"People Who Love to Eat are Always the Best People" - JC

Today would have been Julia Child's 100th birthday, so we are going to celebrate by talking affordable luxuries with added butter and garlic. Julia Child did a lot for women and a lot that changed the way women and men cook in the home. She made cooking that was once seemingly difficult or only available in restaurants accessible to everyone in their own kitchen. She is one of the 5 people (alive or dead) who I would want to have dinner with. She would be cooking, obviously. 

Who doesn't love her? Keep your mouth shut, or I will pound you with my mallet.

I finally went to the grocery store yesterday and after spending about 20 minutes making a list (while distracting a toddler) I headed out. The list, of course, stayed home. I got to the store with a general idea of what I needed and fared pretty well. When I headed to the fish monger to get some salmon I noticed that lobster tails were on sale and I could get two for around $9. What's up H-E-B? I heart you. I switched salmon for lobster in full knowledge that I had never cooked my own lobster or even had any since a fateful college limo ride to Beau Rivage about ten years ago. More on that never again. 

If you want me to level with you, I really didn't follow a French recipe with the lobster. I decided, after checking in with Google, that I wanted to bake the tails. First I had to pull the little legs off and cut them down the middle. After the fact I learned that kitchen scissors are really handy for leg removal. I let them sit out about 20 minutes to bring them to room temp. Also, I preheated the oven to 400. 

Before mutilation:

After mutilation:

I took a strong knife (I would use a thick, sharp one that is easy to control) and slowly cut down the center being careful to not slice through the meat. You can also use kitchen scissors for this if you have a good pair that let you get underneath the shell. I found the knife a bit easier. For first timers, watch out for sharp shells. All shelled friends (maybe not shrimp) can give you a nice slice to the hand. 

Here is a close up where you can see that the white shell is pulled up on the sides.

Next I took some butter and melted it. Don't get overwhelmed by this step. You can do it.

A photo, just in case you were wondering what melted butter looks like. 

 I brushed the melted butter all over the lobster tails, squeezed some fresh lemon juice on them, and finally sprinkled the insides with some kosher sea salt. I did all of this on the same baking sheet I was going to use in the oven. These are two 4 oz tails and I put them in the oven for ten minutes. 

Ready for the oven. Remove the lemon first.

 I know you all want to see how I cook kale AGAIN, so here you go. After I put the lobster in the oven, I got to work. This time I took about 4 cloves of garlic and sliced them, tossing them in a large saute pan with EV Olive Oil.

I washed and dried the kale

Then tore it off and put it in the pan with the sliced garlic, tossing it to get the garlic off of the bottom of the pan. 

Meanwhile, in another part of the house, S was grilling corn. We prefer our corn done on the grill with no foil. It adds so much to the flavor, you can baste it while it is grilling, and you can tell immediately when it is ready.

Almost ready to come off.

 Then my ten minutes were up and the lobster was ready to come out. This was possibly one of the easiest things I have ever cooked. Prep was simple, put it in the oven and then... BOOM. Perfectly cooked lobster tails. Notice how the meat has swelled up and the shell has turned a bright orange color. 

Yes and Yum

The color of lobster success.

 As the lobster cooled off, the corn came in ready to go.

I melted a little butter with crushed garlic and lemon as extra dipping sauce for the lobster, but we really didn't need it. The meat was so sweet and the basting prior to baking it really held some great flavors in there.

The grand finale.

We took the third ear of corn and cut the kernels off of the cob so that it could go with a few of Landon's meals. 

Landon Corn

In honor of JC's bday, pick up her fabulous first book Mastering the Art of French Cooking and try something new that you never even thought of. French cooking isn't always the most budget friendly or the most healthy, but it is tastes and flavors that have been around for centuries and would make a great Friday or Saturday night date night at home. 

The Simple Truth

Child ended her last book, My Life in France, with "... thinking back on it now reminds me that the pleasures of the table, and of life, are infinite - toujours bon appetit!"  

What a fantastic woman who lived a fantastic life. Let her inspire you to really see what you can do in your kitchen.

-RT

Summer Favorites: Grilled Corn & Tomato Salad and also, Icing your friends for fun

I hope everyone had a great Fourth of July. We were by the pool and surrounded by friends and family. No complaints. My only current complaint is that I'll be waking up around 5am to finish up preparations and catch our flight to Louisville. I just have really big problems being awake before my child has woken up. It seems so wrong.

Since we are getting in so early and we have three days without a baby, I told S that I wanted to buy a 12 pack of Smirnoff Ice on the way to the hotel and sit in the hotel lobby to Ice people as they arrive. What can I say, a weekend away from motherhood just screams immaturity to me.

Look everyone, someone bottled the worst hangover ever. And as a bonus, it tastes like candy.
Exclusively for high schoolers and my friend S who drinks Ice exclusively. But not now obviously, because she is preg.

Perhaps you are unfamiliar with "Icing" people. Lucky for you, I found the official rules on thechive.com since the site that started the phenomenon, brosicingbros.com, has been shut down. These are the rules in their words, with mine in red.

The Rules Are Simple:1. If you are presented with a Smirnoff Ice you MUST drop to a knee and chug it on the spot (you have been "Iced")

2. You cannot refuse the Ice, or you are a douche (But really, if you are already doing this, you might be a douche already. So I guess if I do this, I'll be a douche. Whatever.)

3. Style points are awarded for creative ways to present the ice (simply pulling it out of your pocket = boring; giving it to a waiter to bring your buddy when he orders an "Ice Water" = awesome!) (Actually, that is not awesome, it is douchy. I'm pretty sure it's better to pull it out of your pocket and laugh at the person you are giving it to.)

4. If you have an Ice on your person, you can Ice Block. When presented with an Ice, you pull out your own Ice thus reversing the Ice on the faux-bro. The ultimate Ice insult. (Faux-bro, a whole new level of douche.)

This bro has been Iced.

So now that we all know about Bros, Faux-bros, Icing and Douches, we can move on. We had one of my favorite salads today and I wanted to share it with you even though I don't have my own amazing cooking photos. It is a Grilled Corn and Tomato Sweet Onion Salad with Fresh Basil Dressing and Crumbled Blue Cheese. If you don't like Blue Cheese, don't let that turn you away from this awesome recipe. You can omit it or you can find a mild blue cheese and offer it on the side for people to add as they wish. This is a Bobby Flay recipe that S first cooked four or five years ago. I have this thing about Bobby Flay where he just smiles too much with his mouth, but looks really annoyed in his eyes. I think behind the scenes he might be a jerk. I just wanted to share that.

BUT, Mr Chef Flay's salad is PERFECT for the spring and summer grilling season and goes well with everything.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves (I like to do a chiffonade or a tight chop)
1 teaspoon of sugar
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
8 ears of corn, husked, then grilled. Then remove the kernels
1 sweet onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 pint grape or cherub tomatoes, halved
8 ounces of blue cheese, crumbled (or to taste)
Fresh Basil Sprigs (About 1/4 of a cup or 10 leaves)

A quick note on grilled corn, you can put it straight on the grill after it is husked and simply turn it as needed for 10 - 12 minutes or until it looks like this:

                              Perfectly grilled corn.

Them simply stand it up in a bowl and take a knife and slice down the sides to remove the kernels.

Combine the vinegar, basil, sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of pepper and the olive oil in a blender and blend until smooth. (I use my immersion blender as it is much easier and much less clean up). This dressing can be made 2 hours in advance and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before using.

Combing the corn kernels, onion and tomato in a large bowl. Add the dressing and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving. Top with crumbled blue cheese and garnish with sprigs of basil. (I like to toss my blue cheese in with the salad. I like the taste when it is combined with the dressing and all of the flavors) Salad can be made a day in advance of serving and can be served cold or at room temp.

Here's a pic of someone's finished product that I found online:

they shredded the blue cheese instead of crumbling it, which is also very tasty.

Get outside and get grilling! And as a bonus, my favorite bug repellent for babies and families is one by California Babies that is all natural and smells half way decent.

- RT