Ladies,
We're throwing an intimate dinner party this Friday at Diana's home.
Why:
It's December!
It's December!
Lindsey is in town, and recently started culinary school up in New York City. She's gifted in the kitchen.
Diana just returned from France, and blogs away about her culinary prowess at the Happy Hostess Blog.
Cori Sue didn't return from anywhere, nor can she cook. But, she snagged some complimentary lobsters from the Lobster Man
So, we're cooking a fancy pants meal of salad, lobster, dessert, wine, prosecco and the like!
After a lead in like that, I spent an entire week trying to come up with some good recipes using the lobster that was being sent this way courtesy of The Lobster Man. We tossed around idea after idea (Lindsey's were far more culinarily advanced than mine), and I finally settled on a pasta dish out of the Silver Palate cookbook, Lobster with Tarragon. It is a red sauce with tons of lobster meat, cream, and obviously tarragon. I put my own spin on it by using fresh tarragon instead of dried, as well as adding tons of crushed red pepper flakes to give it a little kick. I am not used to having people I don't know very well for dinner, and I never cook anything I haven't test driven before, so I was a little nervous about this dinner party and really wanted everything to go smoothly. I always get a little nervous about having enough food, wine, whether everyone will mesh well, etc, but when using someone else's resources, I really don't want to screw anything up. A phone call was placed to The Suz, who, for those of you who have not met her, is the ultimate in dinner party throwing. The authority. She puts my mind at ease every time I freak out, and her wisdom about everyone being too many wines deep to notice if your dessert is terrible is genius. She totally came through this time with not only a hand decorated wreath for my front door (obviously, who wouldn't make a hand decorated wreath), but another amazing recipe for a lobster sauce. And it was a really good thing too, because I did not realize how much sauce #1 would cook down- cautionary tale about test driving recipes at higher-than-normal-pressure dinner parties. The recipe she gave me was actually for a dipping sauce which I just put the chopped lobster meat in and tossed with the pasta. It is actually an amazing recipe from wayyyy back in the day when she and my dad still had pretty aggressive dinner parties. They had a good friend that was the chef at a French restaurant, and one time when he was at the house and they were making lobsters, he whipped up this sauce. It is super French, super 90s, and super delicious. I loved it. It only has four ingredients and no one ever measured anything, so I had to use my best judgment. Major props to The Suz for, yet again, totally coming through on this one.
Luckily both of the sauces turned out really well! I ended up deciding to do one tossed with ziti and one with spaghetti so they would be different. I was really pleased with both results and will definitely make each of these again when I have lobster meat on hand.
Lobster with Tarragon and Tomato Cream Sauce
Ingredients:
-2 tbs olive oil
Lobster with Tarragon and Tomato Cream Sauce
Ingredients:
-2 tbs olive oil
-1 large can stewed whole tomatoes
-1/3 c fresh tarragon
-salt and pepper to taste
-1 c heavy cream
-crushed red pepper or cayenne pepper
-1/2 lb lobster meat
-1 box of pasta (I used ziti)
-sprig of fresh tarragon for garnish
Directions:
-Saute the onion in the olive oil in a heavy saucepan (pot) until the onion is tender
-Drain and chop the tomatoes and add to the onions
-Add the tarragon and salt and pepper to taste, reduce the heat and simmer for about 30 min
-Remove mixture from heat and let it cool slightly. Puree in a food processor or food mill (this step is optional but if you would like a smooth sauce then go ahead and puree it)
-Return puree to the saucepan and add the cream. Feel free to add extra cream if you would like the sauce lighter (I did)
-Simmer the sauce for about 15 minutes, stirring often, until it is slightly reduced
-Taste the sauce, add more salt and pepper if needed, and then add about 1-2 tsp of crushed red pepper or 1/2 tsp of cayenne, to taste
-Add the chopped, cooked lobster meat and cook another 5 minutes until the lobster is heated through
-Boil the pasta in salted water. Toss with the sauce, and garnish with the fresh tarragon.
Marcel's Lobster Sauce
Ingredients:
-2 sticks of butter
-1 c of drained and chopped sundried tomatoes
-1- 1.5 c of creme fraiche, depending on taste
-1- 1.5 c chopped fresh basil
-1/2- 1 lb of chopped, cooked lobster meat
-1 box pasta (I used spaghetti)
Directions:
-Melt butter in a heavy saucepan
-Add chopped sundried tomatoes and simmer for 5-10 minutes
-Add creme fraiche and simmer for another 3 minutes
-Add the lobster and cook until heated through, about 3 mins
-Boil the pasta in salted water until cooked
-Right before serving, add the chopped basil to the sauce and stir in.
-Toss the sauce with the pasta, garnish with fresh basil.
