 Lobster Sandwich

I made sandwiches with the leftovers.  It has a little onion, celery & mayo in it on toasted garlic bread.

 The Crab Man

We got there a little late, so everything was back in the traps.  They usually have them in huge containers filled with water.  Sometimes they have a kiddie pool that has little shark or octopus swimming in it :o)

 View from Brophy Bros.

It's so beautiful in Santa Barbara!  Can you believe this was taken in October!  Our ritual is to buy the crab/lobster then go to Brophy Bros for lunch which is just a few feet from the fishermen.  This is the view from the restaurant.  We love sitting outside and have a Bloody Mary!  Our favorite things to eat there are:  steamed clams, clam chowder, oysters on the half shell & their cheeseburgers are the best!

Another View from Brophy Bros

The truck is the fishermen packing up to leave...