Category Archives: Stuff I Cook

Lobster, Three Ways

I, Me, and Myself, Stuff I Cook

If you don’t barbecue and set off fireworks during 4th of July, are you even an American? I’m just borrowing this catch-phrase for the day that is all over social media. But seriously though, how  is this possible when Houston has been seeing rains non-stop?  I saw the forecast a couple of days ago so I deferred from buying my tomahawk steaks because I did not want to grill in the rain. I decided to cook lobsters instead.

If you have an Asian store nearby, get your lobsters there. I got mine from Ranch 99 at $10 per pound. The same ones are $14.99 at HEB and much more miserable and sick-looking.  I got 4 lobsters even if there’s only 3 of us. The 4th is my back-up.

Being a chef-wanabe, I am cooking it three ways.

First, Steamed Lobster and Corn.

I just realized that I left my big pot in Fredericksburg so I am cooking in two batches.

Have 2 inches of water in a pot, put 2 ears of corn, cover until lobsters are bright red (about 15 minutes). Cover your ears as you will be hearing them scream. I researched this and was comforted by the fact that they don’t have vocal cords. The “screaming” is some sort of gas escaping its cavities. I was comforted knowing that the lobsters were not screaming, just farting. Let that sink in.

Done!!!
Take the meat out from the body cavity, brush with butter, do the same with corn. Add some lemon.

Save the claw meat and carcass as you will be needing it for the two other dishes.

Second Dish is Maine-Style Lobster Rolls.

I used Avocado Mayonnaise because Tom Brady said so. Seriously. We have his book, I read it there somewhere so when I saw a jar at Whole Foods, I ditched the regular mayo. In that 2 seconds I placed the jar in my shopping cart, I felt like Giselle Bundchen.

To the mayo, add chopped celery, lemon, salt and pepper, and a bit of chives. Mix in the chopped lobster meat. Assemble in a bed of lettuce on top of a toasted brioche bun.

Third Dish is Lobster Bisque.

Put the lobster shells from tails, claws, knuckles and legs in a big pot and add 5 cups of water. Simmer for 5 minutes then strain.

In a large saucepan sauté half an onion and one stalk of celery until soft. Add half a cup of tomato paste then half a cup of sherry. When bubbling, add 1/3cup of uncooked rice, 1 tsp thyme, salt and pepper, a bay leaf. Add lobster stock. Simmer for 25 minutes. Allow to cool for 15 minutes then transfer to blender. When smooth, add juice of one lemon and a cup of heavy cream.

I still had a lot of left-over lobster meat so I mixed it in.

There was a slight bitter after-taste which I soon found out was caused by a head of one lobster that I thought i discarded. Google told me that I can offset this by adding more lemon. It worked!

So that makes our 4th of July spread. Everything cooked indoors while watching the news of other areas of the city that are starting to flood. Hopefully, the rain will stop soon. For the meantime, we pause and give thanks for being in this  great country that made our dreams come true. Happy Independence Day y’all!

 

 

 

 

 

Hummus – Instant Pot Edition

Stuff I Cook

I finally succumbed to getting this Instant Pot out of FOMO. It seems like every kitchen in America has one. As usual, Amazon Prime remained complicit in my online shopping addiction,  by promising to deliver in 2 days if I placed my order in the next 3 hours…

Back when D and I were still in Cali, I made hummus from scratch. It was not very mainstream then.  It is really easy, but time consuming. With IP, the whole thing came out in less than 2 hours.

Put a bag of garbanzos in the IP and add 6 cups of water. Manually set IP to high then cook for 35 minutes.

I won’t get into technical details on how to operate your IP because there are so many models out there. Read the manual!

I also said that the whole thing is less than 2 hours. While cooking is only 35 min., the preheating takes a while, around 20 minutes. Then there’s the time on releasing the pressure. There is always an option for quick release, but I am a sissy when it comes to hissing sounds accompanied with sputtering of hot water, so I turn the whole thing off and let it release its angry pressure on its own, which is about 15 minutes.

While waiting for the beans to cook, assemble the rest of the ingredients in a food processor.

juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup tahini
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 cup of warm bean liquid

Tahini is a sauce made of ground up sesame seeds. I got a jar from Trader Joe’s. It can be used a salad dressing as well. I just realized that I resurrected a kitchen gadget lounging in my cabinet labelled “what was I thinking” —my Ninja!!!

Here’s the cooked garbanzos. A pound will yield almost 6 cups. You only need 3 for this recipe.

Drain and save half a cup and add to food processor. FYI, garbanzos (unsalted) are healthy for dogs. I give the rest of the beans to my pups, and they love it.

Blend until smooth, adding 1/2 cup of olive oil slowly.

This is the part when most people salt it. I am not a big fan of adding salt in anything. In this dish, I get the saltiness by adding tapenade.

Voila! Home-made, husband-approved  hummus.