Paella with Panache

Remember how I told you about the lobster stock last week?  Well, get ready cause we’re gonna use it here. 

But a side note, this is not animal friendly.  I murdered two lobsters and plan on showing you the gory details.  I even took video of the lobster still twitching and flailing a full five minutes after I split him in half and scooped out his brains with my fingers. 

At any rate, this recipe is wonderful.  And because there are only a few weeks left that we can successfully grill outside without freezing, I recommend trying this now.  I’ll let all these pictures tell the story and entice you to try this.

Aanother aside, if you tell your boyfriend’s parents that they’ll have lobster paella when they visit, but they are unable to bring their paella pan, you may just get one for your birthday.  Just sayin.

Grilled Lobster Paella

From Bon Appetít July 2011

1/3 c. olive oil

¾ lb. fresh chorizo, cut into chunks
1 large leek, diced
1 Tbs. smoked paprika
2 cups short grain rice (like calasparra, bomba, or abrorrio)
¼ tsp. saffron
5-6 cups lobster stock (closer to 5, but use your discretion here)
2 live lobsters, split in half  and claws cracked (do this just before cooking them)
1 ½ cups peas (thawed if frozen)
Salt to taste
¼ c parsley, chopped
2 lemons, cut in segments for each person

Prepare the grill, and if necessary start other charcoal to add in.  Place a 16” paella pan on the grill, add oil, chorizo and leeks.  Cook, stirring until chorizo is browned and the leeks are softened about 3 or 4 minutes.  Add smoked paprika and rice, coating everything in oil, about 2 minutes. 

Add saffron and 5 cups of lobster stock (you can add the 6^th if the rice seems two hard). Stir just at first to evenly distribute everything, then leave it alone.  To ensure even cooking, rotate the pan around thee grill so that each part gets time closer to the heat.  After about 10 minutes, add the lobsters shell side down. 

At this point you can add more coals, but if the heat is fine, close the lid and cook another 10 minutes. Once the lobsters are just red and the meat is opaque, scatter the peas over everything and cook another 5 to 10 minutes so that the rice is cooked and looks dry.  Remove pan from grill, cover and let rest for 5 minutes.  Sprinkle with parsley and serve with lemon segments.  Serves 4 with leftovers.

Stocking Up

Who said it could be September already? I mean seriously, I have not had enough time getting sun burnt or sweating at night or getting bitten by mosquitos. All of the things I normally gripe about have been very infrequent this summer, or at least it seems that way to me now.

I told Joe this morning that I was not ready for spiced apple desserts or soups or roasts or any other fall type food. I want my tomatoes and eggplants and green beans darnit! I’m holding on to summer recipes and summer foods for as long as I can. I’ll be out grilling in the first snowfall I imagine.

Normally, I kind of like the release of summer into early fall. You can smell it. Maybe that’s why, it’s been raining for the past few days and I haven’t smelled autumn yet. I keep asking myself (well my tummy really) ‘do we want apple cider? How does butternut squash sound to you?’ and in response I get nothing, no gurgle of appreciation or rumble of desire. Nothing. This means I will continue to disregard the calendar and outside temperatures and keep cooking summer favorites.

You may be wondering, what does she have for me today. The answer is nothing. I’m sorry. I’ve been so busy with guests and hurricanes and work that I have not got something to share with you. I have been cooking up a storm, but they have all been trusty favorites, or brand new recipes I don’t feel comfortable sharing just yet. Well, that’s not entirely true. I made some lobster stock that I plan on using this weekend. I’ll share that with you. Since this is basically how I make chicken stock, I know it well enough to share.

Remember how I told you last week that we tend to eat lobsters when we have guests? My parents came this past weekend, and to make eating lobsters not as terrifying to my mother, Joe and I dispatched and dismembered them prior to dinner. But I had lots of lobster shells available for making stock – which is perfect because I will need lobster stock for next week’s recipe. I don’t want to give it away, but I will give you the lobster stock. It was really very simple and smells wonderful while cooking.


Quick Lobster Stock
I did not add any salt to this as we cooked the lobsters in VERY salted water, but taste and adjust as needed.

4 empty lobster shells – meat removed (we saved all the little bits as well as the heads, this turned into quite a bit of shell)
1 medium onion, cut into a large dice
3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks
3 stalks celery, cut into large chunks
3 sprigs of thyme
3-4 large prigs of parsley (stem and leaves)
1 bay leaf
12 peppercorns
Water to cover

Combine lobster shells vegetables and spices in a large pot over medium heat. Begin cooking to soften the vegetables, then add water to just barely cover everything. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally.

Skim off any foam that accumulates on the surface and discard. Simmer for about one hour, until the stock is fragrant and yellowish/green in color.

Place cheese cloth into a colander and the colander into a large bowl (or other pot). Strain the stock through the cloth and colander. Discard the shells and veggies. Stir the strained stock to cool it quickly. Once it has stopped steaming, pour into re-sealable bags or plastic containers and freeze until ready to use. Make about 12 cups.

A Proper Lobster Bake

It has taken me a long time to write about cooking lobsters. I’ve been waiting for the perfect moment.

There have been quite a few; cooking lobsters at home while a friend visiting from China was with us, borrowing a lobster pot in Rockport Mass from a waitress’ dad, who told us ‘His name is Jim, you’ll know him when you see him’, Driving lobsters down to Philadelphia or driving lobsters to upstate New York, well, you get the picture. We cook a lot of lobsters for guests, as that is what everyone expects from people who reside in Maine. And Joe and I are happy to oblige.

But this time, this time was different. And it was blog-worthy.

The recipe itself is not difficult – get lobsters, steam them, serve with butter and lemon and other things, cover yourself with lobster juice, enjoy. But what really separates this from the other lobster feasts is the combo of when, where, and how that set it apart.

 The best way to steam lobsters is in ocean water.  I’ve tried plain water, seasoned water and wine; but the best lobsters were always cooked in boiling seawater.  This does ruin the inside of a pot, so be warned.  Sometimes you can find little pouches of “Sea Salt” for adding to tap water if you are in a store buying lobsters.  But if you happen to be near the ocean, by all means use some of that instead.   

So let me tell you a bit about the pictures that you see here.  A friend of mine from NJ came up to visit and we went camping in Acadia National Park.  He requested that we have a proper lobster bake.  I considered using driftwood, seaweed, stones and tarps to do this but wasn’t sure all those pieces would come together in protected wildlife areas.  So we opted for literally the next best thing.  A lobster bake over a campfire.   

 Yup, cliffs were scaled to retrieve aforementioned ocean water, a fire built and stoked and tended to boil that water.  Local potatoes, corn and butter were accompaniments and steamer clams and lobsters the main show.  A word of the wise for you though, boiling a large pot of water over an open fire takes a long time, so plan accordingly.  Thankfully we had brought good bread, cheese, tomatoes and plenty of wine to hold us over for dinner.   

 That is not to say the dinner didn’t have its share of challenges.  Besides sending my friend over a cliff in search of water to potentially his death, or the fact that washing a butter covered pot with cold water in another pot that is equally coated in food particles at your campsite could potentially lead to some interestingly flavored coffee the next morning, the meal was very good.  Oh yeah and cleaning the steamers prior to cooking was not something we were able to do, so they were a bit crunchy.  But other than that I would do this again in a moment, and if you are fortunate to have lobsters, ocean water and an open flame you should give it a try as well.   

Saying Cilantro

I was going to give you a different recipe originally, but then I looked and I had already shared it – last year! So in an effort to not repeat myself just yet, Joe and I experimented a little and came up with something quite tasty. And in honor of some family members who will be spending time in Alaska salmon fishing – this is for you. But I think the recipe would be just as good with chicken or pork too, so don’t feel locked in to the salmon idea.

The main star of this show is cilantro, but the whole combination is really spectacular. The only downside would be for people who do not like cilantro, but then you have your own genetic mutations don’t you. For the rest of us with whatever gene makes us love cilantro – this recipe is the bee’s knees.

Well, I guess I shouldn’t be so cruel to people who dislike cilantro. It’s just that at a restaurant once in Long Beach, Joe and I were enjoying a little happy hour on the beach, when a woman near us started complaining about cilantro. And it was not just ordinary complaining – oh no. She felt the need to over enunciate the (perhaps) proper way to say it, with a roll of her r and everything. Seeeee-Laaahn-Trrrroh. And an accurate pronunciation is fine when you do that to everything, but imagine normal cadence, normal pronunciation peppered with Seee-Laaahn-Trrrroh every 4th or 5th word. I’ll demonstrate.

“Oh does this dish have Seeeee-Laaaaahn-Trrrrroh? Because I can’t have Seeee-Laaaahn-Trrrroh. I’m allergic to Seeee-Laaaahn-Trrroh.” The server replies that there is none. “Oh good, so I’ll have the ____ as long as there’s no Seeee-Laaaahn-Trrrroh.”

When the food arrives she looks at her plate “Excuse me, but I believe there is Seeeee-Laaaahn-Trrrrroh in this, and I can’t eat Seeee-Laaaahn-Trrrrroh.” The server removes the plate and walks past me as I am wide-eyed staring at this woman who continues to her dining-mates; “I thought there was no Seeeee-Lahhhn-Trrrroh. Because I just can’t have Seeee-Laaaahn-Trrrroh, I’m allergic to Seeee-Laaaaahn-Trrrroh.” This went on a few more times, because the server returned with the plate and assured her what she saw was parsley, but since parsley is not nearly as excruciating to say as cilantro, she did not believe him and ordered something else instead.

To this day Joe and I will always toss in one Seeee-Laaahn-Trrroh for good measure while shuddering at the memory of that dinner. Well, that and we sat near a divorcing couple where the man was very intoxicated and possibly on other drugs (he told us about the coke) who kept trying to include us in their fights. The whole evening was capped off by that same man getting injured on his bicycle after he left the restaurant and the server appearing on the restaurant’s deck with binoculars so we could watch the whole thing. Ahh yes, California, how we miss your kind of crazy.

Well, so back to the recipe. This is good. Make it.

Roasted Salmon with Cilantro Sauce
I used some Sockeye Salmon for this but I think pork chops or tenderloin or even chicken would be great, but you may have to adjust the cooking time.

For the sauce
1 bunch cilantro, including stems, washed
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 lime
Olive oil

For the Salmon
3 bell peppers, seeded and cut into strips
1 medium onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1 Tb olive oil
¼ tsp. ground cumin
1 firm ripe tomato
1 8oz. piece of salmon
Salt and Pepper

To prepare the sauce, put garlic, cilantro and lime juice into the bowl of a food processor or blender. Pulse a few times to chop everything up. Then with the motor running, stream in the olive oil until well combined and creamy looking. Season with salt if needed.

Preheat oven to 400°. Toss together the peppers, onion, garlic olive oil and cumin and place in a large baking sheet. Place the piece of salmon on top and sprinkle everything with a little salt and pepper. Next, spoon some of the cilantro sauce over the salmon, coating it evenly, and spoon some onto the surrounding pepper mixture. Slice the tomato and lay the pieces on top of the salmon, sprinkle tomato with a bit of salt and pepper. Bake uncovered until salmon is cooked and the peppers and onions are softened about 20 minutes.

Serve with some of the reserved cilantro sauce.


P.S. I just got a new camera, and I am showing off the new pictures - notice how they aren't washed out with flash!

If You're Going to Eat Chocolate...

I tried to swear off desserts recently. It lasted about 2 hours. I told myself (and Joe) that I wasn’t going to buy anymore ice cream. Actually I have said this numerous times this summer. But then I picked blueberries, so we needed some vanilla for those, and then I had a coupon, so I needed to use that. Do you see how really these things are out of my control?

Well, I finally did clear the freezer of ice cream and I told myself that now would be a good opportunity to go dessert free for a few weeks. But then we realized we had some leftover chocolates from Hawaii, and in a pinch I am ready to make dessert should it come to that. And it did.

I had bought the ingredients to make something chocolaty and delicious when Joe and I were watching our friends’ daughters for the evening. But we live less than a block away from miniature golf and ice cream so any at-home activities for that evening were trumped immediately by those two prospects. The weather threatened rain, and I thought baking would be a good babysitting time waster.

I like to be prepped with games, activities and ideas whenever babysitting. This is probably because I secretly still want to belong to the Babysitters’ Club. That, and the last time I watched the girls at my house we played with chocolate and it went very well. I think kids should be able to let loose when they are with a babysitter, plus if they are all wound up at the end of the evening they go back to their parents anyways. (Sorry Bess!)

The last time I watched the girls we made truffles. I make pretty good truffles and I promise to maybe one day divulge that recipe. When I began telling them about the steps and ingredients for the truffles, the eight year old told me “Oh yeah, my friends and I always say – if you’re going to have chocolate, it should really be Ghirardelli.” I heartily agreed.

As we got into the melting, rolling and forming I realized that this was going to turn into a giant mess. It looked like I took the six year old girl and dipped her in the bowls of chocolate. I also was unprepared for the amount of finger, hand and apparently arm licking of that melted chocolate which lead to an immediate sugar high. At one point the six year old was running circles in my kitchen screaming and licking chocolate off herself. Later she confessed to her mother that the truffles were good for her because they didn’t have any sugar in them – just chocolate and cream.

The truffles turned out fine, and we only ingested a small percentage of the total yield that afternoon. I was much better prepared this second time around to thwart any appendage dipping into melted chocolate while making brownies. But, as I said before mini golf and ice cream are powerful draws for two small girls.

What I am getting at here, is that I had the ingredients for these brownies just lying around. And I really needed something to post this week – and I needed dessert. And as my friends always say; if you’re going to eat chocolate…

Chocolate Raspberry Brownies
as adapted from Sue Lawrence's Scottish Kitchen
These brownies are super rich and not at all healthy thus making them delicious. This recipe comes from a Scottish chef who made these brownies then placed them in a trifle – yowzer. The original recipe called for muscovado sugar but I can never find it here, so I have done some swapping and I think they turn out just as deeply flavored.

6 oz. good quality dark chocolate (60% Cacao is good)
3 oz. good quality Unsweetened chocolate
2 sticks plus 1 Tb unsalted butter
3 eggs
1 ¼ cups dark brown sugar, not hard packed
1 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
Pinch of salt
6 oz. fresh or frozen raspberries


Preheat your oven to 325°, lightly grease an 8” square pan.

In a small sauce pan melt the butter and chocolates together over medium heat, stirring constantly. Once melted and combined, allow to cool slightly.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar until glossy, about 2 minutes. Add melted chocolate to the bowl stirring to combine.

Next add the dry ingredients and fold to combine. Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan.

Sprinkle evenly with raspberries and pour the remaining batter over top. Bake for about 45 minutes or until the brownies have set and a toothpick comes out clean.

Let brownies cool and serve.

Summer's Selection

We are in full produce swing here in Maine (finally). I always pine for the first tomatoes and even zucchini of the season; cursing our neighbors to the south of us who get to enjoy the fruits of the summer weeks before we can. But due to the very warm temperatures this summer, the first tomatoes and other high summer harvests have arrived. Joe has been dutifully heading to the farmers’ market every week, whittling down our CSA shares and depositing a vast array of vegetables into our kitchen much to my delight.

You see if I go to the farmers’ market after work, the masses have already depleted the stocks and I am left with some wilted kale and vegetable seconds. Not that I mind the seconds, it’s just that I can feel the reproach from farmers eyeing me as though I should have left work early to get there if I wanted the gorgeous multi-colored heirloom tomatoes or the best of what they had to offer. Trust me – I want to take off of work, but getting caught frolicking through farm stands, swinging your reusable bag around joyfully two full hours before the end of the work day is not a good idea. (Picture Ferris Bueller at the Cubs game). Once was enough for me, so instead I send Joe.

What this means however, is that I get very excited to see what lands in the refrigerator every Thursday afternoon. I rush in the door, kick off my shoes and toss my lunch bag and purse off to the side, blowing past Joe with a dismissive wave and a muttered ‘hi honey’ while I bee-line it to the kitchen. First I scan the counter for potatoes and onions, and the occasional loaf of fresh bread. Next, I head to the refrigerator to check for all things vegetal. This spring upon seeing some delicate model thin asparagus in the bottom drawer, I shouted with glee, closed the refrigerator and jumped on an unsuspecting Joe. I was overjoyed.

Next, comes the task of preparing and consuming all of these wonderful items. Which is something again, I look forward to during the week. But it was thinking of something to share here that had me stumped. A cold tomato salad; sure but it’s a bit boring. A warm potato salad with green beans; I think I did that already. Or maybe a dessert with the blueberries I picked earlier in the week. It’s not as if I am not cooking and baking up a storm, I’m just trying to be selective with what I give to you. You are very important to me, and I do not want to give you something off the cuff or as an afterthought.

I made blueberry jam and double berry pound cakes. I made some chile verde enchiladas for a couple with a new baby, along with our standard weeknight meals. But nothing seemed good enough. Until I looked at the produce bins in the fridge and thought I would do a risotto with all the goodies of summer.

Well, this was a good thought, but in application it turned out to be more like a rice casserole than it did a delicate risotto. But I thought I would share the basics of it anyways, because if you have lots of tomatoes, summer squash, and greens this summer, this is a flavorful way to use them up. Maybe I shouldn’t call it a risotto, but I also don’t want to assign some weird hybrid name in Rachel Ray fashion. So we’ll just call it a summer rice hot pot (hot pots are very German, so it works here, no?)

Summer Rice Hot Pot
This will heat up the kitchen, but will be great on the next rainy day that you have. Feel free to substitute your favorite veggies, or make this vegan by omitting the cheese and switching to vegetable stock. Or make this even heartier with some Italian style chick sausage. Also, I used a tomato wine we got as a gift and it added a very nice summery flavor, so experiment with wines and other additions here as well.

3 TB olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 Tb garlic, diced
¾ c Arborio rice (or other risotto rice)
½ white wine
4-6 cups chicken stock
1 summer squash, sliced into ¼” pieces
1 small zucchini, sliced into ¼” pieces
1 bunch of kale, stems removed, and leaves torn into 1-2” pieces
1 c cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 Tb. Each fresh basil and parsley, chopped
½ c freshly grated Parmesan or other dry cheese like Romano
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh lemon juice

In a large skillet, sauté onion until translucent about 3 minutes, then add garlic and rice, stirring to coat. Sauté until rice is opaque about 3 more minutes. Add wine and stir until wine is evaporated.

Next add 1 cup of chicken stock, stirring occasionally until mostly evaporated. Continue adding chicken stock one cup at a time until the rice is almost completely cooked about 15 minutes.

When the rice is mostly cooked but still has some crunch in the very center, add in the kale and ½ a cup of chicken stock. Stir to incorporate the kale. At the next addition of stock, add in the summer squash and zucchini.

Once that liquid has evaporated, add in the tomatoes, basil, parsley and cheese. Stir gently to combine. At this point the rice should be done, and there shouldn’t be too much liquid left over. Season with salt and pepper, and squeeze half of a lemon over the whole pan.

Serve with more cheese sprinkled over top of each plate.

Chioggia

I have some bad news, my fava beans didn’t make it. I think Joe and I had a grand total of two beans each. The heat, ants, aphids and vinegar all added up to be more than my little plants could bear. So perhaps next year I will try again. This of course dampens my dreams of eating bowls full of favas this summer and sharing with you all the recipes I try out with them. Instead, I have beets.

Yes, I have written about beets before, and I think I may have told you about them last year. Well, since I only have two little garden boxes, a packet of seeds can be split between multiple years. This year’s harvest will look and awful lot like last years. I tried planting things in different combinations and as a result have a slightly different yield. Last year my obsession with Tuscan kale overshadowed my fondness for Chioggia beets, literally. I mean those beets didn’t grow very big because they were hidden under the 2’ tall kale.

This year, the beets have done very well. Joe and I have enjoyed a few dinners featuring their greens, and just now have I begun to pluck the well-formed globes from my little bed of dirt. I will admit that I get inordinately giddy when I slice into these beets, as you may be able to infer from the multiple pictures shown here. But they’re just so pretty. And they taste good to boot. They are a bit more mild – more user friendly if you will, than standard red beets. 

I came upon a recipe in Bon Appetít for a beet and carrot slaw that looked stunning (no surprise there huh). As usual, though, I did not have all the ingredients listed. Although the idea of a coleslaw without cabbage and mayonnaise sounded very good on what may have been the hottest day of the summer. I cut the beets into thin rounds by hand, and then into matchsticks, as my mandolin is a death trap. I tend to take off the top part of fingers when I use it. I think they sell the one I use in the masochism isle at the kitchen supply store. It is terrifyingly sharp, and each time I use it, I think to myself ‘Wow, I should really be care…’ and that’s when the tip of my finger comes off.

On a positive note, the blade is so sharp, that it really doesn’t hurt that much. It bleeds a lot, but when a cold winter night is calling for potatoes au gratin, you wrap a paper towel or three around that puppy and keep slicing. Fortunately, (for my hands) the mandolin broke, so it really would be a death trap. I now leave it in the drawer out of harm’s way. All this means that I am not recommending you use a mandolin for the cutting here, unless you A) have one with a handle/guide thing or B) you don’t want to spend 20 minutes chopping vegetables. Really, it’s up to you.

Beet, Turnip, and Kohlrabi Slaw
as adapted from Bon Appetít June 2011
Kohlrabi looks cool, and that’s why we got it and decided to put it in the slaw. All three of these main ingredients are earthy in flavor, so feel free to omit one of them if you’d like. Or you can add carrots, like the original recipe calls for.

2 medium Chioggia beets, sliced into matchsticks
½ kohlrabi, sliced into matchsticks
2 medium salad turnips, sliced into matchsticks
½ cup plain greek style yogurt (I like the Fage, because it has less moisture)
Juice of ½ a lemon
1 Tb. fresh tarragon
Salt and pepper to taste

Place all the sliced vegetables into a bowl. In a small bowl combine yogurt, lemon juice, tarragon, salt and pepper, stir well. Pour half the dressing over the vegetables and gently toss to coat. Add more dressing as necessary. Chill until ready to serve.