LOBSTER AND AVOCADO HORS D’OEUVRE COURTESY OF JEREMY SEWALL Lineage, Brookline; Island Creek Oyster Bar and Eastern Standard, Boston

The key to this recipe is good, ripe avocados. The cracker dough can be made ahead of time—once the crackers are done, this is a quick dish to assemble. A really tasty hors d’oeuvre that’s simple!

Makes 18 to 24 servings.

Crackers

1 cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon grain mustard
1 pinch of baking powder
1 ounce butter
¼ cup milk
1 egg yolk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a stand mixer with a dough hook, combine all of the dry ingredients with the butter. Add all the wet ingredients and knead until well mixed. Roll cracker dough very thin (a pasta machine works great) and cut into 1-inch-wide by 2-inchlong strips. Bake for 10–12 minutes or until golden brown and crisp. Hold at room temperature.

Avocado Purée

1 small ripe avocado
3 tablespoons mascarpone
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon white pepper
1/8 cup heavy cream
¼ cup cooked lobster meat, very small dice
1 minced shallot
2 tablespoons crème fraiche
1 teaspoon chopped fresh Italian parsley

Remove pit and rind from the avocado and place in a food processor. Add mascarpone, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Purée until smooth, stopping to scrape the sides.

Once smooth, add the heavy cream and pulse the purée until the cream is mixed in. (Do not over mix or the cream will whip and break the purée).

To serve, mix the lobster with the minced shallot, crème fraiche and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Place a small dollop of the avocado purée on one end of the cracker and a few pieces of diced lobster on top of the purée. The avocado purée should help hold the lobster in place. Arrange hors d’oeuvres on a platter and serve.