Lobster Devilled Eggs

For Randal's birthday dinner last week he chose to go to Pappas Brothers Steakhouse.  Neither of us had been before but on the recommendation of a co-worker we decided to go.  One of the first things we saw on the menu were these lobster devilled eggs with chili oil and topped with honey black pepper bacon.  They serve theirs with the yolk mixture in a little jar and you assemble the eggs yourself.  We both loved them so much that while still eating them we were talking about making them at home for Easter.  If you like devilled eggs then give this version a try, it is addicting!

Eggs
4- oz Lobster tail, steamed
Bacon
Honey
Mustard
Mayonnaise
Salt and pepper
Chili oil

This is a simple recipe for such an impressive looking appetizer and obviously the ratio of ingredients will change depending on how many eggs you boil.  We made 6 eggs and had lobster and bacon leftover.

Place the eggs in a pan of cold water.  Bring to a boil, cover and remove from heat and leave for 10 minutes, then place eggs directly in a bowl filled with ice water, leave to cool.

While the eggs are cooling, preheat the oven to 400.   Place as much bacon as you need for the amount of eggs you boiled (I made 4 slices) on a baking tray.  Melt 1/4 cup of honey in a small pan and brush half of it over the bacon and season with back pepper.  Bake for 10 minutes, then flip over bacon brush on remaining honey and season with more black pepper. Bake for an additional 5-10 minutes.

To prepare the lobster, crack the shell of the lobster tail so that you can pull the meat out on top and rest it on the shell (still attached at the base of the tail).   Put about 1 cup of water in a small shallow pan and bring to a boil.   Add the lobster tail, about 2 tbs of butter, and pour about 1 ounce of lemon juice (fresh or bottled) over the tail.   Cover with a lid and let boil for about 3 or 4 minutes, until meat is a solid white.   Lobster cooks very, very quickly, especially a 4oz tail.    Remove from the pan and cover with a little more butter (some people also like a sprinkle of paprika or cayenne on top), let it cool.    Once it is cool enough to handle, pull the meat completely from the shell and cut into small pieces for topping the eggs.

Slice the eggs in half and remove the yolks.  Mash the yolks with mayo and mustard to taste and season with salt and pepper.  Drizzle the egg whites with chili oil and fill with the yolk mixture.  Top with the lobster and the honeyed bacon.

Shrimp Voodoo

If you have ever had the lobster voodoo at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, this is exactly the same just made with shrimp.

Whenever we go to Ruth's Chris we always order the same things, and we always start with the fried lobster in a spicy sauce, after our last visit for our anniversary this year I decided to search for the recipe and I just so happened to find a video recipe of the exact one, we tested the recipe with shrimp though and loved it so much we have been making it every Sunday for the past few weeks!

1 lb shrimp
1 cup corn starch
1 tbsp blackening spice
1 tsp salt

Sauce:
1 cup mayo
¼ cup sweet thai chili sauce
¼ tsp tabasco
½ tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp sriracha

Mix all the sauce ingredients together in a bowl, and refrigerate until needed.  Can be made a day ahead.

Combine the corn starch, blackening spice and salt in a large bowl.  Coat the shrimp in the corn starch.  Fry at 375 for 2 or 3 minutes, until golden brown.  Toss shrimp in the sauce and serve immediately.

Jambalaya

Time for another Secret Recipe Club reveal.  This month I was assigned the blog close to home.  I love getting my assignment each month, and getting to look through all the recipes on that blog.  The first thing I noticed about this blog was how nice and bright the pictures are.  I really need to improve the pictures on my blog, but I need a new camera first!

One of the first recipes I found ended up being the one I went back to and decided to make.  I have never made jambalaya before, and it seemed seasonally appropriate and Randal very much wanted to try it, and I am very glad that we ended up loving it as it made a huge amount and we were eating it for days!

8 chicken thighs
1 lb sausage
1/2 lb shrimp
1 onion, diced
2 red bell peppers, diced
2 cups diced celery
3 cloves garlic
1 jalapeno, minced
1 28 oz can whole tomatoes
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp cajun seasoning
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tbsp tomato paste
5 cups chicken stock
3 cups rice
3 bay leaves
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup chopped spring onion
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

Heat oil in a large pan, add sausage and cook until browned, around 8 minutes. Remove sausage and add chicken thighs and cook for 5 minutes per side to brown them.  Remove from pan.

Add the butter, followed by the onion, celery and bell peppers to the pan.  Cook for 10 minutes, until softened.  Add the canned tomatoes, garlic, jalapeno, tomato paste, oregano, thyme and cajun seasoning.  Pour in the stock and bring to a boil.  Add the rice, salt and pepper, bay leaves and the chicken and sausage.  Cook for 30 minutes.  Add in the shrimp and cook for 5 more minutes, before mixing in the spring onion, parsley and lemon juice.

An InLinkz Link-up

Lemon-Garlic Shrimp and Grits

I made cream cheese grits with bacon wrapped shrimp a few weeks ago, and we both enjoyed it so much that I wanted to make another shrimp and grits recipe, but this time something a bit less rich than the cream cheese grits.  These lemon and garlic shrimp with bacon and cheesy grits were so good, I love anything with lemon and shrimp is no exception!

3 cups milk
3/4 cup grits
2 cups cheddar, grated
4 slices bacon, chopped
1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 garlic cloves
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 spring onion, chopped
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

Bring the milk to a boil in a large pan, add the grits and season with salt and pepper.  Reduce heat to medium and cook for 25 minutes, stirring often.  Add in the cheese and stir until melted.

Fry the bacon in a large pan, remove bacon and add shrimp to the bacon fat and cook for a minute or two, add in the lemon juice, garlic, spring onion and parsley and cook for 2 or 3 minutes, until the shrimp are cooked through.

Serve the shrimp and bacon over the cheesy grits.

Cream Cheese Grits with Bacon Wrapped Shrimp

Grits are not something I eat often, I had never had them at all until I moved to America and even now I only really eat them when we go to Cracker Barrel for breakfast, so I am mostly used to cheddar cheese grits.  When I saw these cream cheese grits over at The Caramel Jar I knew I had to make them as Randal loves cream cheese in place of other hard cheeses and even though shrimp and grits wouldn't usually be something that Randal would eat I had a feeling these would win him over.

These grits are seriously rich and creamy and different to any other grits I have tried, but I was right though, Randal loved them!

1 cup grits
2 cups whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
1/3 cup cream cheese
salt and pepper to taste

large shrimp
bacon

In a large pan heat the milk and cream until simmering.  Add the grits and stir often until cooked, about 25 minutes, add in the cream cheese and season with salt and pepper.

To make the shrimp, preheat the oven to 425

Cut each bacon strip in half and wrap each bacon half around a shrimp.  Heat a frying pan over high heat and brown the bacon on each side before placing the shrimp on a sheet pan and baking for 5-7 minutes, until the shrimp are cooked through.

Fish and Chips

Last Saturday was the first new doctor who episode of the year, so I thought a nice English dinner of fish and chips would be perfect. I looked around at lots of different recipes for the batter and they were all quite similar, however the garlic parsley chips from notions of a novice cook looked amazing, certainly nothing you would find in an English chippy though.  We had minted mushy peas with our fish and chips but curry sauce would have been equally as amazing and authentic, just don't forget the malt vinegar!

4 cod fillets
6 ounces plain flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 (8 fluid ounce) bottle british beer

juice of 1/2 a lemon

salt & pepper
extra flour

Garlic Parsley Chips

4 large potatoes

2 cloves garlic

fresh parsley

salt

Make the batter for the fish by putting the flour, baking soda, salt and pepper in a large bowl.  Slowly stir in the beer and whisk until it is smooth.  Add in the lemon juice.

Dredge the fish in flour then coat in the batter and drop straight into a deep fat fryer heated to 375.  Fry for 6 to 8 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish.

To make the chips, peel and chip the potatoes.  Cook them in a deep fat fryer at 320 for 3 or 4 minutes, long enough to soften the chips but not brown them.  Remove from the fryer, raise heat to 375.

While waiting for the fryer, finely chop the garlic and parsley and set aside.

Drop the chips back into the fryer and cook for another 3 or 4 minutes, until golden brown.  When the chips are cooked, toss with the garlic and parsley and season with salt.

Lemon Pepper Shrimp

I was a little worried that Randal wouldn't like these lemon pepper shrimp as he usually only likes shrimp if they are fried and served with tartar sauce, but he actually really liked this, we both did!


1 lb medium shrimp
½ cup cornstarch
1 cup vegetable oil
1 lemon, sliced
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic
½ teaspoon fresh ginger
1/3 cup soy sauce
¾ cup water
2 teaspoons cornstarch
¼ cup dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoons course ground black pepper

Place the 1/2 cup of cornstarch into a plastic bag, add the shrimnp and let sit for 5minutes.

Heat the cup of vegetable oil in a wok, add the shrimp and fry for about 4 or 5 minutes, until cooked through. Remove shrimp and discard the oil.

Heat the 1 tablespoon of oil in the wok, add the garlic, ginger and sliced lemon and stir fry for a minute. Add the soy sauce, combine 2 teaspoons of cornstarch in 3/4 cup of water and add to the wok. Add the brown sugar, lemon juice and black pepper, cook for another minute or two. Remove from heat, add the shrimp and coat in the sauce, serve immediately.

Salmon Burger

I saw this recipe in the food network magazine and I've been waiting for a chance to make it, and it was worth the wait! unfortunately the hubby did not agree and he ended up eating a regular hamburger.


1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
1 cucumber, peeled and sliced
1 pound salmon fillet
3 large eggs, 2 hardboiled and sliced
1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 rolls, split and toasted

1. In a small bowl combine the yogurt and mint, season with salt

2. Slice the salmon lengthwise into 1/4 inch wide strips, cut in half crosswise, then cut into 1/4 inch pieces. Beat the raw egg with 1/2 tsp salt and add to the salmon

3. In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil over medium heat, add the salmon mixture in 4 mounds, gently press to form 4 patties. Cook, turning once for 6 minutes

4. Place a salmon patty on each roll bottom, top with 2 tablespoons of the yogurt-mint sauce, some cucumber and hard boiled egg slices

See other recipes at The Grocery Cart Challenge, Eat At Home