Son wants butter-poached lobster tails for B-Day Dinner - Sides?

[mackhound]

Seventeenth birthday, just the family plus his (nearly 1 year!) girlfriend. I'm thinking maybe a good mac & cheese recipe, but would love some suggestions.

[cstr]

steamed then on to the table.

[chefj]

Steamed Sides?

[ForeverBirds]

There are tons of options. I usually like come type of carb and a veggie.

You could do French bread, garlic cheese biscuits (think Red Lobster), mac and cheese, rice pilaf, mashed or baked potatoes, or a simple pasta dish for the carb option. Or you could do a bread AND another carb, which I know a lot of people do.

For veggies, it will depend on everyone's taste, but there is: green beans, asparagus, broccoli, zucchini, cauliflower, spinach, sauteed mushrooms, or a combination (which could also include carrots and onions, which aren't that great by themselves in my opinion).

Also, there is the option of a salad, hush-puppies (which I guess would fall under carbs), sweet potato fries, a light soup, veggie kabobs, cole slaw, shrimp skewers, etc.

Oops- just noticed the update- but maybe this will help someone else!

[mackhound]

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I went with wasabi mashed potatoes and asparagus (olive oil, S&P, broiled until the tips got a little crispy). Based on the enthusiastic response, I think it went well.

[wyogal]

sounds fab!

[MidwesternerTT]

Baked / microwaved whole fresh sweet potatoes that each person can top to their taste with butter/brown sugar/cinnamon/S&P or sour cream.

Steamed sugar snap peas.

Coleslaw

[hotoynoodle]

butter-poached lobster is super-rich so i don't think a mashed/creamy starchy side dish is needed. roasted green beans with slivered almonds would be nice, or snap peas with sesame seeds. if you really want a starch i like the idea of roasted potato wedges or hash browns.

[chefj]

The Mac and Cheese sound pretty rich to pair with Butter poached Lobster.
As Joan mentioned Celery Root and/or Potato would all be good seasonal Starches and pair well with Lobster. I would add Kohlrabi and Turnip to those options. You could even do Gratin of any combo or single of them.
On the Green side Kale, Rabe, or a Salad would fit the bill.

[wyogal]

Side dish? ;)

Some crusty bread, a salad, maybe some rice or potatoes?

[Jeanne]

Agree - crusty bread, a salad and I'd do roasted potatoes.

[LaLa]

My favorite place serves homemade chips with lobster! Delish

[JoanN]

In "Fish Without a Doubt", Rick Moonen recommends serving butter-poached lobster on a bed of pureed cauliflower (or celery root and potato puree) with shavings of granny smith apple on top and more butter sauce spooned over all.

I've never made this recipe, but I have made the butter sauce which is terrific. Here's a link to his recipe which includes the recipe for the butter sauce:

http://apps.edf.org/page.cfm?tagID=23097

[Sandwich_Sister]

If you know the GF well I might ask her if there is anything she would like or anything that him and her love to eat together.

You really have a lot of options.

Are you planning on doing a salad?

Mashed potatoes or herbed potatoes like parsley potatoes, a green veggie looks nice on the plate, asparagus, green beans, brocoli, .

I like the mac and cheese idea.

a risotto or rice dish

[Puffin3]

I was going to make a comment about what they both love to eat together but I won't. LOL
Lobster and butter being so rich maybe something to offset them. A salad with mixed baby greens and a lemon juice/EVOL/ with fresh chopped tarragon and basil and a pinch of red chili flakes dressing?

[fourunder]

Wasabi Mashed Potatoes...and a green vegetable....Asparagus, Sugar Snap/Snow Pea Pods or Spinach.

How about adding Truffles?