Tonight’s dinner is brought to you by the letter L…. L is for lobster. L is also for lamb, and of course L is for lemon. Now that I think of it, L is for luscious, and that is what we were going for. This Monday was a special night, as we have no rehearsal on Easter Monday, plus we have some special guests with us, Susan, Craig and Tina. Since it’s just a day after Easter, we thought of something Easter inspired.
For our appetizer the newf in me took over. Shawn found Jamie Kennedy’s recipe for lobster eclairs. We decided to change it up and grilled the lobster instead of the standard boiling. The one issue we had, was that the recipe in the book, was not correct. I have made Choux pastry many times, and I knew something seemed odd about this recipe, but thought that perhaps it was just a different take on an old favorite….. Nope, it was just wrong. It took a couple attempts to get them just right, since the next batch just wasn’t large enough. Finally we had the perfect shells. Light pastry filled with Grilled lobster, cider mayonnaise, fennel, fresh herbs and a touch of arugula. This was a lovely start to the evening, served with Flat Rock Cellars Riddled Sparkling Wine.
This Monday I was not feeling well, so once the main was underway and the lamb grilling, it was time to make my departure, for a nice long nap. Luckily most of the prep was done. Shawn was stalwart with the main of Lamb Navarin over buttered egg noodles, and topped with a lamb chop (if some lamb is good, more is well, divine). The lamb was stewed with carrots, lima beans, turnip and peas. Luckily I was able to sample this, while we were prepping. The stew was rich and warming and the chop had a completely different texture and flavour. Since lamb used to be available only in the spring, this just reminds us of spring and Easter.
For dessert, a spring classic, with a twist, Thomas Keller’s Lemon Tart with a Pine nut Crust and Mascarpone cream. I didn’t get to try this until the next night, but it was worth the wait (I’m glad Shawn hid a piece from Craig.) This was accompanied with our new favorite liqueur, Sortilege.
Now I was not there, but I am told that there was a Liederabend, with Craig singing Arthur Sullivan’s the lost chord (I hope he found it.) Susan sang Gretchen am Spinnrade, and Shawn and Tina took turns on some Lieder hits such as Nacht und Traume, Du Bist die Ruh. I was lucky enough to wake up in time to hear a rousing rendition of Erlkonig, with Craig as the father, Shawn as the devil (big surprise) and the ladies as the child. Honestly how often do you get to hear quality Lieder like this??? Through it all Steph was playing virtuostic piano to accompany it all. I’m glad I returned in time for this finale.
So after a meal of L’s, they finished with another… Lieder! Without even planning it, the night wrapped up nicely.
Thanks for providing a suitable wrap up to the Easter weekend. Now it’s back to work until ‘Judith’ is a wrap. I like the links on the blog – cool to click through to see the nice wine we served with your tasty creations. Happy Easter all!
it looks fantastic and I hear it tasted the same