Directions

Lobster/crab filling:

Ingredients

1 pound
butter
4 (4-ounce) lobster tails
2 shallots, chopped
1 cup (about 4 ounces) shiitake mushrooms, cleaned
1 pound jumbo lump crabmeat
8 scallions, white and tender green parts only, chopped
1 avocado, slipped from skin, seed removed and cut into 1/2 inch chunks (squeeze lemon
juice over this to prevent oxidation)

Directions

Leaf
wrappers:

Ingredients

8 to 12 napa cabbage
leaves

Directions

Sauce:

Ingredients

1 cup milk

1 small onion, finely chopped
1 bay leaf
3 whole cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, optional
11/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 cup grated Parmesan (1/4 cup for sauce plus 1/8 to 1/4 cup to bind filling and
sprinkle over cabbage wraps)
1/4 cup cognac
White pepper
Salt, if needed
1 tablespoon minced fresh dill

Directions

To begin the lobster filling:
Melt the butter in a saute pan which is just large enough to accommodate the lobster
tails. The butter should be very hot, but not sizzling (between 165 and 180 degrees F).
Add the tails to the pan, meat side down - shell side up, and poach until the lobster is
opaque. Remove to a utility platter and let cool. (Pour the melted butter into a bowl for
use in other elements in this recipe.) Return 2 tablespoons of the reserved melted butter

to the same saute pan and saute shallots and shiitake mushrooms until tender. Add crabmeat
and scallions and heat for a few minutes, trying to avoid breaking up lumps. Set aside.
Return to the lobster tails, loosen them from the shell. Reserve the shells for use in the
sauce. Slice the tail meat lengthwise down the middle and into 4 slices crosswise.

For the wrappers: Steam the cabbage leaves until tender but not mushy. Remember, the
leaves will still have to be firm enough support the lobster filling.

To begin the sauce: Combine the milk, onion, bay leaf, cloves, nutmeg, and lobster shells
in a heavy-gauge, non-corrosive saucepan over medium heat. Spoon 2 tablespoons of the
reserved melted butter (from poaching the lobster) into a separate heat resistant bowl and
create a slurry with the cornstarch, then whisk in 1/4 cup Parmesan. When the milk is
fairly hot, pour a small amount of it into the slurry, stirring until the milk is
thoroughly blended in. Return this to the remaining milk, add cognac, and simmer for 15
minutes, stirring frequently. Remove saucepan from heat, season sauce, to taste, with
white pepper, and salt if needed. Remove and discard bay leaf, cloves and lobster shells.

Immediately put a sheet of plastic wrap on top of the sauce to prevent a skin from
forming.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Gently fold the lobster and crabmeat together with just
enough of the sauce to bind it. (Reserve the rest of the sauce for service.) If the
filling seems loose, add more Parmesan to bind it. (You don't want the filling to be too
runny.) Lay the cabbage leaves out and remove stiff ribs/spines of leaves being sure to
leave enough of the leaf in a shape that can be filled and rolled shut. Into each leaf,
spoon 3 or 4 tablespoons of the lobster/crabmeat mixture, add a few chunks of avocado,
fold in sides of leaf, and roll up. Place in an oven-proof dish layered on the bottom with
a little of the sauce, sprinkle with a little Parmesan. Bake for 10 minutes to melt
cheese.

Serve garnished with fresh dill and with remaining lobster sauce on the side.