Lobster creme brulee. Sounds fabulous, eh? We did a trial run and liked it so I made a double batch for the family brunch. Four of my five brothers and two spouses were going to be at our home prior to my nephew's wedding. I wanted to make a really special meal.
The reaction from the family was underwhelming. Everyone expected it to be warm. And, it was supposed to be served cold. Three ramekins came back with exactly one bite taken out of them. And, I had three ramekins totally left over. That's a bunch of lobster to toss.
Now, to figure out what to do with the leftovers. Once choice was to rinse away the creme brulee and make something totally different.. Quesadillas, lobster rolls, pasta. All of those were in the running. I came up with the idea of lobster roll pasta. Sounded great but I couldn't find a recipe that worked.
The pasta pot got filled with water and put on the stove. At least we were going to have lobster and pasta. Exactly what was yet to be determined. I got out the container of the leftovers and dipped my spoon in. It really had a lot of potential. I'd tasted a bit of Dijon mustard stirred in. Connie'd tasted a bit of sherry. And, of course, lobster rolls have butter. But, BROWN butter is MUCH better. Time to experiment. In went a couple of teaspoons of Dijon. Better already. Then a couple of tablespoons of dry sherry. Ok. We're on to something because that was the best yet. About that time the butter I'd tossed into the saucepan reached a lovely shade of brown. And, oh my, did it every smell fabulous! Into the butter went the leftovers. Stir, stir, stir, taste. We have a winner!
Because I had about half of the creme brulees left over, I'm going to give you the recipe for half of what I made...
Ingredients
1 large or 2 small freshly cooked lobsters (we used 6 very small cold water lobster tails)
2 t finely chopped tarragon
8 egg yolks
2 T lemon juice
1 c heavy cream
1 c whole milk
2 T panko - omit if you're making pasta sauce
3 T finely grated Gruyere
Add in if you're making pasta sauce:
2 t Dijon mustard
3T dry sherry
4 T butter, browned
Directions:
To make the creme brulees, shell and chop the lobster. Put it in the bottoms of six ramekins. Sprinkle with the tarragon. Put the cream and milk into a saucepan and bring it almost to a boil. Crack the eggs into a bowl with the lemon juice (and salt and pepper if you'd like.) Lightly mix with a fork. When the cream mixture is warm, temper the eggs by adding about a tablespoon of cream to them. Then, continue adding until the egg yolks are warm. Pour all of that into the balance of the cream mixture. Divide the custard between the ramekins and bake in a water bath at 350 for 20-25 minutes.
If you're going to make the pasta sauce, hold the lobster aside and make the custard sauce. Add in the mustard and sherry. Brown the butter in a small saucepan and pour it in along with the grated Gruyere. Stir in the lobster and serve over pasta.
recipe adapted from Creme Brulee by Sara Lewis
Another new year. Time is simply flying by. If you've been reading my blog for very long, you know our tradition is a seafood feast on New Year's Eve. We choose our recipes a month or two in advance and spend way too much time chatting about how much fun it's going to be and how wonderful the dishes will be. Typically, I come up with 20-30 options and we narrow it down to a reasonable (ok, time to chuckle) menu of appetizer, soup, salad, entree, side dish and dessert. This year Connie requested the tarragon grilled lobster for our entree. And, a chocolate cup filled with mousse for our dessert. I'd been salivating over some of the recipes from Commander's Wild Side. Once I'd listed those I wanted to try our menu was set.
Typically, we head home early in the afternoon on New Year's Eve so we can start cooking. But, the 31st had a couple of kinks in it. Last minute client emergencies. Once those were taken care of we headed home. Connie'd done all the shopping that morning. On the way home he commented that traffic was pretty light. Because EVERYONE was at the stores! I won't go through the entire shopping expediton because we'd be here until tomorrow but suffice to say he didn't have an easy time finding lobsters. Everyone was out of duck fat. Although that wasn't necessary for our New Year's Eve feast.
Here's what our menu looked like:
Tasso stuffed shrimp with garlic cream sauce
Creole lobster bisque
Scallop and crab salad with caviar vinaigrette
Tarragon grilled lobster
Artichoke heart and wild mushroom cakes
Chocolate cups filled with mousse
We set up our mis en place
Tasso Stuffed Shrimp with Garlic Cream
Artichoke Mushroom Cakes
Scallop and Shrimp Salad with Caviar Vinaigrette
Creole Lobster Bisque
The first thing to do was to make the chocolate cups. It was super simple when I did it at Ghyslain's. Not so much here. The first balloon exploded throwing chocoate all over me, the wall, some of the food we had set out. What a total mell of a hess. So, Connie says, you can't touch the side of the double boiler. I didn't think I had but I tried again anyway. BOOM! He says dip the balloon in and let that dip cool then dip again. Ok, we'll try that. BOOM! So, he decides he can do a better job. He dips a side and starts blowing on the chocolate to cool it down. You know what happened next :-) BOOM! By this time we were both laughing hysterically. What else can you do when you're covered with dark chocolate? So much for dessert!
On to dinner...
We pretty much had everything cooking at once. Can you say it was a zoo?
What did we think? We typically don't give out five's. Maybe once a month a dish qualifies. New Year's Eve we had THREE fives and a couple of fours. None of the dishes needed any tweaking.
Tasso Stuffed Shrimp with Garlic Cream
serves four as a first course
The tasso stuffed shrimp with garlic cream were a bit tough to stuff. I wound up pan sauteeing them instead of baking them. Then, I put the stuffing that fell out on top of the shrimp. When I roasted garlic for the cream, I roasted extra so I could use roasted garlic in everything else instead of chopped garlic. This recipe was one of our fives. We used six shrimp and a quarter of the cream recipe. I also used all green bell pepper instead of a mix of peppers. The ingredient list below is as written.
Ingredients:
for the garlic cream:
1 head garlic
1 t Creole seasoning
2 c heavy cream
for the shrimp:
1 T vegetable oil
1 T minced garlic
4 oz tasso, finely chopped
1 leek, white part only, halved lengthwise, sliced and rinsed well
1/4 c each minced green bell pepper, red bell pepper and yellow bell pepper
1 1/4 t Creole seasoning
12 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
Directions:
Roast the garlic. Either use a garlic baker or wrap the head of garlic in foil and roast it at 350 for about half an hour. Because I had whole cloves of garlic left from the Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic, I tossed them with some olive oil and roasted them at 450 for 20 minutes until they were nicely browned and very soft. Mash the garlic cloves or squeeze the garlic out of the head.
Mix the cream, roasted garlic and Creole seasoning. Allow it to simmer in a small saucepan while you prepare the shrimp. You want it to reduce by about half.
In a small skillet, saute the garlic (I used mashed roasted cloves,) tasso, leek, bell peppers and Creole seasoning.
Once they're nicely browned, remove the skillet from the heat and allow the stuffing mix to cool a bit.
Butterfly the shrimp on the underside. It's not the normal way of butterflying! Then, stuff them with the stuffing and roll them up. That's all easier said than done. The recipe calls for baking them for 12 minutes at 350. I pan sauteed them in a tablespoon of butter.
Plate the dish starting with a puddle of the garlic cream. See the yummy pieces of roasted garlic? All caramelized and fabulous!
Top that with three shrimp then the stuffing that fell out.
Creole Lobster Bisque
Serves 6 as a soup course or 4 for lunch
Our next course was the creole lobster bisque. This was a four. Now, let me say that we love the lobster bisque at Aesop's. Kathy makes the best lobster bisque either of us has ever had. And, she doesn't even like the stuff!!! This was my first attempt at lobster bisque. I'd saved the lobster shells last time we splurged. Those would be the base for the stock. I was a bit leary of the lack of cream. And, I added a bit of chopped lobster as a garnish. Most of it sank by the time I turned around and picked up the camera! Since I wasn't starting with whole lobsters, my stock probably wasn't quite as rich and flavorful as the original. And, in order to keep the directions at a "reasonable" length, I'm going to tell you how I made the soup... If you want the full version, you'll need to buy the book! This was actually better the second day. Pretty typical of a lot of soups that are better the second day. We thought this was wonderful but only gave it a four.
Ingredients:
for the stock:
Shells from two 1 1/2 lb lobsters
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
1 large carrot, coarsely chopped
2 celery stalks, coarsely chopped
1/2 c dry white wine
3 bay leaves
8 whole pepper corns
to make the soup:
1/2 c vegetable oil
1/2 c flour
4 T unsalted butter
2 c coarsely chopped tomatoes
4 shallots, chopped
1 leek, white part onlychopped and rinsed well
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 small green bell pepper, chopped
1 T Creole seasoning
1/3 c plus a splash of Armagnac or brandy
1/4 c heavy cream
1 t chopped fresh thyme
salt and pepper
1-2 T of chopped lobster meat per serving
Directions:
Break the lobster shells into approximately 1" pieces. We froze the shells then left them in the freezer bag and used a meat mallet. Place the shells, onion, carrot and celery in a roasting pan. Roast at 350 for 20 minutes.
In a stockpot put 6 cups of water, the wine, bay leaves and pepper corns. Add the lobster shells and vegetables. Simmer for about 45 minutes. Stir it when you walk by... Drain the stock through a mesh strainer (I used my colander and it worked just fine.) Press on the shells and veggies to get all of the liquid out. Set the stock aside. Actually, the recipe notes this can be made ahead and frozen.
Now, it's time to make the roux. In a heavy saucepan heat the oil to shimmering. The recipe actually calls for it to be smoking but I just can't bring myself to have smoking oil in my house... Add the flour gradually, whisking as you go. The roux will turn light brown, then the color of peanut butter, then mahogany. As the recipe says, mahogany is one shade darker than peanut butter. Ok, that's when you pour the roux into a metal bowl to stop the cooking. Also because you really don't want to shock a glass bowl or melt a plastic one! Here's how the colors looked:
In yet another saucepan, a large one this time, melt two tablespoons of the butter. Add the tomatoes, shallots, leek, celery, green bell pepper and Creole seasoning. Since I used canned diced tomatoes with their juice, I had to cook the veggies down for well over the ten minutes called for in the recipe. That worked out just fine since all the veggies get pureed anyway. Here's how this looked as it cooked down:
Deglaze the pan with the brandy. Stir for a couple of minutes. Add the lobster stock and whisk it in well.
Once the soup is simmering, stir in the roux. Simmer the soup for an hour. There wil be foam on top that needs to be skimmed.
After the soup has simmered for an hour, stir in the last two tablespoons of butter, the cream , thyme and a splash of brandy.
Puree the soup. You know the rules about pureeing hot stuff in batches. Now would be a good time to really follow the rules. We used our food processor and it worked like a champ. A few little pieces of veggies made it through unscathed and added some interest to the soup.
Serve the soup garnished with the lobster meat. The recipe actually called for using the meat from the two lobsters. I thought that was overkill.
Are you stuffed yet? We just about were but soldiered on - lol.
Well, I think that's probably enough for this post. I'll continue with our New Year's Eve feast on my next post.
recipes adapted from Commander's Wild Side
Home from the cruise on July 1st. Unpack. Do some laundry. Dig through 800 new emails and a ton of tasks. Work all day on July 4th. Fly to Boston on July 5th. Fly back on July 8th. Head to the house to pick up the doggie woggie. Head to the office. Dig through 300 new emails. Finish getting ready for next week. Watch a few drops of rain fall. YAY! Well, maybe just yay... Indy is in the midst of a severe drought and a few drops will just evaporate... Oh, well. So, that's what's been going on in my life. Whew!
This time I did take a few food photos... But, I also took a LOT of other fun photos. So, please come along and enjoy the ride...
Off to Boston.
Here's Connie in front of our hotel.
He was getting psyched to play tour guide for the five of us. Nothing like a native as a tour guide. We walked part of the Freedom Trail and thoroughly enjoyed taking in all the history. See the red bricks?
They're the way the Freedom Trail is marked.
First up was King's Chapel.
Then, we saw the original location of the first public school in North America (Boston Latin - founded in 1635 - Connie's an alum,) then Faneuil Hall,
then the location of the Boston Massacre,
the old state house
the Custom House...
Don't you love the juxtaposition of the old and new?
Then on to Long Wharf
walking until our feet were totally worn out and we were all ready for a shower before dinner.
Talk about amazing showers. Can you believe this?
Friday, it was time to buckle down and work. Can you imagine trying to concentrate when you've got this view?
Yes, that's North Church's steeple poking up in the photo. Just so much history.
Friday evening it was time for dinner in the North End with 14 of Connie's relatives. Can you spot his sister?
Yeah, I know. They look like twins. The other lovely ladies in the photo are his cousin Kathleen and his Aunt Kay. I wish Aunt Kay and my mother could meet each other. They are so much alike. No wonder I'm so crazy about her - she reminds me of my Mom!
Here's cousin Geri with me
After dinner a drive to Cape Cod to Barbara's Cape house. Arrival time? 1 am. Straight to bed. Up way to early to hit the computer and work. Connie finally woke up and found me deep in thought
About 9:00 we headed to The Celtic Kitchen. The line was HUGE. The touristas have invaded Cape Cod, I griped. Connie burst out laughing and reminded me I'm one of them! Yeah, but I visit all times of year!!!
Fine, off to 6A and west to Sandwich. We knew there was a diner in Barnstable but didn't know it'd changed hands and was now fantastic. Lucky us. Breakfast at the Blue Plate Diner. Actually, clam chowder on the way back too. Clam chowder that should win awards. I just finished dinner prior to typing this and my mouth is STILL watering!
Finally, at our destination. Remember, please, we live in Indianapolis. Home of Eli Lilly. Major pharmaceutical company. The Lilly's are huge around here. Turns out Joseph Lilly permanently relocated from Indy to Cape Cod. Sandwich to be specific. Kind of what I plan on doing when we retire. I do love Cape Cod. He bought 70+ acres and called it Heritage Plantation. He donated it and now it's a museum. Incredible grounds and some fun museums. Antique cars. Americana. And, during our visit, a retrospective of Norman Rockwell's photographs. Photos??? Yes, photos. That's how he got the fantastic detail in his paintings. He had MANY photos taken then had them cast on a screen. From that he made sketches. Often, he combined different elements. There was one showing four or five photos, sketches etc of different faces for one painting. We had no clue this was going to be there. Talk about a super double bonus. No photography was allowed or you'd be able to see what I'm talking about. In addition to the Rockwell retrospective there was an antique car show. Not my bag but a bit interesting nonetheless.
Oh, and the gates. Whimsical gates. I want one of these
And along the way what we really came for: daylilies.
And hydrangeas. Can you believe the size of those??? Yup, those are Connie's sunglasses.
Along the way we walked the path on Swamee Lake and enjoyed seeing the swans.
We tried out the vibraphones in the kids exploration area. Yes, I know we're a bit older than kids. Does that make a big difference???
And, I can't forget the water. Connie manages to stick his hand in water. Fountains. Waterfalls. About the only water source he misses sticking his hand in is a drinking fountain. That is a normal drinking fountain. If it's a bit funky? He's there!
Are you tired yet? We sure were. Yet, the day was only half over. And, the great food was yet to come.
It was time to head to Greg and Mary's. Greg is Connie's middle son. Mary is his girlfriend. Wonderful kids.
Grilled lobster. Do you love lobster as much as I do? Well, I thought the stuff couldn't be improved upon. Steam it, dump it in some clarified butter, inhale. No more. I'm off to Epicurious and the Grilled Lobster with Tarragon Butter. Did I take photos? Nope. By that time I was exhausted. My camera was stashed and I was too busy cooking to hunt.
We had our new favorite appetizers - onion biscuits. Followed by salad, corn on the cob, grilled zucchini and the grilled lobster. YUM. Oh, I can't forget the berrylicious pie from Crow Farms. With vanilla bean ice cream. Yeah, it was a fantastic dinner.
Now, it's back to reality. And, yes, I did miss my furry kids. And, I'm ready to be back in the office. And, cooking in my own kitchen.
New Year's Eve. Seafood and seduction. Connie's a New England boy. He grew up downtown Boston. As in right downtown. By the Bunker Hill Monument. He went to Boston Latin School. Worked for the Bank of New England while he worked on his college degree. Grew up on fresh seafood. Needless to say, he doesn't find the same in Indianapolis.
We met in 2004 and pretty quickly we knew we were meant to be. Pretty much love at first sight. And, that's coming from a gal who'd been divorced for 26 years, had a successful business and really had no intention of ever getting married again. He certainly changed my mind and I'm ever so glad he did!!
Over the years, we've created some wonderful traditons. Our New Year's Eve seafood fest is one of them. That first year, we went to the now-defunct seafood shop across the street from my office. What they had created the basis for our meal. Escargot, bacon wrapped scallops, lobster tail, crab soup, crab cakes, shrimp. We both got dressed up and I decorated the table. It was incredibly romantic. Each year we've done the same. We've changed up the menu a bit each year.
Now, we start planning the menu about a month or two before New Year's Eve. This year most of the inspiration came from Entertaining with Booze. I know, we've talked before about the title. Not terribly appetizing. But the recipes? Oh, la, la. We've loved so many of the ones we've tried.
There was a bit of excitement as we started our dinner prep this year. My beloved Indiana Hoosiers were playing Ohio State. My stepson David's alma mater. Here are my favorite screen shots:
You can probably read the second one with a magnifying glass... It says the Hoosiers beat the number one and number two ranked teams in the same season for the first time ever. All cooking stopped and breathless watching ensued. The game wasn't decided until the last seconds. Wow. It feels like the old days.
This year we had a bit of a twist to our meal. Leftover escargot. Turns out the soup I fixed for New Years Eve Eve dinner with Mom needed a dozen escargot. The can holds two dozen. No way was I going to waste those! I didn't tell Connie what I was doing and he didn't discover my plan until I was ready to put the escargot dishes in the oven. The look on his face was fantastic. Huge grin. He practically did a happy dance. Thanks to Jaden at Steamy Kitchen for the oven temp and the amount of butter to use.
Escargot
Ingredients:
12 escargot
4 T butter at room temp
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 T fresh flat leaf parsley, finely minced
Directions:
Mash the butter with the garlic and the parsley. Divide it into 12 balls.
Place your escargot either into the shells or escargot dishes (or both if you desire.)
Put the butter on top of each. Bake at 450 for five minutes. Serve with sliced baguette.
As we cooked, we drank a bottle of Domaine ste Michelle Blanc de Noirs. That was absolutely lovely bubbly. We used the flutes my sister-in-law Pam gave me many years ago. I love them not only because they're beautiful but because every time we use them I'm reminded of my wonderful sister-in-law. I love you Pam! Here's a photo of Connie in the mirror while we're toasting with our bubbly:
