Recipe: Birthday Lobster Risotto

[Would you please help me reach 500 fans on Facebook by 2011, if you are not already a fan? Thank you SO much for all of your support! =) And happy birthday to me!]

Last week was Dan’s birthday, so I decided to make him a special meal. We started with oven roasted bone marrow and toast, paired with a parsley salad, followed by his favorite – Mexican hot pockets, straight out of the box. It’s more of an inside joke but I thought it would make for an ironic addition to an otherwise fancy meal. I made lobster risotto and ribeye as the main entree, then chocolate souffle to finish. And to add another personal touch, I printed out a menu describing all of the dishes, then wrapped it in a sillyband.

Have you ever heard lobsters crying? They were fighting for their lives!!! Then I had a Homer Simpson moment. “Sorry, Pinchy!” Just curious – does anyone out there know how to prevent the lobster from curling the tail during the cooking process, apart from using a rack?

Recipe: Lobster Risotto
Makes 3-4 entree servings

Ingredients:

2 fresh 2.5-pound lobsters
1 tablespoon of seasalt
1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 cups of arborio or carnaroli rice
1/2 cup of finely chopped onion
1/2 cup of finely chopped carrots
1/2 cup of dry white wine
2-3 cups of beef broth
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
Fresh cracked pepper to taste

Procedure:

1. In a large pot, add seasalt and bring 4 cups of water to a boil, just enough to cover the lobsters. (My pot wasn’t big enough for both lobsters so I did each separately).

2. Remove the rubber band from the lobster claws. Using a kitchen tong, dunk lobsters into boiling water, headfirst, and close lid. A pound of lobster should cook for 13 minutes, then 3 additional minutes per pound. I cooked these for about 18 minutes. (If the roe on the inside is black, it is undercooked. You want the roe to be a red/orange color.)

3. Remove lobsters from the pot. Leave pot covered over low heat, as you have to save the liquid for later. Rinse lobsters in cold water. Let cool. Then remove meat from the legs and claws with a scissor. Discard shells and save the meat. Cut across the tail just once, so that it makes for a nice presentation yet easy to remove the meat later. Set aside.

4. Heat the beef broth in a pot until hot. Cover and keep heat on the lowest flame possible. Broth used in risotto should be warm.

5. Heat oil in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. Cook onions until translucent, but not browned, about 2 minutes.

6. Stir in garlic and continue cooking until onion is very tender. Never brown onion in risotto.

7. Stir in rice. Coat and toast each grain. Add 1/2 cup of beef broth. It will sizzle. When sizzling stops, add wine and cook, stirring, until almost absorbed.

8. Add 1/2 cup of lobster broth to the rice , until most of the liquid is absorbed. Continue alternating beef broth and lobster broth, 1/2 to 1 cup at a time, stirring constantly. Add lobster meat from before. Cook until rice is creamy and the rice just slightly al dente, about 25 minutes. Don’t forget to stir!

9. Warm up lobster tails in a pot separately if it’s cold. Season with fresh cracked pepper. Add Parmesan cheese on top.