A Special Treat for Dinner

Thursday night the Foodie Boyfriend was not with us,

so as I was out shopping for groceries,

I was trying to decide what we could have to eat for dinner

that evening.

Perhaps something that we couldn't partake of when he

was around, due to his shellfish allergy?

But what?

I had forgotten to take a container of our wonderful

gulf shrimp out of the freezer

and any store-bought shrimp would be vastly inferior in quality,

so that was out.

And then I spied it.

My quarry.

 The elusive Manager's Special,

AKA, meat that is near its expiration date.

But look at the price reduction!

Two Maine lobster tails for $8.38 versus the original $13.98.

What a deal for land-locked Southern Indiana.

I grabbed two of these packages and

hissed loudly at anyone who dared near my cart.*

I apologize for the lack of preparation pictures,

but I hadn't planned on blogging this dinner.

Then the Foodie Daughter came into the room,

gave me 'That Look,' and said "you are blogging this, Mother."

Erm, yeah, of course I am blogging this.

*An over-dramatization of the event, to be sure.  Or is it?

If you were to ask me what my last meal were to be,

I would tell you that it would have to be lobster. 

I love those aquatic arthropods.

I find it quite amazing and somewhat

shocking that in colonial America, 

lobsters were so plentiful and considered to be so pedestrian

that the indentured servants

and slaves protested against being fed lobster so often.

And before that, the Native Americans used lobsters 

as fertilizer for their crops.

What were they thinking?

 The first step was to turn the little bug's tails on their backs and 

using a sharp chef's knife,

cut down the middle of the tail.

It is helpful to use the tip of the knife

to puncture the underside of the shell 

and then to place the heel of the other hand

on the back of the knife to press the knife through

the flesh and the hard upper shell.

If needed, use kitchen shears to cut the shell apart.

Season with sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper.

Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high to high heat.

Add 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil to the skillet.

When the butter is bubbling, add the lobster, meat side down.

Allow to cook through for just a couple of minutes.

Lobster is like any other shellfish - it cooks very quickly -

and you don't want to overcook it.

Turn over and cook for another minute or so.

Serve with melted butter,

clarified if you are really feeling fancy,

 and rice salad.

Now I'm happpy.

Rice Salad and Turkey Tenderloin

The Foodie Daughter and I are on a mission:

a mission to get fit and healthy and to lose weight.

So I am trying to find healthier side dishes for our meals.

I think I have found a winner.

As an unexpected bonus,

even the pickiest eater in our family,

my husband,

likes this dish.

I had an idea,

an idea for a mixed rice salad.

But of course I could not find a recipe online

that I liked.

So I winged it as usual.

Follow along as I create culinary goodness.

 My mise en place:

Rice:

1 cup Royal Rice Blend (a mixture of white, brown, wild, and red rices)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups water

Cook according to package directions.  Rinse under cold water and set aside.


Meanwhile prep the veggies:

1/4 cup frozen green peas
1/4 cup yellow pepper, diced
1/4 cup red onion, diced
1 rib celery, diced
1 carrot, peeled and julienned

After the rice is cooked and rinsed, add the rice to the veggies and mix well.


Finally mix the vinaigrette:

1/4 cup white wine vinegar
Pinch black pepper
Splash Tamari sauce, not shown
2 tablespoons more or less honey

Mix with a whisk and while whisking slowly pour in extra virgin olive oil.  You will end up with about 1/3 to 1/2 cup vinaigrette.    You will not need all of this vinaigrette for the salad.  Only add as much as is needed. 

And now you have a rice salad.

 Veggies are prepped.

 We have a salad.

 And now we are talking turkey.

Tonight I decided to marinate the turkey tenderloin in a mixture of
2 tablespoons Tamari sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
3 tablespoons chardonnay, not shown
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
2 cloves minced garlic

Now understand that I do not measure these ingredients.  I just pour them in.  It's a freakin' marinade, not a delicate science experiment.  But I do understand that some people are very uncomfortable with the idea of working without a net, as it were, so I attempted to approximate the amounts that I used this time.

What I can tell you is that I never make the same marinade the same way.  I change it according to mood and whims and the alignments of the highway construction cones.  So go ahead and play mad scientist and experiment with different flavors.  I usually just start with an idea in my head and start pulling ingredients out of the cupboards and the refrigerator and before you know it I have a marinade.  The one constant is that I always include an alcohol.  If you are opposed to using alcohol, then use a vinegar instead.  Just remember these guide lines: use an acidic ingredient, a sweet ingredient, spices, herbs, a bit of oil, salt in some form or another (if using soy sauce or Tamari sauce, then skip the salt), and  garlic.  Sorry, but as far as I'm concerned, you cannot make a decent marinade without garlic.  And don't try to use that nasty jarred garlic either.  Get the real stuff.  The stuff that comes in the bulbs.  You know, that stuff?  You can find it in the produce section by the onions.  But just have fun.

Always burp the bag and place the bag in a container so that the marinade can have full contact with all parts of the meat and you can be sure that any leaks will be contained.

Sear the tenderloin over medium-high heat before lowering the heat to low and covering.  If you have a remote thermometer probe, this is the time to use it.  Set the thermometer to 155 degrees and walk away.  Rest assured that despite the fact that the over-cautious US Government standards call for turkey be cooked to 165 degrees, that at 155 degrees the turkey is cooked well enough.

I wouldn't recommend this temperature for chickens, though.  But then again, I have a personal beef with chickens.

And now for the plating.

You have to try this rice salad.

Trust me on this.