Recipe #1: Lobster Macaroni & Cheese

One of the New Year’s resolutions I made this year was to try and cook at least one new meal a week. I thought this was fairly achievable and fun enough that I would try to keep it up. Let’s see if I can get 52 new ones on the blog this year (and in our bellies). During the week, we often have our fall-back meals (good old chicken taco salad, eaten usually on Mondays), and even though they are a tasty and quick meal, they lack a bit of imagination. Having limited time during the week to prepare meals means I am often on the look out for quick and simple recipes, but on the weekends, I have lots more time to be adventurous and experiment.

Our first new meal of 2011 was Lobster Mac & Cheese, which we enjoyed one Sunday evening. We had spent the day cleaning the house, doing a small spring clean of our wardrobes (and yarn stash…), and as a nice reward, a candlelit dinner for two. The recipe below serves about 6 people easily, but I adjusted the lobster to just two tails and only cooked enough pasta to serve the two of us (about 2 cups). The rest of the recipe I left the same, and as it turned out, there was extra cheese sauce for just plain macaroni and cheese another time. There were also leftovers for another night, so maybe even 2 cups of pasta was more than enough!

We opted for frozen lobster tails instead of fresh, and cooking them up was a cinch (but man did the  condo smell fishy that night!). Simply throw them in a pot of salted water and cook until red and heated throughout. Getting them out of the shell was a bit of a challenge, but they didn’t struggle too much, and scissors came in handy for cutting the shell off.

I don’t know how often this recipe will fit in our circulation (it did take a bit of prep work, and lobster tails are not that cheap), but even having this cheese sauce recipe means I can whip up a batch of home made macaroni and cheese any time we’d like. I may never go back to KD again.

INGREDIENTS

1 box of penne pasta

1 stick of butter

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1/2 cup of flour

1/2 cup of white wine

1 can of evaporated milk

4 cups of milk

1 tablespoon of paprika

2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard

1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

8 ounces of cheddar cheese, grated

8 ounces of Monterrey jack cheese, grated

Salt and pepper

2x1 pound lobsters, cooked and shelled

2 cups of breadcrumbs (or enough to cover pasta)

DIRECTIONS

PREHEAT oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Drop the pasta into boiling, salted water and cook until almost tender, about 12 minutes. Make sure the water tastes like a day at the beach, as the pasta will absorb it and become properly seasoned. The pasta should not be fully cooked; it should have just a touch of firmness when tasted. Drain well.

MELT the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, add garlic and cook for several minutes until it softens. Add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon until a smooth paste forms. Continue cooking for a few more minutes, in effect toasting the mixture and adding flavour to it. Slowly stir in the wine and continue mixing until smooth and then add both milks, mixing well again. Continue whisking until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. Add paprika, Dijon, cayenne, salt, pepper and cheeses and stir until melted.

ROUGHLY chop lobster meat and add to the cheese mixture along with the pasta. Stir well to combine and season with salt and pepper. Pour into a 9-inch by 13-inch ovenproof casserole or similar dish. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and bake until the mixture is heated through and the breadcrumbs are golden brown, about 30 minutes.