This is not, and I repeat, NOT a recipe for someone who wants a quick and easy dinner - this is a full-out gourmet meal. Don't get me wrong, this is not too difficult of a recipe, however expect to be cooking for a good part of the day and also expect your wallet to be a bit lighter.
Lobster, Shrimp, and Wild Mushrooms in a Rosemary Veloute Sauce
Ingedients:
1 1/2 lb Lobster (Professor Butterclaws)
1/2 lb Shrimp
4 to 5 cloves Garlic (minced)
3 Carrots
4 Roma Tomatoes
1 Medium Onion
2 Bay Leaves
1/2 cup Green Onion (chopped)
1 Shallot (minced)
1 1/2 oz Rosemary
5 sprigs of Tarragon
5 springs of Thyme
2 oz mixed Dried Mushrooms (Shitake, Oyster, Porcini, Portabello, ect)
1/2 cup Heavy Cream (hot)
1 heaping Tbsp Chicken base
3 sticks of Salted Butter
1 Lemon
Vinegar
Oil
chives for garnish
Preparation
Slice the onion, tomato, and carrots into thin slices.
Peel and butterfly the shrimp: Straighten them out, then make a cut from the middle of the back to the "head" of the shrimp (you don't want to cut all the way through, just enough to fold the sides out). Boil some water in a medium sized pot and add the shrimp. Cook for about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Fill a large stockpot 3/4 full of water and add about a cup of vinegar. Bring to a boil and drop Professor Butterclaws in it.
Once it comes back to a full boil, take him out after 15 minutes. If you have a larger lobster, the general rule of thumb is add an extra 5 minutes for each pound over 1 1/2. Just a tip: Similar to a human, a lobster doesn't care if it shits and pisses all over itself when it dies, so rinse it off after you pull it out of the pot.
If you ever want to know what sex your lobster is, just flip it over and look at those little legs right behind the main ones: if they are hard and boney, its a male, if they are feathery it's a female. This one is a male.
Twist the claws, legs and tails off of the lobster. Remove the meat from the claws and tails and cut it into bitesized pieces and refrigerate. Tear the top part of the shell with the head away from the body; save this head piece. Discard the body - unless you like eating the green tomalley.
Making the Sauce:
Just so you know what you're getting into, we're going to be making our fish base with lots of rosemary to give it sort of a piney flavor, and then boil away all the extra liquid and reduce it into a modified version of fish veloute sauce.
Saute the lobster shells and legs, tomatoes, onions, 6 sprigs of rosemary, terragon, bay leaves and carrots in olive oil until the carrots are tender. Add 2 quarts of water to the stock and simmer for an hour.
Using a fine mesh strainer, strain the stock into a pot, press on the refuse in the strainer to get every last drop of flavor. Strain a second time back into the original pot.
Boil on medium heat until stock is reduced to about 1 1/2 cups (about an hour to hour and a half).
Mix 2 Tbsp of flour and 1/4 cup of water to form a slurry. Once your stock is reduced, add the slurry while stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Slowly add the heavy cream. Simmer until thoroughly heated. Take off the burner and stir in one stick of butter. Squeeze the juice of 1/2 a lemon in it.
Final Touches:
In a separate pan, add your mushrooms to 3 cups of boiling water. Add the chicken base and mix well. Let boil for about 10 minutes or until mushrooms are rehydrated. In a large skillet melt 2 Tbsp of butter and saute the garlic, shallots, 4 stalks of rosemary, and thyme for about 5 minutes. Melt another 2 Tbsp of butter and add the mushrooms, green onions, lobster, and shrimp, until heated (about 4 minutes). Discard the thyme and rosemary.
Serve out the lobster, shrimp, and mushrooms. Ladle the modified veloute sauce over the top and enjoy.
Cinnamon-Glazed Carrots
Ingredients:
5 Carrots
1 Tbsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
Water
Butter
Peel the carrots and using a peeler, slice carrot into thin strips lengthwise - just dig in with the peeler's blade.
Melt butter in a pan and saute the carrots for about 5 minutes. Dissolve the brown sugar in the butter and add enough water to just cover bottom of pan. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer until the liquid is reduced to a glaze.
And what good is a fine dinner without dessert? Yes, that's right, you get three recipes for the price of one today.
Coconut Custard Pie
Ingredients:
2 Cups Flour
2 sticks of unsalted butter (cold and cut into thin segments)
1/3 cup of Ice Water
6 large Eggs
1 cup of Sugar
1 1/2 cups Milk
1 cup Half-and-Half
4 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
2 cups of Sweetened Coconut Flakes
1 cup Heavy Cream
Salt
The Crust:
Mix the flour and salt together, then add 1 1/2 sticks of the butter to it. Blend the butter into the flour until it becomes fairly coarse with small butter lumps in it.
Slowly add the water and stir just enough so that the water is mixed in. The mixture should be able to stay together if squeezed, if not, add a little bit more water. Roll into a ball, and flatten it a bit.
Chill it for 1/2 an hour.
This next step you have to do reletively quick, otherwise the butter will warm up and start to melt. On a flour-dusted surface, roll the dough into roughly a 10 x 13in rectangle. Place the remaining butter in the center of the dough.
Fold the bottom third of the dough up and over the butter, and the top third to the back of the dough. Re-roll it out into the rectangle and fold it the same way.
Chill for 2 hours.
Roll the dough out roughly into a 15in square.
Place in a glass pie dish, and trim the excess dough off, so there is about 1/2 in of overhang. Fold this overhang up and under to form a crust around the edge. Layer the inside of the pie with aluminum foil and place raw rice or beans on top.
Bake the crust for about 20 minutes or until the crust is just starting to turn golden brown at 350F. Remove the foil and rice, and pierce the crust everywhere with a fork. Bake for another 20 minutes or until golden brown.
The Filling:
Mix the eggs and 3/4 cup of the sugar. Add the milk, half and half, 3 Tbsp vanilla, a tsp of salt, and 1 cup of the flakes.
Pour the mixture into the hot pie crust.
Baking the Pie:
Wrap aluminum foil around the edges of the pie crust so it doesn't burn. Bake at 350F for around 30 to 40 minutes. You want the center to be almost solid. Allow to cool at room temperature for 2 hours.
The Topping:
Take the remaining cup of coconut flakes and bake off at 325F for about 7 to 8 minutes, or until slightly browned. Mix the heavy cream, remaining sugar, and the remaining vanilla together until the cream can hold its peak.
Using a pastry bag, spread across the top of the pie, and top with the coconut.
Finally, RIP Professor Butterclaws ??? - 5/9/05
I shall always treasure the time I spent petting your head.
Lobster, Shrimp, and Wild Mushrooms in a Rosemary Veloute Sauce
Ingedients:
1 1/2 lb Lobster (Professor Butterclaws)
1/2 lb Shrimp
4 to 5 cloves Garlic (minced)
3 Carrots
4 Roma Tomatoes
1 Medium Onion
2 Bay Leaves
1/2 cup Green Onion (chopped)
1 Shallot (minced)
1 1/2 oz Rosemary
5 sprigs of Tarragon
5 springs of Thyme
2 oz mixed Dried Mushrooms (Shitake, Oyster, Porcini, Portabello, ect)
1/2 cup Heavy Cream (hot)
1 heaping Tbsp Chicken base
3 sticks of Salted Butter
1 Lemon
Vinegar
Oil
chives for garnish
Preparation
Slice the onion, tomato, and carrots into thin slices.
Peel and butterfly the shrimp: Straighten them out, then make a cut from the middle of the back to the "head" of the shrimp (you don't want to cut all the way through, just enough to fold the sides out). Boil some water in a medium sized pot and add the shrimp. Cook for about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Fill a large stockpot 3/4 full of water and add about a cup of vinegar. Bring to a boil and drop Professor Butterclaws in it.
Once it comes back to a full boil, take him out after 15 minutes. If you have a larger lobster, the general rule of thumb is add an extra 5 minutes for each pound over 1 1/2. Just a tip: Similar to a human, a lobster doesn't care if it shits and pisses all over itself when it dies, so rinse it off after you pull it out of the pot.
If you ever want to know what sex your lobster is, just flip it over and look at those little legs right behind the main ones: if they are hard and boney, its a male, if they are feathery it's a female. This one is a male. Twist the claws, legs and tails off of the lobster. Remove the meat from the claws and tails and cut it into bitesized pieces and refrigerate. Tear the top part of the shell with the head away from the body; save this head piece. Discard the body - unless you like eating the green tomalley.
Making the Sauce:
Just so you know what you're getting into, we're going to be making our fish base with lots of rosemary to give it sort of a piney flavor, and then boil away all the extra liquid and reduce it into a modified version of fish veloute sauce.
Saute the lobster shells and legs, tomatoes, onions, 6 sprigs of rosemary, terragon, bay leaves and carrots in olive oil until the carrots are tender. Add 2 quarts of water to the stock and simmer for an hour.
Using a fine mesh strainer, strain the stock into a pot, press on the refuse in the strainer to get every last drop of flavor. Strain a second time back into the original pot.
Boil on medium heat until stock is reduced to about 1 1/2 cups (about an hour to hour and a half).
Mix 2 Tbsp of flour and 1/4 cup of water to form a slurry. Once your stock is reduced, add the slurry while stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Slowly add the heavy cream. Simmer until thoroughly heated. Take off the burner and stir in one stick of butter. Squeeze the juice of 1/2 a lemon in it.
Final Touches:
In a separate pan, add your mushrooms to 3 cups of boiling water. Add the chicken base and mix well. Let boil for about 10 minutes or until mushrooms are rehydrated. In a large skillet melt 2 Tbsp of butter and saute the garlic, shallots, 4 stalks of rosemary, and thyme for about 5 minutes. Melt another 2 Tbsp of butter and add the mushrooms, green onions, lobster, and shrimp, until heated (about 4 minutes). Discard the thyme and rosemary.
Serve out the lobster, shrimp, and mushrooms. Ladle the modified veloute sauce over the top and enjoy.
Cinnamon-Glazed Carrots
Ingredients:
5 Carrots
1 Tbsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
Water
Butter
Peel the carrots and using a peeler, slice carrot into thin strips lengthwise - just dig in with the peeler's blade.
Melt butter in a pan and saute the carrots for about 5 minutes. Dissolve the brown sugar in the butter and add enough water to just cover bottom of pan. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer until the liquid is reduced to a glaze.
And what good is a fine dinner without dessert? Yes, that's right, you get three recipes for the price of one today.
Coconut Custard Pie
Ingredients:
2 Cups Flour
2 sticks of unsalted butter (cold and cut into thin segments)
1/3 cup of Ice Water
6 large Eggs
1 cup of Sugar
1 1/2 cups Milk
1 cup Half-and-Half
4 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
2 cups of Sweetened Coconut Flakes
1 cup Heavy Cream
Salt
The Crust:
Mix the flour and salt together, then add 1 1/2 sticks of the butter to it. Blend the butter into the flour until it becomes fairly coarse with small butter lumps in it.
Slowly add the water and stir just enough so that the water is mixed in. The mixture should be able to stay together if squeezed, if not, add a little bit more water. Roll into a ball, and flatten it a bit.
Chill it for 1/2 an hour.
This next step you have to do reletively quick, otherwise the butter will warm up and start to melt. On a flour-dusted surface, roll the dough into roughly a 10 x 13in rectangle. Place the remaining butter in the center of the dough.
Fold the bottom third of the dough up and over the butter, and the top third to the back of the dough. Re-roll it out into the rectangle and fold it the same way.
Chill for 2 hours.
Roll the dough out roughly into a 15in square.
Place in a glass pie dish, and trim the excess dough off, so there is about 1/2 in of overhang. Fold this overhang up and under to form a crust around the edge. Layer the inside of the pie with aluminum foil and place raw rice or beans on top.
Bake the crust for about 20 minutes or until the crust is just starting to turn golden brown at 350F. Remove the foil and rice, and pierce the crust everywhere with a fork. Bake for another 20 minutes or until golden brown.
The Filling:
Mix the eggs and 3/4 cup of the sugar. Add the milk, half and half, 3 Tbsp vanilla, a tsp of salt, and 1 cup of the flakes.
Pour the mixture into the hot pie crust.
Baking the Pie:
Wrap aluminum foil around the edges of the pie crust so it doesn't burn. Bake at 350F for around 30 to 40 minutes. You want the center to be almost solid. Allow to cool at room temperature for 2 hours.
The Topping:
Take the remaining cup of coconut flakes and bake off at 325F for about 7 to 8 minutes, or until slightly browned. Mix the heavy cream, remaining sugar, and the remaining vanilla together until the cream can hold its peak.
Using a pastry bag, spread across the top of the pie, and top with the coconut.
Finally, RIP Professor Butterclaws ??? - 5/9/05
I shall always treasure the time I spent petting your head.