John's lobster cocktail

It’s the last two-wheeled tour of Dorset for John and this time he’s leaving his bike on land and venturing out to sea with a local lobster fisherman, before making a delicious lobster cocktail by the beach.

Lobster cocktail

Serves: 8

Ingredients

For the sauce

200ml good mayonnaise

50ml tomato ketchup

5 drops Tabasco

5ml Worcestershire sauce

½ tsp paprika

3 lemons

100ml double cream

4 little gem lettuces

1 shallot, finely sliced

1 large cooked lobster, meat removed

3 sprigs fresh thyme

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

• To make the sauce, mix the mayonnaise with the tomato ketchup, Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce, paprika and the juice and zest of one of the lemons.

• Stir in the double cream gently until it is all incorporated - do not whisk as it will whip the cream and curdle the sauce. Put in the fridge for a couple of hours to chill.

• Wash the lettuce under cold water, remove any outer damaged leaves and discard. Remove the next two layers of large leaves and shred them to use as the base of the cocktail. Cut the centre part of the gems into quarters. Squeeze the juice of another of the lemons over the shallots and leave to stand for a few minutes.

• Mix the lobster tail meat with the shredded lettuce with half the sauce, then stir in the shallots. Divide the larger leaves between eight plates and place a quarter of gem lettuce on each. Spoon the tail meat and sauce mixture over each one, place another quarter of lettuce on top, then spoon on the claw meat and top with some more sauce.

• Cut the remaining lemon into wedges and place on the side. Strip the thyme of its leaves and sprinkle over each plate. Serve the remaining sauce separately.