Indulgent Saturdays

There are days for light dinners and days for quick dinners, but some days you want something indulgent, that takes a little time and effort. Today was definitely one of those days.

Inspired by the wine maker at the Kacaba Vineyards wine tasting last night, who regaled us with the lobster Mac and Cheese he was making for his girlfriend, when I found a bag of wild caught lobster claws in the freezer I knew what dinner would be!

First things first you need to pull together your ingredients, since the lobster claws aren’t quite as meaty as a lobster tail I added some bay scallops to fill it out.

1lb Noodles (what ever your favourite short noodle is, I love a spiral macaroni so that’s what we went for)

150g each of white cheddar, gruyere, and jarlsberg

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 lemon

200gr bay scallops

500gr lobster claws

1/2 cup panko

1/4 cup parmesan

1/4 cup fresh parsley

1/4 cup fresh tarragon

Fresh grated nutmeg

Salt and pepper

The key is to amplify the lobster flavour where ever you can, so the first thing I did was extract all the lobster claw meat from the shells. In one pan I combined the lobster meat, 1/4 cup of butter, and the juice of one lemon (before juicing zest it and set to the side), adding about a tbsp of the tarragon. Putting it on low heat I let it poach anc infuse with all that delicious flavour. Meanwhile I threw the lobster shells and the squeezed lemon into a stock pot, filled it with cold water, and brought to a simmer.

While those both bubbled away I grated my cheese, and prepped the crumb topping. Combining the lemon zest, panko, grated Parmesan, and diced parsley and tarragon in a bowl, stir to combine and set aside.

At this point preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Once that’s done use a slotted spoon to pull the lobster meat out of the lemon butter and replace it with the bay scallops, lightly poaching them for 5-7 minutes till just cooked through.

When those are done pull the scallops out and set aside with the lobster meat, and pour the remaining lemon butter (full of lobster flavour) to the side.

Once the lobster shells should have simmered for 30 minutes strain the shells and lemon out and put the liquid back into the stock pot and bring to a boil. This is what you’re going to boil your pasta in, so if you feel like you need more liquid than you have just top it up with cold water. Bring to a boil and add your pasta.

While that comes to a boil combine 1 tbsp of the remaining butter with 1 tbsp of flour in a pan and cook, stirring constantly, until the raw flour smell disappears but before it starts to brown.

Once you reach that point add the poaching liquid and stir to combine, then add your cream, and wine and bring to a simmer. Add your grated cheese a small handful at a time until it’s all combined. Then you can add salt and pepper to taste, as well as about a 1/4 tsp of freshly grated nutmeg.

Once your noodles are cooked (I usually go for 1 minute less than the recommendation for al dente) strain and combine in a bowl with the lobster, scallops, and 3/4 of the cheese sauce.

Now you can either pour it all into a baking dish, or if your feeling it, divide into individual baking dishes and top with the remaining cheese sauce.

Finally sprinkle the panko mixture over top and drizzle with 2 tbsps of melted butter.

Place the dishes on a baking sheet (in case of any bubbling over) and bake for 30 minutes till the top is crisp and brown and the cheese is bubbling on the edges.

Serve hot, on its own or with some steamed veggies or a light salad. We went with some steamed asparagus, but also some fresh Parker house rolls (apparently we are doubling down on carb filled goodness!).

Enjoy!