By Jomay Steen

Shawn Dargie, Custer County Market manager, has ventured for the first time into the oceanic waters of the Atlantic to bring live Maine lobsters to the middle of the Black Hills.
After the success of last year’s fresh salmon shipped directly from the Alaskan coast, it only made sense to go with lobsters for this year.
“We decided it would be nice to have lobster here. A company in Maine was willing to ship them to us,” he said.
The lobsters will be baited, caught and shipped out that same day. The live creature will be packed in ice, the cold sending them into a hibernating mode, then flown directly to Rapid City and trucked to Custer.
“When they get here, we’ll put them in tanks,” Dargie said.
Each lobster will weigh about 1-1/4 pounds, enough for one person. There will be detailed instructions with illustrations on how to cook the lobster. That’s included.
Customers who ordered by June 24 can pick them up July 3.
Dargie said they already have 65 orders.
“We weren’t sure how it was going to go over so we didn’t set a limit. We’ll just work with what we get,” the store manager said.
To cook lobsters: Use a pot big enough to hold six quarts of water and two lobsters at a time. Bring the water to a boil. Drop the lobsters in headfirst and cover the pot. Once the water returns to a boil, cook 10 minutes for the first pound of lobster and 3 minutes for each additional pound.
If the lobsters weigh 1-1/2 pounds each, they will be done in about 12 minutes. Base the time on the weight of one lobster, not the total weight. Remove the cooked lobster from the pot, drain by snipping off tips of claws. Serve with melted or clarified butter.
For more information, call 673-2247 or e-mail customerservice@custercountymarket.com.

By Tanya Manus

I’m not what you’d call outdoorsy. I’m not a hunter, hiker or camper, but I do have fond memories of fishing for crawdads.
This week’s Food story takes me back a few years to a beautiful sunny day I spent crawdad fishing with friends in the mountains of northeastern Arizona.
Crawdads, also known as crawfish, crayfish or mudbugs, thrive in lakes and streams. My friends lived within easy walking distance of a stream where lots of the little mudbugs were just waiting for us. To catch them, my friend’s husband loaded up some old pantyhose with gobs of raw bacon. We dipped the bacon in the water and when we pulled it up, many little crawdads were clinging to it.
We must have caught dozens, which we carried back to my friends’ house. The crawdads were boiled, and then we stood in the kitchen taking them apart to nibble on the small but delicious meat inside.
The meat, which tastes much like lobster, can be used in all kinds of stews, entrees, salads and even as pizza topping. I encountered crawdads again just last Thanksgiving at a church potluck dinner. A local man with Louisiana roots brought a crawfish pie. Flavorful but not too spicy, it was a surprising and tasty addition to the holiday menu.
I’ll definitely be at next year’s Crawfish Festival in Sturgis. Meanwhile, I found a recipe from a home cook on RecipeZaar that is so tempting that it makes me want to go crawdad fishing again.

Shrimp, Crab, Crawfish, Sausage, Corn and Dirty Rice Casserole
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 lb. smoked sausage, finely diced
1 lb. medium shrimp, peeled, deveined and chopped
1/2 cup bell pepper, chopped
3-3/4 cups water
1 (12 ounce) package dirty rice mix (low sodium)
1 (14 ounce) can shoe peg corn, undrained
1 (10 ounce) can cream of shrimp soup
1 bunch green onion, sliced
2 (10 ounce) jars mushrooms, undrained
1-2 teaspoons Kitchen Bouquet, as desired for color
1 lb. claw crabmeat, picked clean for shells
1 lb. crawfish tail

First melt the butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Drop in the smoked sausage and cook until slightly browned. Stir in the shrimp and cook until they turn pink, about 3 minutes. Do not overcook the shrimp. Toss in the bell pepper and cook another 3 minutes until tender.
Pour the water into the pot, stir everything and bring to a boil. Whisk in the dirty rice mix and return to a boil. When everything is fully combined, stir in the corn, shrimp soup, green onions, mushrooms and Kitchen Bouquet.
At this stage, reduce the heat to low, cover the pot tightly, and simmer for about 25 minutes or until almost all of the liquid is evaporated.
Fold in the crab meat and crawfish tails. Cover the pot, remove from the burner and let stand for about 5 minutes. Fluff the rice with a fork before serving. Serves 6.

By Tanya Manus

With all the rainy, stormy weather we’ve been having - not to mention the hail - barbecues will have to wait until the sun comes out again! And if our cool, rainy June puts you in the mood for some comfort food, I’ve got a great recipe.

This comes from a friend of mine who has concocted some delicious recipes. Her chicken fettucini is an easy dish that her family enjoys, and it looks and tastes fancy enough to serve to company or take to a potluck. Serve with a tossed salad and crusty bread.

Chicken Fettucini, Jennifer Style

3 cups boneless, skinless chicken chunks

fresh mushrooms

2/3 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 can creamy chicken mushroom soup

1-1/2 cups Monterey Jack cheese

Saute the chicken with mushrooms and onions in chicken broth until done. Add soup and cheese to chicken mixture; thin with milk and simmer. Cook fettucini noodles and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Top noodles with chicken mixture.

By Tanya Manus

My family has been camping this past week, and the cool nights and firepits in the campgrounds where we stayed put me in the mood for one yummy camping treat - s’mores.

However, we never got around to building a fire, and we no longer have the coathangers-turned-marshmallow roasters I made years ago in Girl Scouts. So we never any warm, melty s’mores made over a crackling fire.

But my mouth is still watering for these campfire treats. And, although nothing can match the taste of food cooked outside, the rain we had today has inspired me to prepare a batch of s’mores in the oven, instead.

Leave it to Hershey, whose chocolate bars are s’more perfect, to come up with a bake-at-home version - and some delicious suggestions for making this already wonderful blend of graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate even better.

S’mores

2 graham crackers

1 (1.55 oz.) milk chocolate bar

2 large marshmallows

Center half of chocolate bar on each of 2 graham cracker halves. Place remaining 2 graham cracker halves on cookie sheet; top each with marshmallow.

On middle oven rack, broil 30 seconds or just until marshmallows are golden brown.  Immediately invert onto chocolate-topped graham crackers; press gently. Let stand 1 minute to soften chocolate. Serve immediately. Makes 1 s’more.