Everyone… I would like you to meet Fred. I am fairly certain that Fred knows his life is about to be over. He was flailing his claws around and freaking out while we were observing him on the cutting board. I am pretty sure he took one look at the cleaver sitting next to him and realized that his life was soon to be done.
See… he is still not a happy camper… and I soon discovered (right after I killed it) that Fred is actually a girl. Not only is Fred a girl… but she is a pregnant girl at that. Fred was ready to pop out those eggs at any moment before we so brutally took her life.
Yup that’s right… I killed my first animal… well besides the occasional mosquito and spider ya know 🙂 I took my chefs knife and was forced to sever the nerve in her head… so it was a quick painless death. (At least that’s what they told me… she really squirmed around for about 10 minutes after I killed her… but they say those are involuntary actions.) Nevertheless I was mortified.
And this is what we used Fred for, and many of her lobster friends as well as her other shellfish friends from the sea, during Culinary School this week…
Lobster a la Americaine… seriously my favorite dish of the night… the sauce which consisted of shallots, garlic, brandy, white wine, tomatoes, parsley and tarragon rocked my world. I would have eaten that plain.
Braised Minced Lobster served on Belgian Endive… Delectable!
Cajun Popcorn Crawfish… with a Red Pepper Sauce
more CRAWFISH… these little bite sized morsels were perfection!
Crab Cakes… one of my favs!
Fried Soft Shell Crabs… one downside of the “soft shell” thing – there were a lot of lost limbs while coating the crabs in tempura batter, but other than that they were luscious!
Medallion of Lobster with Saffron Angel Hair Pasta and Caviar! Seriously this is like eating a slice of heaven(with a little tiny heart attack on the side). The lobster was poached in butter (yum) and the sauce was filled with heavy cream, lobster sauce… which is made from lobster stock, and herbs. It was savory and terrific!
So after my initial horror of murdering a lobster… I quickly got over it and enjoyed all of these fabulous creations that we made. Simply delicious… but I must say that I will be spending the rest of my week at the gym and eating only fruit and veggies… haha who am I kidding! Leftover lobster with angel hair is on the menu for lunch tomorrow 🙂
When I was in 5th grade, I brought a live lobster into school for a science project. After that I brought it straight home and had my dad cook it for me. Looking back, I think maybe I was a little insensitive. Ha ha. A girl's gotta eat though! I'm so impressed you killed one yourself.
All of these dishes look fabulous. I love soft-shell crab all fried up like that.
I would gladly eat any of the dishes pictured in your gorgeous photos.
Wow, everything looks sooo delicious.
That is some really great cooking!! My husband did Lobster here at the house and I had to leave the room.
I can't wait to show my husband all of these dishes.
What luscious dishes. You are cooking some incredible stuff!
Your web site is top-notch I will have to read it all, thank you for the diversion from my classwork!