Lobster Thermidor

Recipe: Lobster Thermidor
Page: 234
Date Cooked: December 2, 2012

This is the last lobster based recipe in this project. And it also happens to be a pretty decadent recipe. Lobster thermidor was created in a restaurant in Paris, which was close to a theater. The recipe was created to honor the opening of a play titled Thermidor by Victorien Sardou. Jonathan Waxman's version of lobster thermidor is intended to be a lighter version of the traditional dish.

Ingredients: Lobsters (not pictured), shallots, garlic, cherry tomatoes, white wine, heavy cream, unsalted butter, Dijon mustard, cognac, chives, salt, pepper, and Parmesan cheese

I brought a large pot of salted water to a boil and cooked the lobsters for a few minutes. I then removed the meat from the lobsters and diced the meat.

Diced lobster meat

I diced the shallots, minced the garlic, and halved the tomatoes.

1. Diced shallots 2. Minced garlic 3. Halved tomatoes

In a saucepan, I combined the shallots, garlic, and wine and cooked until the liquid became syrup-like. I added the cream and let the mixture reduce further. I added the lobster and let it heat through. Finally, I added the butter, tomatoes, mustard, cognac, and chives. I also seasoned the mixture with salt and pepper.

Putting together the lobster thermidor mixture

I divided the mixture into heatproof bowls and grated fresh Parmesan cheese on top of them.

Lobster thermidor pre-broiling

I put the bowls under the broiler. The lobster thermidor cooked until it was golden brown and bubbly. And they were ready to be served...

Lobster Thermidor

Ummmm...this was amazingly good! Hands down the best lobster recipe in this book! I think it's even a contender for best recipe in A Great American Cook as a whole. This dish is known to be traditional and quite extravagant. Yet, I was surprised as to how easy it was to put together. When transferring the mixture to the dishes, I noticed it was quite liquidy and wasn't sure if it would thicken up. So as an experiment, I whisked an egg yolk into one of the bowls. The bowl with the egg yolk had more custard-like texture and was definitely richer. But I have to agree with Jonathan Waxman's intro, it was nice to have a "lighter" version of this recipe. And who are we really kidding? This recipe isn't light!

Overall, amazing-ness! The recipe was delicious and I hope to make it again!

Enjoy!

Pheasant with Oyster Stuffing

Recipe: Pheasant with Oyster Stuffing
Page: 161
Date Cooked: December 1, 2012

Jonathan Waxman starts this recipe off stating how "pheasants are now plentiful in the markets." Unfortunately for me, my market didn't have any pheasants and was unable to order them in for me (which for other ingredients in the past they usually have done). Nonetheless, Thanksgiving inspiration struck and I decided to use a turkey instead. I made sure to scale up the ingredients accordingly. This recipe became Thanksgiving Part II for me. I also had to employ two substitutions: frozen corn in place of fresh corn and escarole instead of radicchio.

Ingredients: Baguette, garlic, unsalted butter, corn, salt, pepper, oysters with juices, prosciutto, oregano, sage, tarragon, escarole, turkey, onions, and Cabernet Sauvignon 

I cut the baguette into cubes and smashed 2 cloves of garlic. I melted butter in a skillet and added the garlic and baguette cubes. I sauteed the bread until golden brown. I also sauteed the corn with some butter, salt, and pepper.

Left: Sauteing baguette cubes
Right: Sauteing corn

I julienned the prosciutto; chopped the oysters; chopped the oregano, sage, and tarragon leaves; and julienned the escarole. I then combined all the ingredients together, along with some melted butter, to form the stuffing.

Oyster Stuffing

I placed the stuffing into the cavity of the turkey and sewed it up with butcher's twine. I also sewed up the neck cavity, making sure the turkey was watertight.

Stuffed turkey

The original recipe called for browning the pheasants in a Dutch oven. This wasn't feasible given the size of the turkey. So I diverted a bit on this step and browned the turkey in the oven for a bit. While the turkey browned, I cut the onion and put together a bouquet garni. I salt and peppered the turkey. I  poured the Cabernet in the roasting pan and added the onions, garlic, and bouquet garni.

Stuffed turkey with braising Cabernet

I covered the turkey with foil and roasted it in the oven, making sure to baste the turkey regularly with the braising liquid.

Finished turkey

I transferred the turkey to a platter and covered it to keep warm. I strained the cooking liquid through a cheesecloth-lined sieve into a saucepan. I reduced the cooking liquid and added in butter to finish the sauce.

Reducing the cooking liquid

While the sauce reduced, I cut away the twine and removed the stuffing from the turkey. I carved the turkey. And then it was time to plate. I placed turkey pieces alongside some stuffing and spooned the sauce over the turkey.

Turkey with Oyster Stuffing

This was the perfect recipe for my Thanksgiving Part II. It was delicious. The turkey was cooked just right (whew). So it was good knowing that this recipe translated well. The stuffing was perfect! I mean what's not to love? Prosciutto and oysters with great herbs and butter - it all works. The wine reduction sauce was also a great addition. It was flavorful and light, which was good considering there was so much fat in the stuffing. All in all, it was a great recipe and coincidentally Holiday appropriate!

Enjoy!

Roasted Corn with Red Pepper Butter

Recipe: Roasted Corn with Red Pepper Butter
Page: 250
Date Cooked: November 18, 2012

The main portion of this recipe is the red pepper butter. Other than preparing that, all you have to do is roast some corn. Jonathan Waxman instructs roasting the corn with the husks. Unfortunately, due to the end of the season, I couldn't find corn still the husks. Instead I had some fresh corn on the cob. To emulate the corn in the husk technique, I roasted one ear of corn on its own and one ear of corn wrapped in foil. I figured roasted corn in the husk would be somewhere in the middle of those two points.

Ingredients: Corn, jalapeno chile, red bell pepper, butter, garlic, and sea salt

I prepared a fire in my grill and grilled the jalapeno and red pepper until blackened and blistered. I placed the peppers in the bowl, covered it with plastic wrap, and let it steam. I then peeled the peppers with my fingers, stemmed, and seeded them.

Left: Roasted the peppers
Right: Steaming the peppers

I combined the peppers with the butter, garlic, and sea salt in a food processor. I pureed the mixture until the butter was homogeneous. In the meantime, I grilled the corn.

Making red pepper butter

I removed the corn from the grill, slathered it with the red pepper and butter, and served.

Roasted Corn with Red Pepper Butter

Upon further research (i.e. Google images), I discovered that the final roasted corn in the husk product was closer to my foil-wrapped corn, which is the focused image in the final picture. The corn with the red pepper butter was quite delicious. What really worked in this recipe was the juxtaposition of the sweetness of the corn with the heat of the red pepper butter. But the best part was that there was leftover red pepper butter for future use!

Enjoy!