Ok, people we are three for three.

So, time to pull all that prep together and deliver.  Being a control freak comes into it's own when you have set yourself a challenge like this.  Open the wine, take a deep breath and go for it - you have everything to lose!

First off take two lobster.  These were the cooked, frozen ones from Asda, now defrosted and ready to take centre stage, although they look a tad nervous if you ask me.


Luckily they were in safe hands.  I dug out our copy of the Savoy cook book which had instructions for dismantling lobster.  We took an executive decision that serving the lobster thermidor in the traditional way, in the half-shelf topped with gruyere and grilled was passe.  And too sodding difficult!  The plan was to serve the lobster, coated in the sauce on a bed of rice.  But first they had to be dealt with.

Small alien anyone?

Rip it's head off.

Check.
 
Do you eat this weird looking bit?  Check the book.

£15 off lobster - chew slowly.

Cue arty lobster photo.


Ok, that bit done it's on with finishing the sauce.


Make the bechamel using the milk with that was prepped on Friday eve, the one with the grated veg, you remember.

Then sweat 2 shallots in a little butter with some tarragon.

Then add a glass of white wine.

And reduce til you have about a tea-spoon of liquid.  It's basically the start of a beurre blanc, but you probably knew that.

Reducing this really intensifies the flavours, this stuff tastes incredible.
So thats the thermidor prep all finished.  You basically now chop your lobster meat, add 50g of grated gruyere to the bechamel and then add the shallot reduction. Stir the lobster meat into the bechamel and either spoon into the lobster half shelf, top with more gruyere and grill or you cheat and spoon onto a plate of rice.

Now time to prep the scallops with pancetta, pea puree and balsamic jus.

Take a plate of shimmering scallops.

These are pan fried until seared, they smell wonderful as they coook.

I pre-cooked the pancetta so that it was really cripsy.
 
It melts and shrivels in the pan to this:


And that's it, prep all done, it's time to serve.



 



Mission accomplished!  Tom loved his birthday dinner and I have had a ball this weekend. 


 
 

The big day - Tom's 17th Birthday

This time 17 years ago I was sat with a nice cup of tea thinking all the hard work was over.  Little did I know!

Spent yesterday dashing into Huddersfield to buy birthday presents and wrap, had hoped to get food shop done but ran out of time having got up and made a lasagne for the evening and prepared the balsamic reduction to go with the scallops.  Evening out/in with Rachel and Jez, couple of pints at lovely pub in Halifax, Big 6, and then home here for lasagne and Lanson - I did lasagne Rachel brough the Lanson which was rather fab!

Up this morning and straight into Sainsburys on my lobster and scallops mission.  It was never going to be straightforward was it?  Got the scallops but no lobster so did rest of shop and then had to dash into Asda on way back to pick up 2 frozen cooked lobster which Steve had spotted earlier in the week, thank goodness.  Hauled them out of freezer and was reading label which said "Defrost overnight" at which point I was on verge of total melt down and then though "sod it, these buggers are going in the microwave"  I don't think I was feeling very rational!  Luckily when I read on it also said "or for 4 hrs at room temp" heart rate back to normal and off I went!

First up made the panna cotta, Tom wanted espresso panna cotta, recipe called for a vanilla pod but I couldnt see the point of adding such an expensive ingredient when you were going to drench its subtle flavour in coffee so it got a splash of vanilla extract instead.


Unwrapped the lobster to help them defrost.  As yet am not sure how we are going to tackle these as they are whole and will need smashing up to remove the meat, Steve and his tool box I suspect!


Then in a departure from frantic home cooking I unwrapped the birthday cakes, one white chocolate and raspberry layer cake and one coffee cake as I couldn't decide!!  Any excuse!


More cake because its so photogenic!


More birthday photos to follow.

Tom's Anniversaire Gastronomique - the prep begins!

Love cooking, love eating, love taking pics, so have combined all three.   Tom's bday dinner is going to take some prep.  His menu is:

oooOOOooo

Scallops and pancetta on a minted pea puree with a balsamic jus

Lobster Thermidor

Coffee Panna Cotta

oooOOOooo

They taught us the squiggly bits in college back in the middle ages when I learned to type on a manual type writer.  Bash.  Bash. Bash.  Return - my god its a bit like writing with a quill compared to what we do now!

So yes as you can see Tom seriously has idea's above his station.  Clearly being raised on filet mignon and not fish fingers has had an impact and it has been his lifes ambition to try lobster, since he was about 10!  He first tried fois gras aged 4 and was an instant convert.  Think Mr Creosote but small and cute!!

So this evening I began preparing the bechamel for the lobster thermidor.

First things first.  Any cooking that doesn't involve one of these will be seriously crap.  If you cook with love people can tell, they can taste it in the food, it is the nicest gift you can give someone; to cook for them.  If you cook with love AND a hossing great glass of wine then you can't fail to be awesome.  Its the law in my house.

 

Raw ingredients, all of which were to be added to 2 pints of full fat milk.  The carrots, celery and onion were to be grated.  You bring the milk to the boil, simmer for a while and then allow to infuse.  Then strain the milk and use to make your bechamel sauce.  Shimples.

 

Having grated in the carrot you then grate in the celery.  So far so good.

At  this stage you are supposed to grate in the onion.  People.  Never.  Grate.  An.  Onion.  Unless your eyes hanging on your cheeks, dangling by their optic nerves is a look you think might suit you.  There are not words for this level of pain.  Waterboarding - pretty awful, grating onions, I'll tell you anything you want to know.  I grated 1/4 and then lobbed the rest in whole.  And downed another glass of wine.

So then this lot, with the cloves and bay leaves is boiled, simmered and infused.  

Next up was this evenings dinner, just call me that sweary scottish cook bloke - what the hell's his name?? Early on-set dementia and several glasses of wine have knackered me this eve.  Gordon Ramsey thats the bloke, thank you.  Bloody hate him, hate the way he does that breathless "I'm talking really fast because that way you will think I am running barefoot over coals away from savage lions, not sauteeing a freaking onion" or whatever.

So, dinner.  Did make a new years resolution that lasted one whole evening "eat what I am eating or cook for yourself".  This evening I was having pumpkin ravioli with a mushroom sauce.  Steve wasn't' he was having lamb with fusilli and mushroom sauce and Tom was having steak but thank god he agreed to pasta and mushroom sauce and didn't insist on some other culinary extravaganza to go with.

Brace yourselves.  Most difficult photo challenge of the year to date.  Make a plate of raw meat look nice. Looks like something Lady Gaga might wear.

How'd I do?  Please note the one steak is for Tom, the lamb chops are all for Steve.  Many years ago he was restaurant manager of a very fancy Michelin starred restaurant where his nickname amongst the staff was "meat" which sounds sort of homo-erotic but was apparently coined the evening he ate TWO ROAST CHICKENS!!  Or so he tells me.  Moving on.

To make the mushroom sauce I softenend chopped onion and celery, added sherry and reduced.  Then I added rich beef stock and reduced further.  Seived to remove onion and celery and put the stock to one side.  Sauteed mushrooms in butter, no salt  - the stock was salty enough - and then once they were done, with all the water evaporated off,  added the stock and some cream and poured over my ravioli.


It was fantastic, if I do say so myself!  Pumpkin ravioli (Tesoc finest - I'm not THAT good!) was heavenly too btw.

And finally, I decided that whilst my eyes were chilling on my cheeks I should chop a third onion and get the minted pea puree ready for the scallops.  Softened onion, without browning - add salt if you don't want them to colour, dont if you want them all nice and dark and caramelly (thank you for that tip Nigella).  Add some veg stock to the soften onions and frozen peas and some chopped fresh mint.  Boil to reduce the stock and then blitz the whole lot to make a smooth pea puree. 


Friday nights prep and dinner done and dusted.  Thank you and good night x