Lobster Tails for Valentines Day - How to butterfly the meat

In the spirit of Valentines day... Jackie got her favorites meal!


Lobster tails.  Simple, just a little flavored butter.


Roasted beets.  Simple, just a little oil, salt and pepper


A little more complicated vegetable dish, with snap peas, Greens from teh beets and Orange slices...


But the star was of course the lobster tails.


First trick is to butterfly them...

Take your kitchen scissor and cut through the back...

Then Grab each side of the shell and gently pry away the shell away from the meat, Continue to pry the shell away from the meat but keep the back of the meat connected to the shell.


Once the meat is freed, grab the meat, squeeze the shell together to close the gap and lay the meat on top of the shell

And lay the meat on the shell... now it makes a perfect stand for the meat.  Wonderful presentation...

Cooking lobster can not be easier... I made a butter marinade of 2 TBS butter, 1/2 tsp smoked Paprika and pepper.  I added a squeeze of lemon, melted the butter and brushed half on the lobster meat prior to baking...

I slow roasted at 250 degrees, using a meat thermometer to measure when the meat reached 140 degrees!

Pretty confusing plate, but really tasty lobster!


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I HEART Strawberry Dessert Pizza

OK, for those paying attention...


Yesterday I posted a pizza recipe.  It was not a part of the PIZZA 2011 PROJECT (like today's pizza is).  Yesterday's post was almost an exact copy of my Pepperoni Pizza recipe that has already been posted.  Since the project is to make 52 different pizzas in a year, the stunt of a shaped crust does not justify a repeat.  But it does justify a look at the post (click HERE).


I mean come on... Heart shaped Pepperoni on a heart shaped pizza.  Combine that with today's heart shaped dessert pizza and you have a...

Happy

Valentine's Day  !!!

So, today I submit my dessert pizza.  Heart shaped to celebrate the season.  Some might not consider this a pizza at all, but under the rules of the  PIZZA 2011 PROJECT (Crust, Sauce and topping)... Of course this is a Pizza!


So, let's get to it, Here's what I did...


Crust (Shhhh, Don't tell anyone, it's really a cookie)


1 stick of butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup Flour
1/4 cup Powdered Sugar


Sauce (and keep this under your hat, it's a sweet cheese)


8 ounces Mascarpone Cheese
2 TBS Sugar
1/2 tsp Vanilla


Sauce Number 2 (easy strawberry jelly)


6 Strawberries, stems removed (I used the strawberries that had flaws so the nice looking presentation berries would be used for the topping)
1 TBS Sugar
1 tsp Cornstarch


Topping 


a Dozen Strawberries, stemmed and cut in  halved


Topping Number 2 (Easy Chocolate drizzle)


3 ounces White Chocolate 
2 TSP Heavy Cream

• Mix the Crust ingredients together.  You will need to do a final knead by hand to get it to look like dough.
• Form into the shape of a Heart with a lip around the edges
• Bake on a silicone pad (or parchment paper) at 325 degrees for 15 minutes, allow to cool
• Whisk together the ingredients in the Sauce (number 1)
• Spread the mascarpone whisk around the entire pizza.
• Combine the ingredients in Sauce number 2 in a mini chopper and blend (blender works fine for this as well)
• Spread this over the cheese.
• Arrange the strawberry halves over the strawberry sauce
• in the microwave, flash the chocolate and cream for 30 seconds
• Mix.  If it needs additional heat, flash for only 10 seconds at a time.  Continue to mix between each flashing
• Drizzle over the top of the strawberries

And Viola...

I want to thank Leigh Anne from YOUR HOME BASED MOM for the basic idea for this adaptation for this recipe.  You can see her original post buy clicking HERE.

Hope your Valentines treat you well today!
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I HEART Pepperoni Pizza - Happy Valentine's Day

Look Closely...

Lots of people make Heart Shaped pizzas around the most romantic of all holidays...  But to add an extra little Zing...


How about Heart shaped Pepperoni on a heart shaped pizza!

Now that says lovin' from the oven!


OK, a couple of bookkeeping points...


First, I am not posting this on Monday because it is not a part of the Pizza 2011 Project (a different pizza each week for a year).  I have already made a terrific Pepperoni Pizza.  This is almost an exact copy, just with a stunt technique.  So, when the book of my life is written, this post goes in the appendix to the Pizza 2011 Project.  Come back Monday, as I will have a true Pizza 2011 Project post (a terrific dessert pizza (also will be heart shaped) very much in keeping with Valentine's Day.  I will post early in the morning so you have time to set your menu if you like it).


Second, much as I would like to claim credit for the original idea, heart shaped pizzas have been around for years and years.  In the past, Jackie and I have enjoyed a night out at our local favorite pizza place.  First two weeks in February, a heart shaped pizza is always on the menu.  BUT, this week, one of my new favorite sites, SLICE (a part of the Serious Eats Portal), did a post on how to create the Heart shaped pepperoni. (click HERE for that post; that's their pizza on the right).  While they use a different technique from the one I am going to show, their post (and site) is certainly worth taking a look at.  They have rapidly joined the ranks of sites I look at every day.


And so, we are ready...


For the shape of the pizza, I just pinched one end and pulled to get the long pointy bottom.  I did take a knife and trimmed off a bit to get the sides nice and straight.  Then I pinched all the sides to make a small lip to hold all the sauce and cheese.  For the top, I simply grabbed the opposite side from the point and pushed and mushed it down until I had a nice indention.  Then much as I did on the sides, formed a lip.  It's not hard, just keep using the heal of your hand to mush the pizza dough around till you get the shape you like.

Next, we make the pepperoni into heart shape.  I used a thinly sliced commonly available pepperoni slice.  Pretty simple to cut the shapes.  I stacked them about a dozen high.  Made sure they were square and started cutting.  The two straight sides, and a wedge cut from the top.  I made 4 very tiny trims to make the top half moons more rounded and viola...


Heart shaped pepperonis

Do notice that bottom right hand picture... See all the extra pieces of pepperoni that were cut... Don't worry, they will be used to make a tremendously flavored pizza...


OK... from here there is a tip you need to keep in mind.  The shape needs to stay the same.  So, I transfered the dough heart to a pizza peel.  The heavy end (the two half moons of the heart) pointed away from the handle).  I also laid out a couple of sheets of parchment paper under the dough.  These steps make transferring to a pizza stone much easier, preserving the shape of the heart.  If you do not have a pizza peel (you should), you can use a flat piece of cardboard and the parchment paper to transfer to the stone.  If you don't have a pizza stone (you should), you can form this on a thin cookie sheet.  Will not have as crisp of a crust, but will still work in a pinch (until I can talk you into buying a pizza peel and stone).


For the pizza sauce, I used my Simple Winter Tomato Sauce.  I did take my hand blender and mushed the tomatoes to make a thick paste.  I also added some shitake mushrooms (sliced to thin slivers) to add some natural sweetness.


For the dough, earlier in the day I made a batch of my "usual".  To make it more heart friendly (to continue the theme), I swapped out 1/2 cup of the all purpose flour with a half cup of whole wheat flour.


And for the cheese, I used my new favorite... Cappiello Scamorza cheese.  Easy to slice, Mozzarella with a hint of Provolone... An outstanding pizza cheese!

OK, build the pizza...


Sprinkle about 1 TBS of Extra Virgin Olive Oil on the dough.  use a brush to spread it around, making sure the edges are well covered.


Salt and Pepper the olive oil


Add the sauce


And now, I added the Pepperoni pieces (not the pepperoni hearts, they are last).


Next, cover with cheese slices


And finally, add the Heart shaped pepperoni.

Bake on a pre heated pizza stone in a pre heated 500 degree oven for 10-12 minutes...


Until it looks delicious... Like this...

Forget flowers... This really says you care enough to make the very best!


Happy Valentine's Day


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My Favorite Saturday - Chocolate Covered Strawberries in Tuxedos

Chocolate Covered Strawberries dressed in Tuxedos... Accented with Chocolate Hearts!

Dark Chocolate bark

White Chocolate bark
Strawberries
Parchment paper
double boiler and water
Pastry bag for decorating (or just a ziplock bag with a corner cut out)
and a spoon...

First, set up a double boiler. This was my first time melting chocolate in a double boiler, but it worked just like it was supposed to.

Get some water boiling, put a bowl in the water. I put a couple spoons around the edge so the bowl never touches the bottom of the pan, nor the sides.

Watch it carefully, stir occasionally and in about 10 minutes, you have melted chocolate. Do the white first...

Just like it looks, you are making the shirt front only, so you only need to dip the front in the chocolate. Allow it to cool.

Meanwhile, it is time to make a few chocolate hearts... With thatrustic homemade look that you will pay big bucks for in a candy shop...

This is easier if you use your wife's pastry bags. Or, if you don't have a wife with pastry bags, put the still warm melted chocolate in a plastic bag and cut just a tiny hole in one of the corners.

Make two dots, about the size of quarters, use about 2/3rds of the amount of a Hershey's kiss in each dot. Space them about 1/2 inch apart. use the flat side of a spoon to spread the dots out so they touch and then swirl down to form the heart. Allow to cool and viola.

I made several, til I was out of white chocolate. So, now it's time to do the same melty thing with the dark.

I am sorry I did not take more photos of the process of the dark chocolate to get the tux look on the strawberries. But, just dip from the side, being careful to leave the white "V" shape of thefront of the shirt showing.

Then use another pastry bag (or a very tiny hole in a plastic bag) and draw a little bow tie and a couple dots for buttons. Guys would still rather have Moink Balls, but women folk go weak in the knees over this kind of stuff.

Here's the plate I gave my wife for an early Valentine's Day gift. 

Tilapia Braised with Sundried Tomato Pesto

Week six of my year of fish, and we are back to tilapia.  BTW... I think i am taking GREAT photos of pizzas.  But, fish is not as easy to make look appealing.  Like this shot above.  Wish it looked as good as it tastes, as it tasted wonderful.


Here's a little research for you...


Tilapia is the 5th most farmed fish.  Meaning the Tilapia you are buying is coming from a fish farm.  


While the good news that you are eating fish (Tilapia have very low levels of mercury as they are fast-growing and short-lived with a primarily herbivorous diet, and thus do not accumulate mercury found in prey.  Tilapia is a low saturated fat, low calorie, low carbohydrate and low sodium protein source. It is a source of phosphorus, niacin, selenium, vitamin B12 and potassium.)


The bad news is...  farm raised tilapia (the least expensive and most popular) has a high fat content (though low in saturated fats). According to research published in July 2008, farm raised tilapia may be worse for the heart than eating bacon or a hamburger. The research suggests the nutritional value of farm raised tilapia may be compromised by the amount of corn included in the feed. The corn contains short chain omega-6s that contribute to the buildup of these materials in the fish. "Ratios of long-chain omega-6 to long-chain omega-3, AA to EPA respectively, in tilapia averaged about 11:1, compared to much less than 1:1 (indicating more EPA than AA) in both salmon and trout." Wide spread publicity encouraging people to eat more fish has seen tilapia being purchased by those with lower incomes who are trying to eat a well balanced diet. The lower amounts of omega-3 and the higher ratios of omega-6 compounds in US farmed tilapia raise questions of the health benefits of consuming this fish.


Sigh... Doing the right thing is never easy is it.


But, Tilapia is plentiful, cheap, freezes and transports well, And in moderation, the good will out weigh the bad.


OK... Here's what I did...

2 fillets
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese, freshly grated
Salt and Pepper to taste


And for the pesto...


1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 cup Sundried tomatoes, packed in oil (comes in a jar)
1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 cups finely chopped Walnuts
4 clove Garlic, smashed and minced


And braised with 1/4 cup Coconut Rum


Mix the pesto first.  Then heat the rum to a simmer


Salt and pepper the fish, coat with a layer of grated Parmesan cheese


Cover with the pesto.  Because the tomatoes and walnut pieces are large enough to prevent the fish from touching the pan directly, the fish is braised in the liquid, insuring a moist tend flaky fish... DO NOT OVER COOK YOUR FISH!


Fry each side for about 4 minutes until the fish flakes easily.


Served these up with a wonderful Sweet potato chili grits!

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Gooey Chocolate Cookies with Candied COFFEE BEANS !!!

OK, there's a secret out there that needs to be spread around...

Chocolate and coffee are an incredible combination.

I want to credit this realization from reading the Coffeee House Mystery  series from Cleo Coyle.  Cleo is on her amazing NINTH book in the series.  Always a fun read, with recipes in the back of each book.  She first suggested coffee in her brownies to me a few months ago.  Sure enough, just that little extra kick really put my brownies over the edge.

How about these fancy pretty colored rocks that are actually Amoretto coated mocha Beans... Yeap, candied coffee beans... OK, here's that fair use and warning the good folks of the US Gov't have asked (ordered) bloggers to do.  I got the beans FREE!!!  BWAHAHAHA FREE I SAY!  Yeap, the truly very good folks at the OH NUTS company contacted me and offered a few pounds of their nuts.  And Oh Boy, did OH NUTS ever come through for me.  I spent a few minutes navigating around their mail order site.  It was very easy to follow and amazing in the amount of products they carry.  Not just nuts (including the very rare unsalted cashews that didn't last long enough in my pantry to make it to any recipes.  Talk about good eats!), anyway, not just nuts, but dried fruits, chocolates, granola, candy and even specialty ice cream.  Take a minute and look over their site.  Very reasonable prices, easy to navigate site and a tremendous selection of bulk and gift items.

OK... The cookies are a pretty basic chocolate chip cookie recipe, just add 1/4 cup of cocoa powder to the mix.  I like them extra soft and gooey, so I add an extra 2 TBS of butter.  

Here's what I did...  I adapted this recipe from Real Simple Magazine...

Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature plus 2 TBS
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pound of 

Amaretto Mocha Beans

Directions
Heat oven to 350°F. Cream the butter and sugars in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed. Lower to medium speed and add the egg and vanilla. Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. On low speed, add the dry mixture to the butter mixture. Beat until fully incorporated. Fold in the candied beans.
Form the dough into approximately 1 1/2-inch balls. Place on parchment- or foil-lined baking sheets, 2 inches apart.
Bake until the centers are just set, about 8 minutes. Let cool on sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks.

Really and truly... These were a GREAT cookie.  The beans bake and soften as they cook, much more of a chocolate taste than a coffee taste.  

So, thanks for the idea Cleo, and Thanks to Oh Nuts for letting me try something new and fun.

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Bacon Carbonara

Do you all remember yesterday's post...


Pasta and Asparagus with a Creamy Tomato Vodka Sauce.


It was part of my review of this month's FOOD NETWORK Magazine.  I just loved the idea of them listing 8 different pasta sauces, easy to compare the photos and the recipes.  Most I had read on restaurant menus, even tried a few, but really did not have a clear understanding of the differences.


Well, today's post is about sauce number 2... An egg based sauce that pairs well with meat.  they advised bacon, but of course chicken is the usual meat of choice.


But, everything goes better with baco, so i took tehir advice.


And my my my  it indeed was wonderful!


And just like yesterday, came together in minutes...


6 slices bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 TBS Olive Oil
4 cloves Garlic, smashed and minced
2 tsp Italian seasonings
1 jalapeno pepper sliced into slivers
1 Pablano Pepper sliced into slivers


Sautee all these ingredients together until the bacon begins to crisp.


Meanwhile, cook the pasta to al dente.


While that is cooking, whisk together...


3 eggs
1.2 cup Parmesan cheese freshly grated
1/2 cup Pecorino cheese, freshly grated


Add the pasta with the bacon and peppers, mix well...


Add the egg and cheese... again mix well


Plate, add some parsley for color and more cheese for... well, just because I like cheese...


Here's some more photos...

Much as i like my Marinara sauce, I am certainly loving the Food Network theme.  Great to have these all in one place to ponder!


So... 

Buon appetito everyone!

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like I said, I always enjoy the magazine... A great value for home cooks