Creamy Spaghetti of Lobster and Breaded Veal Scallopini

My family flipping loves shellfish, especially lobsters and since the lobsters were on sale for 7.99/lb, I went and bought two for merely 50 bucks. Instead of boiling the dears alive (ahaha, gotta love my vegetarianism!), I gave them a quick death by piercing a knife swiftly into their head and between their eyes. I placed the lobsters in a pot with minimal boiling, salted water and steamed them for around 15 minutes. When cool enough to touch, I cracked them open, took out all the succulent meat, cut them into to chunks and set aside for the sauce. For extra lobster richness and flavor, I also scooped out the brains and reserved them for the sauce (sounds gross, I know, but it is soooo worth it!).
I made a simple béchamel sauce (that is actually vegan so that I could later use in my own pasta dish) and reserved it.While I boiled my spaghetti noodles (which were basil and tomato flavored), I sauteed some garlic with olive oil and the brains in a frying pan until aromatic and added in a splash of white wine, cooking it down as I added in the lobster meat. Season lightly with salt and pepper before spooning in the bechamel sauce, letting all the flavors mingle and simmer on low heat. As soon as the pasta was al dente, I scooped the pasta into the sauce and mixed it together with a ladle of the pasta water, which helps the sauce adhere to the noodles. Stir in some freshly chopped flat-head parsley (aka Italian parsley) and serve hot.
I served the spaghetti of lobster alongside breaded veal scallopini, topped with brussel sprouts that were cooked in a balsamic vinegar reduction. It's a very low-in-fat meal since the sauce is made with low-fat soy milk and olive oil rather than whole milk and butter. The breaded veal were fried lightly in grapeseed oil, so the fat content there is also low. Nutritious and delicious!!

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Vegan Béchamel Sauce
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup flour
1 cup low-fat unsweetened soy milk/unsweetened almond milk
salt and pepper to taste

In a sauce pan, heat the olive oil on medium-low heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for 3 minutes to create a roux. Stir in half the cup of milk and whisk until smooth; whisk in the remainder. Leave to simmer until thickens, then season to taste.

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For my own veggie dinner, I had breaded eggplant rounds (I LOVE EGGPLANT) and a baked tofu and eggplant spaghetti with the vegan béchamel sauce. The baked tofu is a recipe that I tried out by The Vegan Zombie, and he has got me hooked. I've always disliked cooking with tofu but this baked tofu recipe is absolutely something I will make again.

EGGPLANT!!

To wash it all down, my brother made us a refreshing, non-alcoholic beverage that is to DIE for! It's called Targa 911 and it is soooo goood!

1 1/2 oz. orange juice
1 1/2 oz. passion-fruit juice
3/4 oz. pineapple juice
3/4 oz. lemon juice
3/4 oz. non-alcoholic grenadine
1/2 cup ice

Stir all ingredients together in a cup or use a shaker. SO GOOD.

Gourmet Bún Riêu Cua B**ches!

Yeah, you read right: gourmet bún riêu cua, a noodle dish that is one of the top vendor foods in Vietnam. The original vendor dish is made with grounded paddy crabs, tomatoes, deep-fried tofu and an egg and shrimp paste mixture. The dish is sometimes known as tofu-curdle noodle soup, since the chunky eggs in the soup resemble curdled milk. The broth is colored with annatto seeds to produce a bright orangy-red color to the broth. Other ingredients such as pig blood is sometimes also added. The dish is accompanied with a variety of condiments ranging from chili pepper paste, fermented shrimp paste, limes, bean sprouts, shredded banana flower, spearmint, shiso leaves, and/or exotic leaves called rau kinh giới (Elsholtzia ciliata).
My mom made an incredible version using an amazing load of real crab meat, crab brains/innards, and crab paste, all of course, with tomatoes and egg (for lunch). It was basically a crab extravaganza! Served over vermicelli, this piping hot dish was so vibrant and aromatic that I almost gave in to its' temptation (even though I disliked this dish as a child and still do even if it was vegetarian-friendly) but I stood my ground!

Fun fact(s): "Bún" (boom) literally means noodle and "Riêu" (reew) means to simmer at low heat. "Cua" (goua) basically means crab so the dish is literally, "Simmering Crab Noodle" which explains the process of cooking: at low-medium heat to slowly simmer all the flavors of the crab and tomato together. Claaassic!!!

Quinoa Griddle Cakes with Lobster Tails

Tried a new recipe out today for quinoa, a healthy, power grain.  The recipe was reccomended to me by a co-worker (manager, actually) and so I wanted to try it out. I made it lacto-ovo vegetarian friendly, and used egg whites instead of the entire egg. I also added black beans to the mixture instead of making a separate salsa.
And I love it! Oh, and I cooked the patties in grape seed oil, instead of vegetable or olive.
I served the cakes with some diced tomatoes and lobster tails broiled in butter for the fam. Definitely going to make these cakes again!
Recipe for the cakes can be found here.
Happy eating!

Steamed Tilapia with Black Bean Sauce

I absolutely love cooking with fish and seafood because it is very fast and easy to prepare. As bonus, this Tilapia came gutted and scaled so preparation was even easier (I made sure to rinse it in cold water and removed the coagulated  blood along bones inside the fish to remove the fishy stench, as well as the fins and part of the tail). The sauce was very easy to do, just a  few tablespoons of sweet fermented black beans, soy sauce, brown sugar, and sesame oil-all to your taste really. Before pouring the sauce on the fish, I stabbed the poor thing a couple times on each side with a small pointed knife then sparingly rubbed the fish with salt and pepper, outside and inside. I added sliced green onions and ginger into it's gill cover and it's stomach to further remove the strong fishy odor, and the remaining I placed on top. Spoon the sauce over and inside the Tilapia, shake on some ground pepper and steam over high heat for 20-22 minutes. And Voila, serve with hot rice and you are set!!

Stuffed Squid

Something new! Stuffed squid is one of the luxury dishes in Vietnamese cuisine and the basic stuffing mixture is made of pork ground, clear vermicelli and wood ear mushrooms, green onions and seasonings. My version of the stuffing included lean pork ground, cooked quinoa, green onions and seasonings. I stuffed all that goodness into two large tubular squids, which I have gutted and cleaned earlier. the traditional method would have been to use baby squid, but that is just too time consuming for me.
Before deep-frying the stuffed squids, I closed the squid opening with small bamboo skewers and emerged the squids into boiling water for around 2 minutes to blanch and precook the squid in order to lock in moisture and flavor. I had a wok filled with canola oil and I fried those two suckers until golden brown and when the center of the tube was firm but bouncy (indicating that the filling is also cooked).
I served the squid with a creamy coconut curry sauce with steamed rice and sauteed white asparagus. Family loved it, so this is a definite repeat dish!

 

Tempura Udon and Unagi Maki

So, for dinner today, I made Tempura Udon Soup and Unagi (Grilled Eel) Makizushi for my brother.
Udon is a thick, Japanese wheat noodle, almost equivalent to the Shanghai thick noodle. Broth for the soup was made from shiitake mushroom concentrate and seaweed broth; it was then seasoned with mirin, sugar, soy sauce and sake, along with salt and pepper. I bought new bowls to make this specific dish (mwahaha! I am such a nerd). Toppings included kamaboko (steamed fish cake; I accidently bought the white kind instead of the 'aka' or pink kind), naruto-maki, spinach, chikuwa, egg and shrimp tempura. Perfect for a cold night. (The broth was vegetarian so I added my own toppings that were non-meat/fish to it for myself).
For the side, I made Unagi Maki, which was a sushi roll filled with cucumber and sliced ginger and topped with grilled eel. Seved wtih pickled ginger and wasabi (on the new plate that matched the bowls mwahaha!). Yum yum!! My brother loved it!!

Steamed Red Snapper with Lemongrass Rice

 Red Snapper steamed in soy sauce, scallions and ginger. My mom bought this whole snapper but it was a tad too big to fit my freezer so she asked the fish monger to saw the head off. So here, I only have the body and tail part (I'm saving the head for a soup). I steamed the fish after marinating it in soy sauce, fish sauce, water, and sesame oil. I steamed the fish with scallions, ginger and lemongrass over a pot of boiling water with white wine and a few stalks of lemongrass for aroma. Rice was cooked with lemongrass stalks and lime zest. Served with Gai Lan that was stir fried in garlic and sesame oil. Garnished with scallions, cilantro and sweet n' salty, deep-fried lotus root slices. Fish was filleted before serving. Yummeh!

Body and Tail of Snapper

Dressed for the steamer

The finished steamed dish

Beef Filet with Lobster Tail

So today is my dad's birthday. As part of my gift, I made him and the rest of the family a rather expensive dinner.
Grilled beef filet (medium rare) wrapped in bacon with baked lemon-buttered lobster tail. Served with steamed green asparagus and hollandaise sauce; stir-fried kale and garlic butter potatoes.
The dish was accompanied with  Naked Grape White Wine.
Yummeh.