For the lobster

If you’re cooking the lobster yourself place the lemon juice, wine, bay leaves, and pepper corns large pot and fill about 3/4 with water and bring it to a boil. Using the tip of a sharp chef’s knife pierce the head of the lobster through to the cutting board to kill it humanely. Place the lobster in the pot and put the lid on tightly. Cook for about 15 minutes until the shell is bright red. Remove and immediately submerge it ice water to stop the cooking. Once cooled allow it to drain well and remove all the meat from the claws, legs, and tail and chop it up. While it is cooling make the fondue.

For the fondue

Filet the tomatoes – quarter them and remove the seeds and flesh and discard. Cut the tomatoes into a fine dice. Remove the seeds and ribs from the jalapeños if using and dice them the same size as the tomatoes. Mince the shallots and garlic and chop the chives – I use a pair of kitchen scissors to cut chives it works quickly and perfectly.

Heat the olive oil in a medium sauce pan and sauté the shallot and garlic with a little salt and pepper for 2-3 minutes until softened slightly. Add the jalapeños and tomatoes and sauté another 2 minutes. Add the white wine and reduce to about 1/3 cup. Stir in the cream cheese and goat cheese and allow them to melt completely. Stir in the pepper jack and allow it to melt. Add the chopped lobster meat and chives stirring to combine. Add the heavy cream one tablespoon at a time to loosen if needed. Taste and adjust seasoning to your liking.

Pour the fondue into a slow cooker set on low or into a fondue pot and keep it warm. Garnish with more chopped chives and serve with assorted toast and bread – I even like it with hard Bavarian type pretzels. Or place it in individual ramekins with toast on the side.

The fondue can be made a day or two in advance and refrigerated until you plan to serve it. Allow it to cool completely before covering and refrigerating. Reheat it on the stove top and portion – or put it into a casserole dish and bake for 20 minutes at 350 – to serve family style if you don’t have a fondue pot or slow cooker.

Peel and devein shrimp; peel and crush or finely mince garlic; add to sous vide safe vacuum bag with butter and Old Bay Seasoning; seal bag. Place bag in sous vide pot and cover completely with hot tap water and set temperature to 140 and start. NOTE: If your bags are smaller, simply divide everything into equal portions for each bag. The sous vide should signal you when it reaches 140. The shrimp will be ready in 30 minutes but you can enjoy them sometime later as long as the temperature is maintained at 140. I have delayed eating up to four hours and the shrimp was still perfect. This dish pairs well with Chardonnay and Pino Grigio.