Justin's Junior Chef Bloggette - Lobster Mac'n'Cheese

Today for a special surprise for my Dad I wanted to make something cool.  I wanted to make macaroni and cheese.  My mom had the idea to make it even more special by putting lobster in it!  I bet it will be good.  Anything tastes better with lobster in it!  But you could make it just as is or with some pancetta in it. We also made homemade potato chips and the best Onion Dip ever.

This recipe comes from Ina Garten, who has a TV show called the Barefoot Contessa.  My mom likes her books and recipes.  We changed the recipe a little bit but it is pretty much as she wrote it.

What you need:

2 tablespoons Kosher salt for pasta water
Vegetable oil or non-stick spray to grease your casserole dish
500 grams (1 lb.) elbow macaroni
1 quart milk
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
8 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated (4 cups)
8 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar, grated (2 cups)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 pound cooked lobster meat (we used 6 Canadian lobster tails - uncooked)
1 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Drizzle oil into a large pot of boiling salted water. Add the pasta and cook according to the directions on the package, 6 to 8 minutes.  Drain well.

Meanwhile, heat the milk in a small saucepan, but don't boil it. In a large pot, melt 6 tablespoons of butter and add the flour.  Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring with a whisk. Still whisking, add the hot milk and cook for a minute or two more, until thickened and smooth. 

Off the heat, add the Gruyere, Cheddar, 1 tablespoon salt, the pepper, and nutmeg. Add the cooked macaroni and lobster and stir well. Place the mixture in a large greased oven proof dish.  Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and combine them with the Panko.  Sprinkle over top of the casserole and bake for 30 minutes or until the sauce is bubbly and the macaroni is browned on top.

Cook's Note:  Lobster Butter:  If you really want to go over the top, removed the shells from your lobster tails, leaving the tails intact.  Poach your raw lobster slightly in 2-3 tablespoons butter for a few minutes, then drain on a paper towel.  Add shells back to the butter and cook for 5 minutes until the shells turn red and you extract the flavours.  Remove shells from pot and let cool - reserve for another use.  Pour lobster butter into a small ramekin to keep for the breadcrumbs.  Chop lobster tails roughly before adding meat to mac`n`cheese.

Roasted Chicken with Lemon Thyme Pan Gravy

Well I screwed up.  I forgot to take my chicken out of the freezer on Sunday to defrost so I could cook it for tonight's dinner.  Not being one to worry about such things, I decided to just adjust my approach to roasting my chicken and my cooking time.  Instead of cooking the chicken in an open roaster for about an hour at 400 degrees, I put it in my dutch oven, lid on, with a little bit of olive oil, some herbs, potatoes, onions and preserved lemons, put it in the oven and hoped for the best.

Well I got the best.  After about an hour of cooking time, my chicken was defrosted and up to 60 degrees and well on its way to becoming dinner.  It just goes to show you that most mistakes can be corrected or at least mitigated.  If you didn't mess up like me, the chicken would normally take about an hour.

Roasted Chicken with Lemon Thyme Pan Gravy

1 large roasting chicken
2 tablespoon olive oil
5-6 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 tablespoon Herbs de Provence
Salt and pepper to taste
1 preserved lemon, cut into eigths (a regular lemon is ok but you will need more salt)
2 bay leaves
2 lbs mini white potatoes, scrubbed with skin on
1/2 cup chicken stock

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Pour 1 tablespoon olive oil into a large Dutch oven.  Add chicken, rub with additional 1 tablespoon olive oil and sprinkle with Herbs de Provence, salt and pepper.  Cover chicken with preserved lemon pieces.

If cooking from frozen, place pot in the oven, cover with a tight fitting lid, and cook for approximately 1 hour.  After the 1 hour cooking time, add the chicken stock, potatoes and onions and return to cook for approximately 1 hour, or until an instant read thermometer reads 180 degrees in the thigh joint.

If your chicken is defrosted, place onions and potatoes around the chicken, and add thyme sprigs, bay leaves and chicken stock to Dutch oven, and cook uncovered in the pre-heated oven for approximately 1 hour, or until an instant read thermometer reads 180 degrees in the thigh joint.

Remove chicken and potatoes from pot and allow to cool slightly.  Cut chicken into 8 pieces for serving.  Use the cooked potatoes as they are or go on to make Super Easy Smashed Potaotes and Roasted Asparagus.

Lemon Thyme Pan Gravy

1 cup pan drippings and stock from Dutch oven

1/2 cup chicken stock

1/3 cup cold water

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

2-3 sprigs thyme

Roasted lemon pieces from Dutch oven

Pour stock that collects in the bottom of your Dutch oven through a fine sieve to remove onion pieces and lemons, then put into and gravy separator to remove fat.  Wash Dutch oven, and return stock to the pot, leaving the fat layer in the separator.  Add in chicken stock and thyme.  I added back in the onion pieces and lemon pieces for extra flavour.  Bring to a rolling boil.  

In a separate small bowl, whisk cold water and flour together to make a slurry.  This will thicken your gravy.  Be sure to whisk well to ensure there are not lumps.  Whisk slurry into stock and return to a boil.  It is only once the sauce reaches boiling that the thickening power of the flour will be realized.  Cook for 2-3 minutes on medium heat to remove any trace of flour taste.   Serve over chicken.

Wednesday: Chicken Tamale Casserole

Well real life is upon me. No time to cook and no time to blog. Good thing we cooked a lot of stuff on the weekend or we'd be in trouble. Manged to flog...errr.....provide a nutritious and delicious meal to my darling children (who are currently a couple of complainers!!!) of frozen mac'n'cheese which has been sitting in my freezer for such an emergency as today. Luckily we have enough roast, chicken, soup and pasta sauce made on the weekend to get us through until Friday.

Should I survive until Friday, I am thinking this recipe from Cooking Light looks good to use up whatever is left and a few things from the pantry and freezer:

Chicken Tamale Casserole - Serves 8

Ingredients:

1 cup (4 ounces) preshredded 4-cheese Mexican blend cheese, divided
1/3 cup fat-free milk
1/4 cup egg substitute
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 (14 3/4-ounce) can cream-style corn
1 (8.5-ounce) box corn muffin mix (such as Martha White)
1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained
Cooking spray
1 (10-ounce) can red enchilada sauce (such as Old El Paso)
2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
1/2 cup fat-free sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 400°.

2. Combine 1/4 cup cheese and next 7 ingredients (through chiles) in a large bowl, stirring just until moist. Pour mixture into a 13 x 9–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

3. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until set. Pierce entire surface liberally with a fork; pour enchilada sauce over top. Top with chicken; sprinkle with remaining 3/4 cup cheese. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until cheese melts. Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes. Cut into 8 pieces; top each serving with 1 tablespoon sour cream.


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