FRESH NZ CRAYFISH SALAD

(aka Spiny Rock Lobster to those in North America)

First, I need to share a little story.

Just after arriving in NZ over 3 years ago now, my husband took me over to meet one of his many sisters and her hubby. We arrived just before her husband and his boat, as he had just returned from a dive with several huge creatures nearly as big as our daughter! I was then asked if I liked crayfish or scallops, to which I promptly replied, “uhm, not crayfish, but scallops are nice…I do like lobster though.”

I didn’t understand at the time why they might ask me about crayfish when we were looking at enormous lobsters (sans front claws though) here and, where I grew up, crayfish were smallish muddy horrible things that weren’t worth all of the effort to catch, soak in clear water overnight, clean and cook just to get one bite of meat from each of the little beasts.

So, we carried on with our visit and I think we even went home with some lovely NZ scallops (also quite huge and attached to some funny orange bit – more on that later). It wasn’t until later that evening at home when I realized in talking to my husband, that we could have probably taken one of those huge lobsters home if I hadn’t said I didn’t eat crayfish! What – you actually call those gigantic granddaddy lobsters crayfish???

Well, it’s been an ongoing joke ever since…Tiff “blew her chips” (meaning lost her chances) to get any fresh crayfish from now on.

Now, fast-forward to this weekend and my brother & sister-in-laws were on their way to visit another sibling nearby and popped by on their way to drop off a crayster – or lobsfish…you know what I mean… It was a great surprise and just in time for lunch – YUM! (THANK YOU VERY MUCH!)

I basically borrowed a slightly modified version of a friend’s cauliflower recipe over at Cooking Dunkin Style and topped the creamy, cheesy cauliflower with the diced up crayfish meat. What a treat! I usually eat lobster with the traditional clarified butter, but I have learned to do things a bit differently here.

So, in a nutshell, here is one more nice way to have lobster/crayfish!


INGREDIENTS:

Cauliflower
Mayonnaise (Best Foods/Hellmans)
Milk
Diced Onion
Grated Tasty/Cheddar Cheese
Crayfish
Salt & Pepper

All of the amounts are really up to the individual, so just go with what works for you.

DIRECTIONS:

The crayfish was boiled and chilled in advance, so all I really needed to do was crack that baby open and carefully pull out all of the meat, then dice it up and set it aside.

I cut up the cauliflower into bite-sized pieces next and put them all into a microwave-safe glass dish.

Next, I put a couple of good dollops of mayo into a jug and added just enough milk to make it easy to pour over the cauliflower.

After that, I sprinkled diced onions evenly over the top and covered the whole thing with grated cheese.

To cook it, I placed baking paper over the top and nuked it in the microwave until the cauliflower was tender and the cheese was melted and beginning to brown (about 5-7 minutes).

To serve it, I just mixed up the cauliflower and scooped some into a bowl then topped it off with the crayfish meat and a bit of salt & pepper.

Couldn’t be easier, really…or more tasty.

Thank goodness that our daughter has not yet developed a fondness for crayfish, as it is currently about $100 NZD per kilo (2.2 Lbs)…that is approximately $50 per pound…or, $25-30 per pound in US dollars! :o) Doesn’t sound so bad that way, does it? LOL