Decadent Lobster Bisque for the Price Conscious

So as stated before, we were able to get a two pound bag of pre-cooked lobster meat for $22 at Costco.  We recently used less than half that bag to make a great Lobster Fettuccine Alfredo.  We've still got 20 ounces left, so why not make one of the most decadent soups in the world, the Lobster Bisque.

Lobster bisque is a cream based soup flavored with pre-cooked lobster meat, a few select vegetables and a little bit of wine.  It's cooked low and slow so the flavors can penetrate every square inch of the bisque.

The keys to a great lobster bisque are great ingredients and heat management.  Now we're putting in lobster, which is the best seafood in world, in my humble opinion.  But the lobster is only one part of it.  We're adding sautedd onions, celery and carrots, a combination called a mire pois.  It's used in a ton of French cooking as a flavoring.  And though we're using it, we're going to blend the cooked bits down to a paste so we get the flavor, but it keeps our bisque nice and smooth.  Also, we're adding a very little bit of wine.  Just enough so we can add to the flavor pairings, but not enough to get you drunk.  If you're a tea-totaller, don't worry about it.  Just remember the cardinal rule of using alcohol when you cook:  Don't cook with anything you wouldn't drink. Finally, we're using lobster broth.  Now you could make your own by boiling down a pair of lobster carcasses for about 30 minutes to an hour, straining out the shells and then cooking the liquid for another hour or so to cook out some of the excess water.

That would be delicious, but I just don't have that kind of time.  So I use a Lobster Base.  A base is a paste that acts like buillon cubes, except it doesn't have nearly the amount of salt.  It's very condensed so a little goes a long way.  And it can store in the fridge for a long time. It was only $3.50, and I found it at Harmon's and a few specialty grocery stores.  Just add some of the paste to regular old water and you have instant broth.

Remember that heat management is key in this dish.  We want to have a warm and delicious soup, but we have to be VERY careful not to get it too hot.  With all the cream we're adding in, we can't let it boil without running the risk of the cream curdling or separating and the soup becoming gritty.  Smooth good!  Chunky bad!  So always cook it at medium or less and when you start seeing a simmer, drop the temperature.  Do this and you'll end up with a soup that you'd find at a fine restaurant at the low cost of about $3.00 per large bowl.  Pair it up with some great homemade rolls, fresh bread or even some Cheddar Biscuits (coming soon) and you'll have a meal that will happily sit in your stomach for hours.

Oh, and if you're keeping track at home, after the Alfredo and the Bisque, we still have 12 ounces of lobster in that bag, more than enough to make some lobster rolls in the future.  Three meals out of one bag of lobster meat...  that's a major bargain!

Lobster Bisque

2 1/2 tablespoons flour
2 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onions
1/4 cup finely sliced celery
1/4 cup finely diced carrots
3 cups lobster stock (or three cups water with 2 1/2 tablespoons lobster base)
2 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons of shrimp boil or bay seasoning
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 cup wine
2 1/2 cups half and half
2 bay leaves
8 ounces of cooked lobster meat, divided into two 4 ounce portions

Place the flour and oil in a large saucier, saucepan or dutch oven.  Stir and let cook over medium to medium high heat for about 5 minutes.  Add the onions, celery, carrots and stir for another five minutes until the onions begin to soften. Next, add the lobster stock, tomato paste, and seasonings (except for the bay leaves) and stir just until combined.

Pour the contents into a blender and puree that mixture back to the stone age.  Once thoroughly pulverized, add 4 ounces of the lobster meat and pulse 5-10 times, just enough to break the meat into small little bits.

Pour the contents of the blender back into the original pan and add the half and half, wine and the bay leaves.  Barely bring it to a simmer (do not let it boil) then back off the heat and let it warm for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Finally, add the remaining 4 ounces of cooked lobster and keep warm for another 5 minutes, just long enough to warm up the meat.  Serve quickly with any type of garnish on top, like green onions, parsley flakes, Parmesan cheese, etc.

Lobster Fettuccine Alfredo on a Budget

I know what you're saying... Lobster on a budget?  Right... whatever Travis.

No wait, it's true!  At least if you have a Costco membership.  They have their seafood events every so often where you can buy great seafood and pretty decent prices.  But even when those aren't happening, they have some great deals, including this...

A 2 pound bag of pre-cooked, flash frozen langoustine lobster tails.  Langoustine lobsters, also known as a Norway lobster, is a smaller cousin of the lobsters we're used to seeing from New England.  They grow to be about 10-11 inches long, so about twice the size of a crawfish.  And the meat is just like their larger brothers, just in bite-size portions.  A large bag like this will set you back $22.00.  And when you consider that there's no waste, unlike when you buy a whole lobster, it's a steal.

What to do with the lobster meat?  There's ALL sorts of different options.  With this bag of langoustine meat, I made a regular batch of Lobster Fettuccine Alfredo, a large batch of Lobster Bisque, and still had enough to make a few Lobster Rolls.  So three meals for four people out of one bag of lobster meat.  Pretty good if I do say so myself.

Couple of tips...  First, if you want to thaw the lobster quickly, place the water you're going to use to cook the noodles over medium low heat when the water's half-way to a boil (around 140 degrees).  Then drop the frozen lobster in the water for about 2 minutes.  They'll come out at just the perfect temperature and any residual goodness that comes off the meat will flavor the water you use to cook the noodles.  Second, heat management on the sauce is vital.  If it gets too hot, the cream and butter will separate and the sauce will get grainy, so only use medium low heat.  You could go to medium, just don't let it boil.  The minute it starts to simmer, drop the heat immediately.  If it does boil, you run the the risk of having an unintentionally chunky alfredo.

Lobster Fettuccine Alfredo

1 pound of fettuccine noodles
6 tablespoons butter
1 cup whipping or heavy cream
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
12 ounces of cooked lobster meat
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine

If you're using live lobster (somewhere in the two and a half pound range for 12 ounces of meat), boil the crustacean in a large stockpot of water and let him simmer in there for 10-12 minutes.  Remove the lobster, extract the meat and set aside.  Save the boiling liquid for the noodles.  It'll add a little more lobster flavor into the meat.   If you're using pre-cooked lobster meat, ignore this step.

Bring a large stockpot of water to boil and add the fettuccine.  Allow the noodles to soak for 10-12 minutes until they are al dente.

While that is cooking, place a large saucier or frying pan over medium-low heat.  Add the butter to the saucepan and allow it to melt completely.  Add the cream and pepper to the butter and whisk to combine.  After about 5 minutes of occasional stirring over medium-low to medium, add the Parmesan cheese and garlic and stir until the cheese melts into the sauce.  Finally, add the lobster bits and cook for two minutes more.

Drain the fettuccine noodles and divvy out portions on places.  Spoon the sauce out onto the noodles, making sure everyone gets a good amount of lobster meat.  Serve immediately.

Pressure Cooker Chicken with Sage and Thyme Gravy

I can't tell you how many times I come home and I just don't want to cook.  Yes... me... the guy with the food blog and loves to cook in his free time.

You know why?  Sometimes, life sucks.  You can have one of those days where you are continually running, putting out fire after file.  Maybe you have that ONE co-worker that you would rather see burn in a fiery vat of lava than spend one extra minute with, and that person decided that today would be the perfect day to unload their frustrations on you.  Could be that someone stole your lunch out of the fridge and you were forced to eat something off the dollar menu because you had almost no cash in your pocket.  It could also be that the drive home took twice as long as you expected and your iPhone stopped working, forcing you to listen to some inane radio talk show for an hour an a half.  Whatever the reason, you walk in the door and you have absolutely no desire to spend a half hour or more in the kitchen.

But then you realize there are 3-4 other people relying on you for dinner and you have to make something.  So you have to make a meal and make it fast.

So this is where my handy-dandy pressure cooker comes in.  Pressure cooking allows you to go from frozen to cooked in about 15 minutes.  And it allows you to let the machine to do most of the work.

Pressure cooking takes the steam that builds in the vessel and contains it.   Those extra atmospheres of pressure caused by the contained steam force the water inside to boil at a higher temperature than the normal 212 degrees.  Everything not only cooks hotter and faster, but the moisture is contained.  Therefore, the meat to come out tender, moist and delicious.

So this dish is very easy to make.  Toss the majority of the contents into the pressure cooker, turn it on and walk away.  Now for the gravy, we can create the base while the pressure cooker does its magic.  We're going to create a roux.  It's a thickening agent that is just equal parts flour and fat (I like to use butter).  You heat that in a saucepan and let it cook over medium heat while the pressure cooker finishes it's work.  As the flour and butter intermingle, they make a paste that not only will quickly create a great gravy, it'll have NO lumps.  And since the broth you put in the pressure cooker already has all of the spices in it, there's nothing else you'll need to add to the roux.  As soon as the pressure cooker can be opened, you just pour the leftover juices from the chicken into the roux, cook it for all of three minutes and you're ready to rock.

While the roux is simmering and the pressure cooking is wrapping up, make a batch of instant potatoes or stuffing, warm up some frozen veggies and you have a complete meal in 20 minutes and very little dishes.

Dinner's done.  Eat up, tell everyone else that they have to do the dishes, and then crash on the couch with a nice drinky-drink that'll help all the bad memories melt away.

Pressure Cooker Chicken with Sage and Thyme Gravy

Serves 4

4 frozen skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 14 ounce can low sodium chicken broth
1 teaspoon sage
1 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons butter

Pour the chicken broth, sage, thyme, and pepper into the pressure cooker.  Drop the chicken breasts into the pressure cooker and set it to cook on High for 7 minutes.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat until is is melted.  Add the flour and stir until well combined.  Allow it to cook, stirring occasionally until the chicken is done.

Quick release the pressure cooker. Once the pressure cooker has depressurized and can be opened, remove the breasts to a serving plate and pour the remaining liquid into the saucepan with the roux.  Increase the heat to medium and stir to combine.  After about three minutes, pour the gravy into a serving container and deliver both the chicken and gravy to the table.

Serve with a couple of side dishes that are quick to prepare and you've got a meal in 20 minutes.

Jambalaya and Trips to New Orleans

At my last job, I had the blessing and the curse of being required to travel... a lot.  Usually it was only one week a month, but there was one stretch where I was on the road for 34 days straight.  I would fly to one town for an install, then come home for less than 24 hours to wash everything in the suitcase.  Then I'd be back in the air the next morning to a group training or data gathering trip, followed by another quick trip home and then out again for another install.  Thank god this all happened before I had kids.

The one redeeming factor of that marathon was the last stop in New Orleans.  It was my second trip to the Big Easy and I had learned what not to do the first time I visited.  First, don't waste your time on Bourbon Street, unless all your looking for is cheap alcohol, cheaper souvenirs and rows of sleazy strip joints.  Second, take the side streets and look for the hole in the wall shops.  They're the ones that have the interesting bits of memorabilia and much more local flavor.  I ended up in a voodoo shop one time and was able peruse authentic voodoo ingredients.  After some polite and respectful questions posed to the shop owner, she took me into the back room and showed me all the REALLY good stuff.  I walked out of there with a free alligator head and a few other tools/trinkets that cannot be mentioned due to a solemn oath made to the priestess behind the counter.  Let's just say my enemies have felt the effectiveness of each and every item.

But third, and most importantly, the best food can be found far away from Bourbon Street.  On that second trip to New Orleans, the sky was slightly overcast with the occasional mist-like rain, but that didn't frighten the local restaurateurs.  Many of the little restaurants have large doors along the length of the building that open wide to the street. Perfect to expose the patrons to a great people-watching view.  Rain is nothing new so those doors stayed opened wide while I sat a little table just off the sidewalk.  As I sat there eating a bowl of some of the best Jambalaya I've had in my life, a traditional jazz band led a funeral procession down the street.  It was an almost jubilant and the mourners carried the casket to the rhythm of the music.  I know now what my funeral will be like.  All in all it was a great experience and one I never would have had if I limited myself to the blaring frat house attitude of Bourbon Street

Trying to recapture that moment is hard in Salt Lake.  The only decent jazz we have is the basketball team, and that's only on occasion.  And there are a only a few places in town that can come close to replicating the cajun and creole tastes of New Orleans.  So I've tried to make my own batch of jambalaya at home.  I think I've come pretty darn close to what I had on that French Quarter street corner.  The andouille sausage is surprizingly easy to find.  Harmon's carries it, as well as any of the specialty meat shops, like Colossimo's or Snyder's Meats.  All of the other ingredients are easily found in any grocery store.  The key to the recipe is giving the flavors time to intermingle.  When almost everything is in the pot, put on the lid and let it be.  Don't taste test it, don't stir it, don't disturb it until it's time to add the shrimp.  The rice needs time to soak in all the goodness and if you remove that lid, it'll evaporate into the ether.

This will also store in the fridge for about a week, so this can be a perfect lunch during the week.  And the aroma will stir a number of conversations in the lunch room when you warm it up.

Jambalaya

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
8 ounces boneless skinless chicken breast, cubed into 3/4-1 inch pieces
8 ounces andouille sausage (usually two sausages)
1 more tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped red or green bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1 tablespoon teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon thyme
1 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 1/2 cups rice
3 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoon Frank's hot sauce
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 bay leaves
10-12 medium to large shrimp, deveined and without shells

In a large dutch over, saucier or stock pot over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of oil.  Once the oil is warm, add the diced chicken and brown them.  Remove the chicken, then add the sausage and cook until done.  Remove the sausage and set aside for a minute.

Keep the pan over that medium heat and add another tablespoon of oil.  Add the onion, pepper and celery and saute for about five minutes.  While the onions are becoming translucent and the peppers and celery are softening, add the tomatoes to the veggies in the pan and toss all the spices in as well.  Follow it up with the rice and give the mixture a few quick stirs, just so the spices mix evenly throughout.

Add the chicken broth (watch for steam), hot sauce and tomato paste and stir until the tomato sauce is well incorporated.  Slice the cooked sausage into bite-size bits. Drop in the bay leaves, add the chicken and sausage back into the pot, stir to incorporate, then place a tight-fitting lid on the pan.  Drop the heat to low (1 out of 10) and continue to cook while covered for 20 minutes. Do not remove this lid until the 20 minutes have passed!

When the time is up, add the shrimp, quickly stir them into the mixture (no more than 15 seconds) and return the lid to the pan.  Cover and allow to steep for another 5 minutes.

Remove the lid and move to a serving bowl.  Serve to hungry Cajuns as soon as possible.