Caribbean Rock Lobster with Zucchini Noodles

Heyooo to all the Lobster Lovers out there! I got somethin for ya ;) 

A friend of mine recently speared some Caribbean Rock Lobsters on a night dive and I jumped at the opportunity to take em off his hands! I have never actually cooked whole lobster before so this was an adventure. I didn't have to cook them live thankfully, but I heard the lobster 'crying' noise as the air escaped their shells. Creepy. Nonetheless, I set out to make a delicious lobster meal. I cooked about 8, between 1/4lb- 3/4lb each. Although you don't get a ton of meat out of these guys, the meat that you do get is super sweet & flavorful. 

Poor little guys with their puncture wounds...but look at that COLOR! Woot! 

MEATYYY

My Mom got involved and made a quick tomato sauce with a bit of white wine, about 5 tomatoes, onion, garlic, basil and S&P. 

Ok, so now for the fun part. Have you guys heard of a vegetable spiralizer? My mom introduced me to it a while ago and it has become my fun friend for the past year, especially recently. We spiralized 1 large zucchini to make zucchini noodles to sub for pasta. 

Pick one of these bad boys up on Amazon for like $30. {image via http://bit.ly/1nDDuH6}

Lightly saute with garlic, coconut oil and S&P and you're good to go. Make sure not to overcook them as they'll get too soft.

          

I can't tell you how good this was. No words. So you'll just have to try it yourself. Of course you can get some good ol pasta and cheese into the mix and no one can be mad at that. 

I'll have some more, please.

xx Sheens

Thai Chicken Noodle Soup (on a rainy day)

Soup on a rainy day is like bacon and...anything...it just goes together. As the rain came down and my mind began to wander to the next meal, a recent recipe I found kept whispering in my ear. 'Make me' 'Make me!' And so I did. I've mentioned my love for Thai anything before, so I won't go on about it again...except to say that my oh my, I can't get enough. We had lots of fresh herbs and most of the ingredients on hand, so it worked out perfectly. Give me lemongrass, ginger and cilantro any day and I will be a super duper happy camper. 

On the chopping block. Green! 

Sliced & Diced and ready to go!

Browning onions & garlic = best.smell.ever.

The first pour...

                

Top it off with more fresh herbs and live in your soup for a bit. 

Recipe below Adapted from: Feasting at Home 

Thai Chicken Noodle Soup

by sylvia fountaine- feasting at home blog January-4-2014

Ingredients:

½ Yellow or white Onion thinly Sliced
¼ C Ginger, peeled and rough chopped
¼ C lemongrass, rough chopped
3 Cloves garlic -sliced
1-2 T oil
12 C chicken Stock or broth
2 tsp Thai style fish sauce-
5-6 keffir lime leaves ( optional- available at Asian markets) << I left these out
¼ C sliced galanga ( optional- available at Asian markets) <<I left these out 

**I added a 1/2 C of leeks, sliced
----
1 ½ lbs chicken breast or thigh sliced into uniform ½ inch thick, bite size pieces
4 oz slice mushrooms ( optional)
vermicelli rice stick noodles -or angle hair pasta works too
½ C chopped cilantro
4 scallions chopped
1 fresh red chili pepper- medium hot
1 lime cut into wedges
bean sprouts ( optional, but delish)
hot chili sauce ( sriracha, sambal oelek or hot chili oil)

Instructions:

If you have time to make this flavorful broth ahead, like the night before or the morning before, and then refrigerate, letting all the flavors meld- this would be ideal. Then when ready to serve, Strain, heat broth and add the rest of the ingredients. But you can also just make all in one shot.
***I had some frozen leftover broth from another dish that worked perfectly!

In a large pot, heat oil, over med high heat. Add onion and sauté for 3-5 minutes, stirring, until golden and tender. Turn heat to Med. Add ginger, and saute a few more minutes. Add lemongrass and garlic and galanga ( optional). Keep stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes. Then add Chicken stock and fish sauce and lime leaves ( optional) . Bring to a boil, turn heat down so stock is simmering ( low boil) and let simmer on medium heat ( or medium low) uncovered for about 20-30 minutes. This simmering will allow the broth to reduce just a bit and become more concentrated and flavorful. Don't be temped to add chillies to the simmering stock, it will end up too spicy. If possible, refrigerate this overnight or for 8 hours before straining. If its not an option, just strain the stock, and continue with recipe.

After refrigerating, or after the stock has simmered 30 minutes, strain the stock. Bring strained stock to a boil. Add chicken pieces, noodles and mushrooms ( optional), keeping stock at low boil, and stir occasionally until chicken is cooked through and noodles are cooked, about 7-8 minutes.
Taste for salt. (After my stock reduced, I did not need to add salt, but all stocks are different. So please salt to taste.) When ready to serve, stir in ½ the scallions.

Top steaming bowls of soup with cilantro, scallions, bean sprouts (optional, but give a great crunch) , a few red slice chilies and serve with lime wedge and little hot sriracha sauce, sambal oelek, or even hot chili oil.

Details

Prep time: 20 mins Cook time: 20 mins Total time: 40 mins Yield: Serves 4

                       

Save this one for your next rainy day and it will bring you sunshine, promise. 

-Sheens

Ya Bacon Me Crazy!

You know when you see something and there's an immediate need for that thing to be in your life? Yeah, that's what happened here. I hear bacon, booze, banana AND peanut butter icing and I think...NOW! I mean, the greatest invention known to man + cupcakes...you just can't go wrong...unless you're a vegetarian that actually doesn't eat bacon [I swear, vegetarian bacon eaters exist] then you'll probably want to ignore the meat part...

Anyway, so I set out on the mission to conquer bacon + cupcakes...

But first, a snack

Ok, back on track. Baking...

The calm before the storm- this one got messy- mainly because I was rushing, per usual.

Love the color of melted butter! 

I'm really particular about my bananas- realistically, they've got a 2 day shelf-life in my book. Once there's more than a few [i mean that literally] brown specs, they're immediately smoothie or baking material, not a snack. I freeze ones that get past the point of no return because they're a perfect excuse for baking [not like I need one]! :D

Batter mixing leads to batter licking...

So wish the bowl was a different color so this awesome peanut butter color would pop!

Just in case you didn't already pick up on it- I LOVE bacon. I love the smell of bacon cooking. Nothing beats it. But do I want the aftermath of bacon cooking in my kitchen and on my stove? Not so much- so, I bake my bacon! I promise it turns out just as delicious and cleanup is minimal. 

My mama just bought me a new icing decorative set and I put it to use for these cupcakes! I think each one of them is a different design! Keepin things fresh ;)

Here's the recipe...Adapted from Jessica at How Sweet It Is.

YIELD: MAKES 12-15 CUPCAKES

  

TOTAL TIME: 1 1/2 HOURS

ingredients:

brown sugar banana cupcakes

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 pinch of nutmeg
1 large egg
3/4 cup loosely packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

frosting

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
4 cups of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-2 tablespoons of milk, if needed
8 slices cooked bacon, cut in half or thirds

bourbon drizzle (i replaced the bourbon with Kahlua)

3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup bourbon liqueur
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

directions:

brown sugar banana cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.

Combine the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg and set aside. In a bowl, whisk the egg and add brown sugar, mixing until smooth. Stir in the vanilla extract. Add sour cream and melted butter and mix until a smooth batter forms. Stir in the dry ingredients, then add mashed bananas and mix until the batter comes together. The batter will be thick. Using an ice cream scoop or 1/4 cup measure, scoop batter into the liners. Bake for 15-18 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting

frosting

Add the butter and peanut butter to the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until creamy. Gradually add in the powdered sugar and mix until a frosting forms, increasing the speed from low to high. Add in the vanilla extract and beat the frosting for 2 to 3 minutes on medium-high speed. If the frosting is too thick, add in milk 1 tablespoon at a time. Beat for another 1 to 2 minutes after each addition. When ready to frost, scoop the frosting onto a spatula or into a pastry bag and frost the cooled cupcakes. Stick the bacon pieces on top of the frosting.

bourbon drizzle

Add the ingredients to a small saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Stir constantly until the sugar dissolves and cook for 1 to 2 minutes once boiling. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the pan and let the syrup sit and cool to room temperature, where it will thicken. It won't be super thick, but just slightly syrupy.

I won't tell you a lie...these cupcakes were thebomb.com. 

I hope you indulge in this amazingness as soon as humanly possible ;)

-Sheens

Taster's Menus are the Best Kind

When you receive an invite to a '10 Course Taster's Menu' dinner, you don't turn it down! My boyfriend, James, and I recently received said invitation. His best friend, Steven, was in from the UK and Steven's mom just happens to be an amazing chef [and host]. I'm always excited to go to their house because I'm pretty much guaranteed to taste something yummy whether or not it's a dining function. 

FYI: Steve's mom, Sally, is the author of a very successful cookbook - Contemporary Caribbean Cooking: 120 easy, tasty Caribbean recipes

The evening started off with Prosecco and ended with full bellies. Here's a recap!

There were 10 of us enjoying the wonderful 10 Course dinner. Note the 6 wine glasses per setting!

Tom Yum Soup

If I wasn't already in heaven by the thought of the meal ahead of me, the first course took me there. The first taster was Tom Yum Soup which is a Thai dish. I love love love the flavors in Thai cuisine so naturally, Tom Yum is one of my favorite soups. Yum, indeed! 

Chicken Liver Pâté

I'll admit it...I'm not a huge fan of anything to do with liver...but this pâté was a hit at the table and I even enjoyed it! It definitely helped that the chutney on the side was amazing!

Love their chandelier! 

I should add that most of the ingredients that Sally used in dinner were locally or regionally sourced! Made it that much more special. 

Tamarind Sorbet

The third course was a palate cleanser- Tamarind Sorbet. It was delicious. Tamarind is a pod fruit which grows on trees around the island. It has a sweet & sour taste. 

Build Your Own: Tuna Tartare

I'm a huge, HUGE fan of raw tuna. I love the texture and flavor and Tuna Tartare combines a lot of my favorites things [i.e. ginger (yum), Cilantro (omg, yum) and sesame oil!].

Mahi Mahi Fettucini 

The Fifth course was a scrumptious Grilled Mahi Mahi atop homemade tomato jam and fettucini. The Mahi Mahi had a slight hint of lemongrass and I found the addition to this traditional Italian dish super interesting AND tasty ;)

English Sunday Roast

OMG OMG OMG. One of the things I miss most about living in England is heading to my neighborhood gastro pub on a Sunday for a delicious roast. So when this dish came out I did a dance in my chair! Sally served delicious roast beef with a miniature Yorkshire Pudding, horse radish, potatoes & veg. The gravy was to.die.for. NOM

Beet & Grapefruit Salad

Because dinner was served in the traditional French style, we ate salad after the main course...a new concept for me. I always thought salad was best eaten before your entree, but I guess the French know what they're doing when it comes to food...and wine...and basically all things cheesy and crepe-y and yummy... so OK, I'll follow. This salad was refreshing and full of flavor by the way. 

Montserrat Cheese Plate 

After salad we continued in the French style and had a cheese plate with some yummy Montserrat cheese which Sally and her husband, Keith, happened upon in a visit to a farm in the mountains of Montserrat. It had a taste similar to that of Gruyere and that along with the yummy homemade bread was the end of me. At this point I was battling a quickly impending food coma [the 6 glasses of wine didn't have anything to do with it, promise]. I am ashamed to say it, but I only ate half of my Sticky Toffee Pudding [insert drool here]. I was so sad because it was so delicious. I'm also lacking a picture of it and I will blame that on my tipsiness 'food coma'. Sorry :/

As you can imagine, when coffee was offered, I may have jumped out of my seat in eagerness. Plus, it was after midnight and we had a late one the night before...ok let's face it, most of the time sometimes I'm a granny. 

We sealed off the meal with Course #10- our choice of rich & tasty chocolate!

The dinner was fantastic, all 4 hours of it! Many thanks to Sally and Keith for hosting a loverly evening. 

-Sheens ;)