Lobster pot pie

One of the culinary treasures in Cincinnati is Findlay Market, the state's oldest running public market. There is stall after stall of great fresh ingredients -- every cut of meat you could imagine, fresh pasta, an amazing spice counter, and terrific seafood.... all amidst the delicious smell of buttery waffles from Taste of Belgium.

On a trip to the market on Friday, there was a special at Luken's -- $10 for a whole cooked lobster. Um, yes please. I had taken advantage of this around Tyler's birthday when I made lobster rolls but I hadn't seen it since. When I saw it on Friday I was excited because it's the holidays and I wanted us to have a special meal to keep up the holiday spirit -- seafood always makes us jolly!


When I got home, I mulled over what to do with this lobster. The idea of cold lobster on its own wasn't too appetizing to me. It snowed here, I wanted something warm which would stick to my ribs. I have never made lobster pot pie before and after some research on the internet, I came up with the combination below based on what I had laying around at home (a more dedicated cook probably would have made the crust or purchased some crust, but I had some Ritz crackers to get rid of and this was a perfect opportunity). I also tossed in some crawfish meat, but it is definitely not essential to have that in this dish -- lobster on its own in this is delicious. It was soooo good! And so decadent. It made us feel fancy and all warm inside, which is really what makes a good holiday dinner. Next time I'll make the crust and get one of those cute little lobster cookie cutters.... bon appetit!



Lobster filling: 

Meat from two cooked lobsters, cut into chunks
1/2 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 tbspns. butter
2 tbspns. all purpose flour
1/4 cup sherry
1/2 tspn. paprika
1/2 cup of clam juice or fish stock
1 1/2 cups half and half
1 tbspn. chopped parsley
Salt + pepper to taste

Crust 
1 sleeve of Ritz crackers, crushed by hand or pulsed in a food processor
1 1/2 tbspns. melted butter
A splash of hot sauce (optional)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Melt the butter and sautee the onion + garlic until the onion is translucent. Toss in the lobster heads if you extracted the lobster meat yourself. Add the flour and sautee until all the flour is cooked (no white powder left in the pan). Add the clam juice, sherry, salt and pepper. Simmer for 3 minutes. Stir in the half and half and parsley then take off the heat. Place the mixure into 2 big individual ramekins, or a shallow baking dish.

Mix the Ritz crackers and melted butter together (and the hot sauce if you're using it). Place the crumb mixture over the lobster in the ramekins or baking dish. Bake until the lobster mix is bubbling and the mixture is a nice golden brown -- 10-15 minutes for the ramekins, 15-20 for the baking dish.

Quick + Easy: Adrienne's Spaghetti with Red Clam Sauce

When Tyler and I first started talking about our families in the early stages of our relationship, he told me that one of his favorite meals was pasta with a clam sauce his mother used to make (his other favorite also involves a pasta sauce made with V8 and fish sauce, but his mother hasn't shared that recipe with me yet!). I was intrigued. Now I am a believer -- this is one of my favorite sauces, and it is incredibly easy to make.

I am posting the recipe just as Adrienne sent it to me -- the only suggestion I'd make is to use a large can of San Marzano tomatoes, which I puree in a food processor until smooth. The sauce is a little watery once it mixes with the spaghetti, but don't let that scare you off. This recipe is perfect as-is.

Saute onions and garlic in olive oil
Add 2 cans of chopped clams (or larger if you have them)
Add 1 small can of tomato sauce - or any similar red sauce
Add whatever herbs you like - but not much because this is good because it's NOT that special!
And maybe a tiny bit of white wine

Serve over spaghetti and top with parmesan

Roasted Pepper & Calamari Salad With Cilantro Dressing

The dressing for this salad is so tasty I just want to smother everything in it. Yum.

1 red bell pepper

1 yellow bell pepper

8 pieces of calamari/squid, with tentacles (you may adjust this depending on how big the calamari are)

1 bunch of cilantro

1 lime, juiced

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1/3 cup of olive oil, plus more for grilling 

Salt + pepper

Grill the peppers on a grill pan (rotate it on the pan until the sides are nice and black and blistered). When all sides of the pepper are nicely charred, place the peppers in a large bowl and cover with a kitchen towel for about 10 minutes. Most of the skin should rub off with gentle nudging at this point. Slice the peppers and set aside. 

Throw the cilantro, lime juice, garlic, salt + pepper, and olive oil in a food processor and blend until it's as smooth or as chunky as you want it. Set aside.

Toss the calamari in some olive oil. Grill for a few minutes per side. Slice, then toss with the peppers and cilantro dressing. Salt to taste. Serve warm or at room temperature. 

Banchan!

My mom told me once that she has a Korean coworker who often packs a variety of banchan to eat with rice for lunch. That's always stuck with me -- it sounds so fun! And full of so many possibilities. I'm the kind of person who doesn't like to eat the same thing every day, so I figured I'd have 5 options available and pack 4 for lunch every day, with a little bit of rice. Everything turned out great and I can't wait for Monday! (My fifth banchan is store bought kimchi)

Sauteed anchovies
1 small bag of dried anchovies + 2 tbspns. soy sauce + 1 tbspn. Sesame oil + 2 tbspns. sugar + 1/2 tbspn. vegetable oil + 1 sliced jalepeno (optional)

Soak the anchovies in cold water for about 15 minutes. Heat up the vegetable oil in a sautee pan, and throw in the anchovies, soy sauce, jalepenos & sugar. Stir everything over medium high heat -- the sauce should be kind of caramel-y and mostly on the sweet side, the anchovies will provide the saltiness. Once the sugar dissolves and the sauce is a little thicker, sprinkle sesame seeds on top and serve.

Soy shitake mushrooms

Bean sprout banchan (I tweaked this recipe by adding more sugar since it was coming out a little salty for my taste)

Spicy pickled cucumbers
This recipe calls for Asian garlic chives, which are broader & flat & super long, unlike typical American chives. As the recipe says, if you can't find these, you can just use the green onions and omit the chives -- I wouldn't substitute the Asian chives with regular chives. I also ended up only using 4 cucumbers but I had to double the quantities for the sauce. Everything came out great though!