Lobster Smothered In White Truffle Butter With Toasted White Corn Pancakes And Roasted Baby Beets Food

TRUFFLE LOBSTER MAC N' CHEESE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Make the lobster butter: In small bowl, add the lobster roe and macerate with a whisk. Add 2 tablespoons butter and emulsify the roe with the butter.
• Make the breadcrumbs: Heat 4 tablespoons butter in a medium skillet over medium heat until melted and foamy, about 1 minute. Stir in the breadcrumbs and cook, stirring often, until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside.
• Make a bechamel: In a medium saucepan, heat the milk and heavy cream.
• In a large saucepan, melt the remaining 6 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add the rosemary and saute until fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until it forms a light golden paste (make sure it doesn't brown), 5 to 6 minutes. Add the warm milk and cream and whisk until incorporated. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thickened and coats the back of a spoon, about 15 minutes. Add the cheeses and whisk while the bechamel cooks, but do not let it boil. Cook until the cheeses are melted, then remove from the heat and season to taste with salt.
• Add the lobster butter and truffle butter to the bechamel and stir to fully incorporate. Add the cooked pasta and lobster meat and stir gently to combine. Transfer to a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and sprinkle with the breadcrumbs. Bake until heated through and bubbling around the edges, about 20 minutes.

BUTTER POACHED LOBSTER, MUSCADE DE PROVENCE RAVIOLI, TRUFFLE BUTTER SAUCE

Steps:

• To make the lobster: Have ready a large bowl filled with ice. Fill a very large wide-bottomed pot with water and add the vinegar, carrots, onion, celery, anise seed, fennel seed, coriander seed, bay leaf, and cayenne. Bring to a boil, submerge the lobsters (cook one at a time if they don't all fit) in the pot and cook for 5 minutes. Remove the lobsters and immediately place in the ice bath to stop further cooking.
• Lay a lobster on a towel; pull the legs off and snap off the knuckles. Remove the thin part of the claws and the bone inside the claw meat by twisting and pulling it out. Lay the claw flat on a towel, cover, and gently pound with a wide mallet or heel of a knife. Use your fingers to gently push the meat through the large opening at the other end. Lay the tail meat flat and use shears to cut in half lengthwise through the middle. Remove the vein running through the inside of the tail but leave the meat inside the tail.
• For the knuckles, cut off the top joint of each knuckle and use scissors to cut away the shell along the smooth outside edge of the knuckle. Use your finger to open up the shell and remove the meat. Reserve the meat on a paper towel, cover, and refrigerate.
• For the body, pull back and discard the sack behind the head. Save the dark green roe for a sauce and the body and legs for a stock, if you want. Discard the tomalley and lungs.
• To make the beurre fondue: Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook until translucent, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the anise seed, fennel seed, star anise, cayenne, and coriander, and saute for a few more minutes. Add the wine; bring to a boil for 2 minutes. Add the butter pieces gradually and whisk consistently to obtain and emulsify the beurre fondue. Strain out the shallots. Add the tarragon. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
• To make the muscade de Provence ravioli: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Split the pumpkin and remove the seeds. Set the pieces on a roasting rack in a roasting pan. Dab pieces of the butter on the individual pieces of pumpkin. Drizzle the honey over the pieces, season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and set the cinnamon stick on one of the pumpkin halves. Pour the water in the pan and cover with aluminum foil. Bake until the pumpkin is very soft, about 1 hour. Let cool in the pan, reserving the liquid in the pan. Scrape the flesh from the rind; discard the rind and the cinnamon stick. Blend the pumpkin with the remaining liquid in the pan, strain, and refrigerate until ready to use.
• Lay out a wonton wrapper, brush with the beaten egg, and place 1 teaspoon of muscade de Provence filling in the center of the wrapper. Cover with a second wrapper and press down the edges around the filling, making sure to push all air bubbles away from the center towards the outer edges. Press on the edges to seal. Use a cutter in order to shape the ravioli or trim the edges to the desired from. Dust with flour to prevent sticking, and chill until ready to use.
• To cook, blanch the ravioli in boiling water for 1 minute.
• To make the truffle butter sauce: Mix 1 1/2 cups of the beurre fondue with the truffle and veal stock, if using.
• To make the salad: In a bowl, mix together the frisee, celery root, microgreens, almonds, and apples. Toss with the vinaigrette. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
• To serve: Immerse the lobster in the warm beurre fondue and leave for 2 minutes, off the heat, just long enough to warm up the lobster and finish the cooking. Put a spoonful of truffle butter sauce on the bottom of a plate to make a circle. Put the warm ravioli on top. Season with salt, pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Then set the lobster on the ravioli, pulled somewhat out of its shell. Add the salad on top, tucking it in some of the lobster shell.

GRILLED LOBSTER SMOTHERED IN BASIL BUTTER

Steps:

• Combine the butter, basil, and salt and pepper to taste in a food processor and blend until smooth. Pack the mixture into a medium ramekin, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Split the lobsters in half lengthwise. Bring the knife down through the tail, making sure to cut just through the meat and to leave the shell connected. Lay the lobster open, leaving the two halves slightly attached. Pull off claws and legs from the lobsters and crack them slightly with the knife handle. Place the claws and legs on the grill over medium-low heat and cover with a pie pan. Cook them for 5 to 7 minutes per side. Brush the lobster bodies with the oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Place them fleshside down on the grill over medium heat. Grill 8 to 10 minutes
• Remove the lobsters and slather with the basil butter.

JASPER WHITE'S PAN-ROASTED LOBSTER

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. For each lobster, place it on a cutting board, facing you. Place the front tip of a heavy knife in the center of the lobster, near where the carapace meets the tail. In one forceful, swift motion, split the front half of the lobster lengthwise, which will kill it instantly. Turn it around and repeat this motion, splitting the tail and the lobster in half.
• Pull the head sac out of both halves. Use fingers or surgical tweezers to remove the intestines. Place the tomalley and roe, if there is any, in a small bowl and use a fork to break it into tiny pieces; cover and refrigerate. With a knife, remove the claws and knuckles by cutting the thin sections where the knuckles meet the body. With the back side of the knife, tap the claws until the shells crack. In another swift, forceful motion, cut the tail from the body on both sides.
• Place a heavy 12-inch saute pan over the highest heat possible and heat for 3 to 5 minutes. Add the oil and heat until it forms a film over the bottom of the pan. Slide the lobster sections, shells down, into the hot oil. Using tongs, move the pieces and flatten them to sear all the shells evenly. The claws need to be seared on only one side.
• Add the tomalley and roe and stir; place in the oven for 3 minutes. Remove, return to high heat on the stove top, add the shallots and stir. Remove the pan from the heat and add the bourbon; return to the heat, where the bourbon will probably ignite. Cook until the flames die down, add the wine and cook until the pan is almost dry. Reduce the heat to low.
• Quickly remove the lobster and place shell-side down on warm plates. Return the pan to low heat, add the butter, chervil and chives and stir until the mixture resembles a creamy sauce, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, season with salt and pepper to taste, spoon the sauce over the lobster and serve.