Lobster Guts

Before I begin, I want to say Happy, Happy Birthday, Julia (Child)!! Without you, French home cooking techniques in the U.S. may still be a mystery. 

I am celebrating by watching "Julia and Julie" as I write this post! A coincidence that this post is about lobsters on Julia's birthday because cooking the lobsters remind me of the scene where Julie is terrified to death about killing them! 

There was another sale for live Maine lobsters at our local fish market, so we had to grab a few and made it into a big feast (that will be another post). I try to use every part of an ingredient because I hate wasting food and I think that was accomplished with leftover lobster (shells and all). After I boiled the lobsters and detached the abdomen (you're not really eating the tail) from the head, I saved ALL the liquid and "good stuff" aka gunk and lobster caviar from the head and the shells (for a stock). 

Doesn't look like much but it's lobstery goodness! The bottom layer is the salted water from my pot and the top layer are the thoughts the lobster had in his/her head. So much great natural flavor: salty, briny, sweetness. I could drink it by itself..

I wanted to use the lobster liquid in a simple way so the natural flavor of the lobster wasn't hidden. Then it hit me while I was looking around in my kitchen...DRY LOBSTER NOODLES! (with Japanese spicy instant noodle packages) and made in my electronic wok! This was my first time attempting this so I hoped that it worked and it did!

I plugged in the wok and set the temperature to 400 degrees. While that was heating up, sliced up some fresh garlic and chopped up green onions and tossed them into the wok to toast them out to bring a deeper flavor for the broth. Once toasted enough, I poured the broth into the wok, waited it to bubble then added the ramen noodles and poured a package of the spicy seasoning the ramen came with over the broth and noodles. Put the lid on top and waited  (hoped) this was going to work. After 7 minutes, I took the lid off and the aroma was AMAZING. I literally put my entire face into the steam for a lobster facial. I used my tongs, gave the noodles a swirl and put the lid on for a few more minutes until all the liquid had evaporated.

Garlic and green onion toasting in the wok

Electronic wok. It's not as deep as a traditional wok, but works well!

This isn't the most appetizing of photos, but the noodles are cooking in the broth. 

After the liquid evaporated, I shut the wok off and added 2 leftover lobster tails to warm them up and topped it off with more fresh green onion. And that's it! 

A few minutes later this happened! Ok, still not looking that appetizing, but all the liquid has evaporated and the noodles soaked it all up! 

The final product!

This looks pretty appetizing to me! The noodles cooked perfectly in the broth...not too al dente or overcooked; noodles had the perfect bounce per bite and juicy for "dry" noodles! One criticism I would have is that it was a bit too salty for me, but I can just add water to dilute the broth next time. The natural lobster flavor was at the forefront, so delicious! I loved finding bits of lobster meat and caviar within each bite. The green onion gave it a great freshness and crispy element.

This meal is a great way to utilize the entire product because the lobster gave its life to you. So, the next time you think about only eating the claws and abdomen (the tail are the 3 little fans at the end of the abdomen) and discarding everything else, try this recipe! I froze my shells and will use them soon as a stock.

Until Next Time!

CheFelicia

Pi and Hum

I've been really bad. Ever since returning from Vegas a month ago, I've hardly cooked! (so good, yet so bad). But, that kind of changed last weekend. One of my dearest friends, Salinasaur came to visit me in person (we normally use Google+ Hangout to hangout). It felt like forever waiting for her to arrive because things kept popping up and cockblocking her weekend getaway to Santa Barbara. However, she came, she saw, and she conquered Santa Barbara, although there's really not much to do here.

I wanted to surprise her with a pizza dinner. When I went up North to visit her, she took me to Tony's Pizza Napoletana for the Cal Italia pizza which has prosciutto di parma, asiago, mozzarella, gorgonzola, parmesan reggiano, drizzle of sweet fig preserve, and a balsamic reduction cooked in a 650 degree gas or 700 degree electric brick oven. It was honestly the best, best, best pizza I ever had. The gorgonzola, asiago, and parmesan are strong cheeses but the taste wasn't overwhelming, the prosciutto gave it a nice salty, briny complement to the cheeses and the balsamic reduction and fig preserve gave it a wonderful sweetness to offset the saltiness. It really is the best bite ever. My friend tempts me by sending photos of the pizza when she gets it and all I have are photos and my memory that takes me back to when I had it. 

Salinasaur surprised me with pretty gerber daisies and Cal Italia pizza!

Cal Italia. Makes me salivate every time I look at the photo.

Because Salinasaur surprised me with the Cal Italia pizza, I wanted to reciprocate, but nowhere here makes it, so I wanted to make it for her! As you may know, I'm not a fan of cheese, so when I found out about the 4 different types of cheeses I freaked out a little. Shopping for them was a pain because some markets would have 3/4 of them or other variations and I just wanted 1 market with ALL of them. I thought the Trader Joes near me would carry them but they only had half of what I needed. I went to another Trader Joes and they had everything! Just smelling the cheeses, especially the gorgonzola, a type of bleu cheese, made me not want to make the pizza, but I had too! I also bought 2 packages of Trader Joes prosciutto, pizza dough, and a package of black figs. I called 4 markets around me and they didn't have any, and Gelsons had them for $6.99/lb. I called Trader Joes 4 days in a row and they told me their shipment was stalled. Then I called the Trader Joes where ALL the cheeses were and HALLELUJAH! They had black figs for $3.79/lb!! That was the highlight of my week. 

Trader Joes haul! Items for the pizza and hummus.

To make the fig jam, I cut the figs in half (used the entire package), added a cup of water, some spoonfuls of honey (instead of white sugar), I added balsamic to the jam instead of making its own reduction, and ground black pepper. The heat was on high until I got it to bowl and then I lowered it to a simmer so it'll slowly reduce. 

Figs sliced in half

Fig jam in the making!

Fig jam reducing

While that was cooking, I prepared the dough I had bought from Trader Joes. I split the dough in half and let them set on a lightly floured board for 20 minutes then rolled out the dough. I tried to get the dough as thin as possible since the one from Tony's is a thin crust. My oven only goes to 500 degrees, so after I rolled out the dough, I placed it in the oven for a 5-7 minutes and took it out to place the cheese on. I put the crumbled gorgonzola on the bottom and sliced up mozzarella on top. I had bought the log and my friend used the entire log for the 2 pizzas. It was a TON of cheese...I was worried the dough wouldn't hold up. I placed the pizza in the oven for 15 minutes at 500 degrees for the cheese to melt and boy was it cheesy (I got a little scared by seeing all the cheese). I took the pizza out and sprinkled the parmesan/asiago mix on top and topped it off with slices of prosciutto. I put it back in the oven for another 15 minutes, but decreased the oven to 450

degrees. When the sides started to brown and bubble, I took it out. My kitchen had an intense aroma of bleu and parmesan cheese (I wasn't a big fan of it but my other half said it smelled good). I let the pizza cool for 15 minutes and then topped it off with the fig jam! 

My odd shaped dough...it's unique! (After I took it out of the oven to pre-cook it)

Placing the prosciutto and asiago/parmesan for the final bake!

The final product out of the oven!

A slice of my version of the Cal Italia pizza with the fig jam spread on top! Yummy!

The pizza turned out great, not Cal Italia, but everyone enjoyed it! There was a bit too much gorgonzola for me, (the taste is too intense for me) but the other cheeses blended nicely together, the prosciutto was crisp and had the right amount of salt, and the jam was sweet and tangy. The crust was also cooked well. I was worried there was too much cheese for it to handle, but it wasn't soggy at all. It was crispy on the edges and just enough chewiness in the center. In all, it was a great replication of Tonys, although not as pretty. However, whenever I am up North, Tony's will still be #1 on my list! 

I also wanted to make some dip for when she came, so I also made a roasted garlic and red onion hummus. I love making my own hummus because 1. it's cheaper 2. I can control the amount of oil and ingredients that go into it and 3. it's super simple to make. 

I start off by placing whole cloves of garlic, sliced red onion, some olive oil, and ground black pepper, cayenne, and smoked paprika in tin foil and roast them in the oven for 15-20 minutes at 450 degrees. I enjoy the taste of raw garlic so I roast it where it's still kind of raw. Then I take a can of garbanzo beans and wash them in a colander to get rid of the salt/liquid they were sitting in. The beans go in my blender with the olive oil roasted garlic/red onions and I season it a little more and add fresh squeezed lemon juice and blend until smooth. Taste, adjust, and blend again until it's up to my liking. And that's it! I make pita chips with it by getting the whole wheat pitas from Trader Joes, cutting them into triangles and baking them at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. I enjoy them half crispy/half chewy. And that's it! The blender does all the work!

Roasted garlic and red onion for the hummus

Garbanzo beans and roasted garlic/red onion about to be blended up!

Hummus! Topped with a sprinkle of smoked paprika and my homemade pita chip!

I know this was a long post, but I hope you enjoy it!

Until Next Time!

CheFelicia

PS. I want to thank Salinasaur for coming to visit me! Hope you enjoyed your stay, and can't wait to see you soon!! xoxox.