Notes on a Busy Week

The holiday distribution of all the canned goods has begun, and I've managed to get a few packages in the mail today as well.  I have one more package to finish and mail, and a few more to deliver, and I need to finish up the gifts for my work colleagues - I'm making a very large basket of foods for the nurses:  jams, salsa and chips, caponata and chips, coffee K-cups, chocolates, fruit, cheese and crackers.  Then I can distribute the neighborhood gifts, which I hope to do this weekend (it usually takes several trips).

As I've been working my way through the freezer I found a can of lobster meat, purchased when it was mismarked for $10 (usually it's much, much more!  I'd bought a few and this was the last one).  I decided to make lobster mac and cheese, which was lovely, and made not only dinner for Monday but lunch for yesterday and more for today.  

Today I'm making a batch of yogurt, which I'm hoping will go well.  It's been the case in the past that I have had to use a new starter yogurt after several batches.  Since I haven't had to do that in a while, every single time I wonder, will this be the time it doesn't grow?

I have about 36 jars going to work, and another 31 for friends and neighbors, and I keep adding to my list!

Experiments

There are a lot of really great blogs out there, with some incredible recipes.  I was inspired by Hunter Angler Gardener Cook to make a panna cotta and fruit compote for it.  I was also interested in trying to recreate a coconut milk based seafood stew I had in a restaurant, and found this recipe, which I altered slightly and came up with a really terrific dinner.  Here's what I did:

For the panna cotta, I made half the recipe since I only had four ramekins.  This set up in the fridge while I prepped for dinner.  [2 cups heavy cream, 1/4 cup sugar, heated in the microwave until very warm.  Add 1 tsp. vanilla.  Mix 1 packet unflavored gelatin with 3 T. cold water, pour the hot cream over it and stir.  Chill in oiled ramekins for at least 2 hours.]  The compote was blackberries and blueberries mixed with 4 T. lime juice, 1/3 cup of sugar, and simmered for 15 minutes (based on Hank Shaw's mulberry key lime compote).  Then I added the cornstarch and cooked it 5 minutes more and let it cool.

To make the stew, I started with the chowder recipe but changed the fish and added rice noodles.  Before I ran a few errands I chopped 1 red pepper, 1 green pepper, 3 carrots, 1 onion, and some garlic, and set it aside.  I had bought half a pound each of swordfish, scallops and squid and a pound of little necks.  I cut the scallops in half, chopped the squid and swordfish and cleaned the little necks and set everything aside.  To the sauteed vegetables and spices I added 1 pint of lobster stock, 1 pint of light cream, and 1 can of coconut milk.  I did not add the tomato paste because the lobster stock had been made with a tomato base.  Once I got everything simmering, I added all the seafood except the little necks and simmered for 5 minutes.  Then I added the little necks and a package of rice noodles and simmered for 12 minutes until the little necks opened.  It tasted amazing and, because the noodles absorbed a lot of liquid, became more of a stew than a chowder.  Garnished with parsley and cilantro, it was a very filling meal.

 Getting the panna cotta out of the ramekins was a little challenging but I finally got the hang of it.  A little compote spooned around it and some garnish, and voila!  Perfection.

The Farm is Back!

Gotta love spring! Last week the farm opened and Steph got the first share. This week was my turn, and I picked up: 1 large bok choi, 1 bowl of arugula, 6 Hakurei turnips, 4 radishes, 6 garlic scapes, 1 and a half pounds of spinach, 1 quart of strawberries, 1 pint of snow peas, and a bunch of cilantro.

One and a half pounds of spinach is a LOT of spinach.

Tonight we're having a spinach-arugula-strawberry salad, lobster, corn on the cob, and the rest of the strawberry-rhubarb pie. Love, love, LOVE the farm!

Lobster Bisque

Yesterday I had a friend (and fellow blog member) over for lunch. She brought yummy cheeses and bread and I made lobster bisque. I followed the recipe in the New England Soup Factory Cookbook except that instead of 1 cup of white wine I just added more lobster stock. First you chop up celery, carrots, onion and garlic and cook it in butter, then add 4 pints of stock (I added 5, since each jar is actually less than a pint and it likely added up to a volume equal to 4 pints of stock and 1 cup of wine), 2 cut up potatoes, and tomato paste. After simmering until the potatoes are soft, you use an immersion blender to puree it, then add the lobster (1 to 1.5 pounds), worcestershire sauce, tobasco sauce, and some brandy. I stopped here until we were almost ready to eat then added a pint of heavy cream. It made a lot of soup. After we all ate, I froze 2 quarts and there is more in the fridge for today.

While we were getting ready for lunch I showed my friend how to make mascarpone. It's just so easy! I sent her home with some to enjoy. (BTW, it's really good with honey...)

Lobster Stock Paella

Remember how I made 14 pints of lobster stock about a year ago? Well, I haven't forgotten. They've just been sitting in the pantry, calling to me, saying, "When are you going to USE us?" I just never got the energy to do anything with them. Bisque? Risotto? My sister suggested paella would be easier, so I threw together this recipe:

1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups long grain rice (I used basmati)
7-ounce jar roasted red peppers, chopped, juice reserved
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground saffron
1 pound shrimp, shells removed
1-2 cups chopped green beans

Sautee the onion and garlic in olive oil in an oven-proof pot. Add the rice, peppers and juice, and saffron. Add 2 pints of lobster stock and bring it to a simmer for a few minutes. Remove from heat, arrange the shrimp on top, then add the beans. Cover and bake at 450 for 30-40 minutes, until the rice is done. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Mmm! Now I only have 12 more pints to use up.

When Will the House Stop Smelling Like Lobster?

So asks my family...every single member of my family...

This morning I pulled the lobster stock back out of the fridge and started heating it up again. I put some pint jars in the boiling water canner to warm them, and got the pressure canner set up. So far so good. But there was a LOT of stock. 14 pints worth, to be exact. So I had to do 2 batches of jar warming, but fortunately 14 pints is the maximum I can put in the pressure canner so that part is being done in one batch. The mystery of the day is, how long to process? Beef and chicken stocks are 20 minutes for pints. I read on line that fish stock is 30 minutes for pints. But nowhere can I find a time for lobster stock. I'm worried about not processing long enough. I guess I am thinking that 40 minutes is a good idea.

One little observation - my lobster pot always looked huge next to my regular pots. But it looks downright tiny next to the pressure canner.

Rhubarb Chutney and Lobster

No, not together. But it is Memorial Day weekend, and I'm using this free time to put up a bunch of stuff. I finally found local rhubarb at a nearby "Farmstand." I put this in quotes because it's like a local Whole Foods, but somewhat smaller and attached to its own farm. There is livestock to visit, hay rides in the Fall, they sell plants and trees, AND it is an amazing grocery. Even more dangerous than Whole Foods. Which is why I rarely go there. Except that they had rhubarb.

So I made rhubarb chutney (recipe from The Joy of Pickling) while I prepared a lobster dinner for 3 of the 4 of us. See if you can guess who doesn't eat lobster...no surprises here. Had to make a hot dog instead. Boiled lobster, grilled corn on the cob, garlic bread, fried fiddleheads...mmmm. Eaten outdoors, of course, since it's so messy. Fortunately it had stopped raining by dinnertime.

Now the chutney is out of the canner, and went, "Pop!...popopop!...pop!............pop!...popop!" In the big lobster pot I have the shells, tomato paste, carrots, celery, onions, spices and water, making a lobster stock. The recipe is from The New England Soup Factory Cookbook and maybe having the stock around will inspire more seafood soups. Likely I'll can the stock tomorrow; it's already pretty late!