Lobster Lobster Lobster! Maine Lobster with Drawn Butter and Garlic Onion Mayo

 

Julia’s Maine Lobster Bake 

I just got back from a great long weekend in Maine and brought back 8-10 pounds of Maine Soft shell Lobster.  It was amazing!  The little guys made the 8.5 hour drive home with me packed in ice and all survived! 

Lobster:

Boil a large pot of water with a pinch of salt.  IF you can stomach it pierce/slice the lobsters behind the neck to kill them just before boiling ( be careful if you are working with hard shells) Boil lobster at the ration of 10 minutes per pound ( anything after 1 lb add 2 minutes)   I was working with 1.5 -2 lb lobster and cooked them for 12-13 minutes.  The shells will turn bright red.  IF you do not kill them before boiling be very careful putting them into the pot ( always head first)- they will recoil and try to jump out.  Let them steam or boil ( just modify water level to steam)  Secure the lid and let it go.  

 

Drawn Butter: 

In a small sauce pan melt down 1 stick of butter on medium heat.  If you would like to flavor it try a small amount of pureed garlic ( almost to a juice)  or a sprinkle of garlic powder.   You want the butter to melt down JUST short of browning the butter. 

 

Garlic Onion Mayo:

Spoon 2 Tablespoons of Mayonnaise into a medium bowl. Combine with a dash of garlic powder or minced roasted garlic and finely diced sautéed onion.   

 

A great variation would be a lemon scented mayo.  Do exactly the same as above but add the juice of a 4th of a lemon! 

 

Mangia! 

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My Experience Chartering a Fishing Boat: Here Fishy Fishy Fishy

Well let’s start this off by explaining that I am certainly not a seasoned fisher or even a novice fisher.  I’ve held a fishing pole MAYBE 3 times in my life.  Now crabbing is a whole other ball game.  I dominate that!   So I woke up bright and early this morning and headed over to Port Jefferson to Celtic Quest. I was of course the first one there at 7:45 when call time was 8:15 (  I got excited, boats, water, fishing, etc = Julia reverting to a 6 year old child)  So they set me up in what they claim to be the best fishing spot and tell me we will be going for porgies and blue fish…….ok..  cool.  So I googled each to naturally see what I could cook with either…..shocking right? 

 

So the rest of the reservations arrive and we are about 35. We set out to go blue fishing first…. 1 person caught a fish…….one…………. 😦  We then moved over to another spot and again dropped for blue fish…..zilch…..They claimed there were a TON of fish 40-60 feet below the boat but NOTHING was biting.  We moved again.. same story.. We then switched over to Porgies, so I hooked my giant clam on the lure and side hook and cast away……nothing.   The guy next to me pulls up a gorgeous sea bass ( see picture below)

 

The guy on the other side of me and his oh so loud but oh so adorable child caught a large Porgie ( see picture below)

 

Every time someone reeled a fish in I could feel myself getting more and more annoyed  ( this is supposed to be relaxing???!?!?!?)  Finally i just decided that I would just try my best and enjoy the sun, the stench of clam chum and enjoy the multitude of questions that the little boy next to me had) 

The fish were just NOT biting today.  With a total of 45 rods in the water, the entire boat caught 4 fish…..4…… we should have had hundreds according to the mates.   They were mortified and so apologetic.  The little boy managed to hook me once ( minor injury, minimal blood, no biggie)  I hooked myself once ( oops)  and had some great conversation with the two older gentleman who seemed to take a liking to me.   They said well if the fish aren’t biting and thats a loss at least we have something beautiful to look at…. awww shucks guys you made me blush…..

 

 

 I leave you with some food for thought

WHAT I LEARNED FROM FISHING:

1. There is no such thing as too much equipment.

2. When in doubt, exaggerate.

3. Even the best lines get weak after they have been used a few times.

4. Sometimes you really have to squirm to get off the hook.

5. The fishing is always better on the other side of the lake.

6. Good things come to those who wade.

 

 

It’s That Time Again: Wino Wednesday!

How absolutely perfect that today on Wino Wednesday I will be coming to you from one of my favorite places on earth!  The Long Island North Shore Wineries.  Stay tuned for pictures, tasting flights, tasting notes and my little anecdotes about all things Wine! 

 

Cheers 

Cod & Prawns in a tomato & white wine sauce

INGREDIENTS

• 5-6  ripe red tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon olive oil or veggie oil
• 3/4 of a yellow onion chopped 
• 3 large cloves of garlic- chopped
• 1 fresh red chile pepper, seeded and chopped ( You can use a dried chile but double the amount) 
• 1 1/2 cup white wine
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1 1/2 pounds of fresh caught cod
• 10-15 large uncooked prawns, peeled and deveined

 

DIRECTIONS

1. Slice an ‘X’ in the bottom of each tomato. Bring a pot of water to a boil; boil tomatoes for 2 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and blanch in a bowl of ice water.  Peel & chop tomatoes. 
2. Heat oil in a skillet over low heat; cook and stir onion and garlic until slightly browned, about 2 minutes. Add chile pepper and tomatoes; cook and stir until tomatoes begin reduce, 5 to 8 minutes. Pour in wine; cook over medium heat until wine reduces slightly, about 5 more minutes. Stir in salt, black pepper, basil, and parsley.
3. Place cod into tomato mixture; cover and cook for 5 minutes. Turn cod and cook other side until fish flakes easily with a fork, 3 to 5 minutes. Add prawns; cover and cook until prawns are bright pink on the outside and the meat is no longer transparent in the center, 1 to 3 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper.

 

 

Julia’s Roasted Chicken with Grilled Corn and Rice

This is a recipe I threw together to jazz up chicken thighs.  It’s super easy and can be done on a healthier scale and is a great alternative to frying or sautéing in oil. 

6 Chicken Thighs – Trim the skin and any fat  ( I personally prefer to remove the skins to reduce fat and calories 

1/2 Cup Light Soy Sauce

1/2 Cup Ketchup 

1 Tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar 

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar 

4 Large Cloves of Garlic – Minced or Chopped

1 Yellow Onion ( Optional) Diced or in halved rounds 

Pepper to Taste 

 

Pre Heat oven to 375.  Combine all ingredients and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes to reduce into a thick sauce.   Wash, trim and dry thighs and place in a roasting pan. Spread sauce over all thighs and turn so that both sides are coated.  Roast on second rack in oven ( IF you have small thighs you will need 30-35 minutes, medium thighs need 35-40 minutes and larger thighs can cook up to 50.   Flip thighs at halfway mark (15-20 minutes)  Take out of the oven and transfer to the stove if you would like it to cook down even more.   Serve over rice or brown rice or with Kale, Spinach or Broccoli 

 

Mangia!