October 22 Meal: Great Friday Night

The day had finally come.  I didn't have too much longer to put it off.  It was time to cook the lobster.  The recipe was Lobster Bruschetta and I also planned to make Mac and Cheese with Sourdough  Breadcrumbs.  It ended up being a great night of cooking and hanging out with Shaun.  A little bit of classic rock in the background, good food, and no work.

Lobster Bruschetta

The first task was to locate the live lobster.  I called Fishmonger's in downtown Durham and they quoted me $20.99 a pound.  Yikes!  At that time I was thinking that I may just cancel the live lobster and go with a tail.  However, as an omnivore, I feel it's my responsibility to come to terms with killing the animals I eat.  This would be the first time I'd actually killed an animal I planned to eat.  Sure, I'd been fishing, but the closest I came to actually killing the fish was putting it into the live well on the boat.  My Dad did all the dirty work.  So, I called the next place on my list, Squid's in Chapel Hill.  They would give me live lobsters for $13.99 a pound.  Much better!  I needed a 1 1/2 pound lobster, so it was still a bit pricey, but worth the experiment.  PETA members, do not proceed.

Mr. Lobster came home in a cardboard box.  I'm not sure how I never noticed before, but lobster look strangely like cockroaches of the sea.  I hate roaches.  That made it a bit easier to do the job.  I boiled up a big pot of salted water and put him in.  It was somewhat anticlimactic.  I've heard stories of "screaming" lobsters, which is just air escaping their shells.  This one didn't scream.  However, his antennae didn't want to stay in the water and I was a bit concerned that he didn't die right away.  I definitely didn't want him to suffer.

After a few minutes in the boiling water the lobster had undergone a great makeover, coming out pretty in pink.  It was pretty hot, so it hung out on a baking sheet for a few minutes before I cracked into the shell.  I didn't get a picture, but I was so excited when I got the claw meat out and it was claw-shaped! 

No for the actual recipe.  It was pretty simple, just a combination of red onion, balsamic vinegar, tomato, celery, shallot, garlic, Madeira (found in the supermarket wine section, I learned), basil, and olive oil.  Everything hangs out in a bowl with the lobster meat to marinate.  Then, it is placed on toasted sourdough bread that is rubbed with garlic.  Unfortunately, the taste was somewhat disappointing.  The lobster got lost in all the flavor and could have very well been some other shellfish.  At least it was a learning experience.

Yumminess: 5 out of 10

Cost: Approx. $26 for 2 huge servings

Time: Bon Appetit said 1 hour for prep and 1:50 hours total. I spent about 45 minutes for prep and 1:15 total.

Was it worth it?: No, except for the experience.  The taste wasn't worth the cost.

Mac and Cheese with Sourdough  Breadcrumbs

Now this was not a failure of a recipe.  There's really nothing you can do wrong when it comes to pasta mixed with lots of cheese.  It was pretty easy, too.  Cook up some ziti and mix with butter, nutmeg, whole milk, cheddar, Fontina, and Pecorino Romano (I used Parmesan, it's similar and cheaper).  Meanwhile, cook up the breadcrumbs with olive oil, shallots, rosemary, and parsley.  The breadcrumbs go over the mac and cheese mixture and covered with foil.  Bake for a while, remove foil, then back a little longer.  Done.  What you have is a mac and cheese with great flavor.  No "blue box blues" here!

Yumminess: 10 out of 10

Cost: Approx. $17 for 5 servings

Time: Bon Appetit said 50 minutes for prep and 1:45 hours total. I spent about 30 minutes for prep and 1:15 total.

Was it worth it?: Yes, definitely.  It was my favorite mac and cheese I've made, Shaun's second favorite to Alton Brown's recipe.