Lobstah Bisque

Another homework assignment, another blog post.  This time we are in our comfort foods unit and the assignment was to make a chowder or bisque at home.  I have made chowder quite a few times so I decided to try something new and go with a bisque.  Instantly my mind went to lobster bisque.  This is a dish that I am always tempted to order when I see it on a menu but I have only actually had it once. 

A few years ago Jason and I took a trip out to Boston to watch the Brewers take on the Red Sox.  We both instantly fell in love with the city.  How could you not love a place with all the charm of small town America and all the offerings of a big city.  We went with intentions of soaking up as much history as we could but ended up taking in a ton of amazing food along the way as well.  I would go back there over and over again just to eat.  Anywhere that lives on a diet of seafood and italian food is right up my alley.  Before going there I spent hours researching restaurants and everything I read pointed us toward the Union Oyster House for the authentic historical Boston experience.  This place has been open since 1826 and proclaims itself to be America's first restaurant.  While walking on the Freedom Trail on our first day in the city, we found the Union Oyster house and decided to stop of dinner.  There was quite a wait for a table so we sat at the raw bar and spent a good hour just talking to the crazy french man who was shucking oysters like he was born to do it.  I could have just sat for hours and watched him work.  While looking over the daily specials, I discovered that the soup of the day was a lobster bisque and decided I had to try it.  I ordered up a cup and Jason decided to try the clam chowdah.  It was the most wonderful soup I have ever tasted.  There was such a deep rich flavor in the light creamy broth and the large pieces of lobster in it were cooked to perfection.  Our soups were so good that we both ordered up another bowl and ended up skipping dinner.  Someday we will get back to Boston and although there are many new places to try I know we will end up back at the Union Oyster house for some soup.  I guess there is something to be said about a restaurant that has been in operation for 186 years.

I found this recipe in a Bobby Flay cookbook that I got years ago and have always wanted to try it but never got around to it until now.  I altered it a little bit to suit our tastes and the ingredients I had available.

Lobster and Green Chile Bisque with Grilled Corn Relish

3 Tbs unsalted butter
1 medium spanish onion, chopped
2 large carrot, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 1/2 cups mushroom stems
5 cloves garlic, minced
2-1  pound lobster tails
1/2 cup dry sherry
2 cups white wine
7 cups water
8 sprigs parsley
8 sprigs cilantro
1 bay leaf
8 peppercorns
2 roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
2 roasted poblano peppers, peeled, seeded and pureed
1 1/2 Tbs Old Bay Seasoning
1 Tbs smoked paprika
5 Tbs unsalted butter
5 Tbs flour
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 Tbs honey
Salt and pepper to taste

Grilled Corn Relish
3 ears fresh corn, silks removed and ears soaked in cold water for 10 minutes
1/4 cup red onion, finely diced
1 roasted poblano pepper, peeled, seeded and finely diced
2 Tbs fresh lime juice
1 Tbs olive oil
2 Tbs fresh cilantro chopped
salt and pepper to taste

I started off by giving Jason the task of manning the grill to cook the corn and roast the peppers.  While he was doing that, I got together my all the ingredients for the stock.

Melt the butter in a stock pot and add in the onion, carrots, celery, mushroom stems and garlic and sweat until soft.  Cut the lobster tails in half (I recruited Jason for this task since I wasn't strong enough, or willing to lose a finger).  Place the lobster over the vegetables and cover the pot.  Cook until lobster is cooked through.

Once the lobster is cooked, remove from the pot and remove the meat from the shell.  Break the shell into pieces and return to the pot.  Add the sherry and ignite to burn off the alcohol.

Once the alcohol burns off, add the wine and cook until reduced by half.  Then add the water, parsley, cilantro, seasonings, tomatoes and pepper puree.  Cook over low heat for 25-30 minutes.  While this is cooking you can chop up the lobster into small pieces.

After the 25-30 minutes is up, strain the stock and return to the pot.

In a small sauce pan, melt the remaining butter. Once melted whisk in the flour and cook for about 3 minutes.  Add this to the stick and stir to completely combine.  Cook the stock over medium heat until it thickens and the flour taste is gone, about 25 minutes.  In another sauce pan heat the milk and cream over medium heat until reduced by half.

While that was happening I got together the corn relish that Jason had so nicely grilled for me.

I cut the corn off of the cob and mixed it up with the chopped onion and pepper and the lime, cilantro, oil and a little salt and pepper.  For only being April I was surprised that not only was fresh corn available in the grocery store, but that it also had pretty good flavor.

Once the cream and milk had reduced, I added that into the thickened stock and put the lobster meat back in.  Stir up the soup and add the honey, chopped parsley, and salt and pepper to taste.  Cook for a couple of minutes for the lobster to warm back up and it's ready to serve.

I served the soup with some parsley and paprika on top and added some of the corn relish.  Although this was no where near the Union Oyster House's lobster bisque, it was very good.  It didn't quite get as thick as I would have liked it to be but Jason loved it and he rarely get excited about food so I guess I did something right.

Pho Sure

I am a meat eater.  I married a meat eater.  We both come from families of meat eaters.  As a kid the steak was the first thing gone from my plate while I often had to be told to eat my vegetables.  I have grown to enjoy more vegetables as an adult than I ever would have as a child but I typically draw the line at vegetables.  I have tried non-meat products a few times but I have never been a fan.  Usually after a few bites I end up picking around the non-meat to get to the rest of the dish.  So it goes without saying that I was not very excited about my latest at home assignment for school: create an entree made with a non-meat product. 

I spent quite a bit of time researching recipes for this assignment.  I wanted to try something that I haven't had before but many of the recipes that I found were just a little too out there for me and Jason.  I got excited when I found a recipe for a chocolate silk pie made with tofu but then I remembered that I had to create an entree.  I was watching an episode of The Best Thing I Ever Ate while doing my recipe research and saw a segment where Emeril was talking about the pho at this Vietnamese restaurant in New Orleans.  Suddenly I had my answer, I would make pho.  It is something that neither Jason and I have ever had and how could tofu be bad if it's mixed with noodles.  I found a couple of recipes that sounded alright so I decided to use them as a guideline and change it up a little bit to suit our tastes.

Vietnamese Pho with Tofu
1/2 large onion, cut into quarters
1 shallot, peeled and cut in half
6 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1" fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
32 oz vegetable broth
2 star anise pods
cinnamon stick
1 jalapeno, sliced
3 Tbs soy sauce
4 - 1/2" slices firm tofu
2 tsp 21 seasoning mix
1 package rice noodles, prepared (I used a bag of Chinese noodles, like ramen)
1/2 cup each: sliced mushrooms, julienned carrots, edamame, green onions
1/8 cup cilantro
lime wedges
(traditional pho is served with bean sprouts but I don't like them so I left them out)

For the broth, start by browning the onion, shallot, garlic and ginger in a medium sauce pot until they just begin to brown.

Once that browns, add the stock, star anise, cinnamon, jalapeno, and soy sauce.  Let this simmer over medium-high heat for about 25 minutes.  While the broth is simmering I prepared the tofu.

 I first pressed it between some paper towels to get rid of some excess moisture and then I sprinkled each side with the seasoning mix.

  In a pan, heat a little olive oil, just enough to coat the bottom of the pan and place in the tofu. 

Cook the tofu for about 3-4 minutes per side and remove from the pan.  Then I cut the tofu into small squares and set aside while I prepared the rest of the dish.

One of the reasons I liked the idea of pho is that you can create the base of the dish and serve it with whatever vegetables you like.  It would be a great dish to serve to a crowd because each person can individualize it to suit their tastes.  I put together a plate of carrots, mushrooms, green onions, edamame, cilantro and limes for us.

  It this point the broth was almost done so I added my noodles to a pot of boiling water and let them cook for a few minutes.  Once the noodles were cooked I drained them and set aside.  At this point I also strained all of the solids out of the broth and started to assemble our pho bowls.  I put a little of the tofu in each bowl.

Then top that with some of the noodles.

Add in whatever veggies you like.

And finally top the bowl with the broth. 

Once I had my bowl together, I topped it with a little soy sauce and sriracha and a squeeze of lime juice.

This was a very good starting point for a dish that I would serve again.  I still am not a fan of tofu but I did enjoy the rest of the dish.  If I made this again, I would only use half the jalapeno and I would seed it before adding it to the broth as the finished dish was very spicy. 

To Beet or Not to Beet. . .

I have never been a big vegetable fan.  There were very few vegetables that I would eat as a kid and although I have tried many more as an adult, there are still quite a few that I am not a fan of.  That being said, I wasn't too excited to start the vegetable and vegetarian rotation at school.  Once I looked over the assignment list, I instantly saw something that got me a little more excited.  We were to cook a vegetable off of a given list at home.  As soon as I saw beets on the list I got a little excited.  I have never had a beet in my life, I have no idea how to cook a beet and I really had no clue what they tasted like, but I knew what I was going to make.  Red velvet cake!  I know, a cake with vegetables, you must be thinking that I have lost my mind.  I had remembered reading about how traditional red velvet cakes used beets to give them their color instead of dumping in a bottle of food coloring.  Once I had this figured out I decided that since the greens of the beets are edible too I should use them as well.  I was making lasagnas for a family dinner on Saturday so I decided to turn the greens into a pesto and make a non-traditional lasagna.

Beet Green Pesto
greens from 6 beets
1/2 cup basil
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1 Tbs balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper

I started by cutting the tops off of the beets and then tore the leaves from the stalks.  I washed the leaves a couple of times and then spun them dry.  Put the beet greens and the basil in the bowl of the food processor and process until coarsely chopped.

Then add the garlic, cheese, pine nuts and vinegar and process again until smooth.

Once that is smooth, turn the processor on and stream in the olive oil until the pesto sauce comes together.

I had to give it a try so I spread it on some english muffins for my lunch.  Once I had the pesto done, I got started on assembling the lasagna.

White Chicken Lasagna with Beet Green Pesto

1 pound ground chicken

2 Tbs rosemary, chopped

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 container baby bella mushrooms, sliced

beet green pesto

1 stick butter

1/2 cup flour

1 pint cream

1/4 tsp nutmeg

3 cups shredded parmesan and asiago blend

1 1/2 cups chevre

no boil lasagna noodles

Start by cooking the ground chicken until cooked through and then add the rosemary, garlic and mushrooms.  Cook for a couple more minutes and then add the pesto sauce.  Let the chicken mixture continue to cook over a low heat while making the mornay sauce.

For the mornay sauce, start by melting the butter over medium heat in a small sauce pan.  Add the flour to the melted butter and whisk until combined.  Pour in the cream and continue to whisk until the sauce is smooth and slightly thickened.  Slowly add 1 1/2 cups of the cheese and keep whisking until it's all melted into the sauce.  Add in the nutmeg and stir until combined.

Spread a little of the chicken mixture and the mornay sauce over the bottom of a 9x9 glass baking dish.

Cover this with a layer of pasta and then top with another layer of chicken, top with some crumbled chevre and remaining shredded cheese and then more mornay sauce.

Continue layering until the dish is full.  You should end with mornay sauce on the top.

Bake at 375, covered with foil for 30 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake for a remaining 15 minutes.  Remove from the oven and let sit for at least 15 minutes before cutting into it.

I would definitely make this again and the pesto sauce could be used in all kinds of dishes.  If I were to make this again, I would use a little less oil in the pesto because the lasagna was a bit too oily when it was cooked.

Now that I had conquered the beet greens, it was time to move on to the beets.

Red Velvet Cupcakes 

3 large beets

water

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1 Tbs vinegar

2 sticks butter, softened

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 1/3 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 Tbs cocoa powder

Preheat the oven to 350.  Peel the beets and place in a baking dish with enough water to come 1/2" up the side of the beets.

I love the rings of color!  Also just a little tip, if you plan to work with beets, plan on turning a lovely shade of purplish-red.  My hands were stained like this for a day.  Gloves would have been a good idea.

Tightly cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 60-90 minutes, until the beets are softened and cooked through.

Place the beets in the bowl of the food processor and process with the lemon juice and vinegar until pureed.

In a mixer with the paddle attachment cream together the butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy.  Pour in the sugar and mix until smooth.  Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until each is incorporated and then mix in the vanilla.  Sift together all of the dry ingredients and slowly add them to the mixer.  Measure out 1 1/2 cups of the beet puree and add to the batter, mix until well combined.

Since these are red velvet cakes, they were screaming for some cream cheese frosting so I whipped some up to top the cupcakes with.

Cream Cheese Frosting

16 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 Tbs vanilla

2 pounds powdered sugar

Whip the cream cheese and butter in a stand mixer until very light and fluffy.  Add the vanilla and mix.  Slowly add the sugar and mix until combined.  I cheated and just used a plastic bag with the corner cut off to pipe the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes.

And because a cupcake just isn't a cupcake without sprinkles, I topped them with some little mini stars.

I was also making a birthday cake for my niece's Tinkerbell part the next day so I decided to use some of the mini cupcakes to make little mushrooms on her fairy cake.

 

Bohemian Baking

Since I had successfully recreated my family's chicken and dumpling recipe, I decided I would continue on with some family traditions and make kolaches for Jason to take to work for a birthday treat this week. 

Kolaches are another great treat I remember grandma making when I was little, and one that stays true to our Bohemian roots.  I also remember my mom always buying kolaches when she found them at the grocery store to bring up to my grandpa when we would visit.  The flavor of choice for my mom and grandpa is always poppy seed so I picked up some poppy seed filling at the grocery store this week.  After opening the jar and giving it a taste I instantly remember why I always ate the fruit flavored ones when I was a kid, poppy seed filling is gross.  So I decided to change it up a bit and make three different flavors: cherry cheesecake, strawberry cheesecake, and blackberry/raspberry.

1 package dry active yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup warm milk
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup mashed potatoes, without added butter or milk (I cheat here and use the potato buds made with just water)
3 egg yolks
1 tsp salt
4 - 4 1/2 cups flour

In a stand mixer, dissolve the yeast in the water.  Add the milk, butter, sugar, potatoes, egg yolks, and salt and mix until combined.  Add enough flour to make a very soft dough.  Place in a greased bowl and loosely cover and let sit in a warm place until doubled in size, about an hour.

I doubled the recipe so I then split my dough into 4 but for one batch, just split it in half.  Roll each piece of dough into a log shape and cut into about 1" rounds.

Flatten out each piece into about a 3" circle that is higher around the edges than in the middle.

Place these rounds onto greased baking sheets and allow to rise again for about 40 minutes.  It would help to cover the baking sheets with parchment paper but I was out so I didn't.  This will help if the filling runs out of the dough so the bottoms of the kolaches don't get burned by all the sugars.

While the dough was rising again, I got to work on my fillings.  The beauty of kolaches is that once you have the dough made you can fill them with anything you like.  I had some home made cherry pie filling in the freezer so I brought that out and heated it up.

Then I chopped up some strawberries and cooked them up with some sugar and gelatin to thicken it up a bit.

Last but not least I mixed up some blackberry pie filling with some raspberries to create my third filling.

Once the dough had risen, I filled each round with a heaping spoonful of filling and popped them into a 375 oven for about 15 minutes, just until they are a light golden brown.  Remove and place on wire racks to cool.

Once they had cooled completely I decided to top the strawberry and cheery ones with some of the leftover cheesecake filling I had in the fridge.  Here's the finished product.

cherry cheesecake

strawberry cheesecake

and blackberry/raspberry

They taste just like the ones that grandma used to make!