Maine Lobster Fra Diablo Food

LOBSTER FRA DIAVOLO

Steps:

• If you're going to make the optional lobster broth, sauté the onion, carrot and fennel bulb about 5 minutes over medium-high heat, then add the lobster shells. Crush the shells with a potato masher or somesuch while they cook. Let them cook, stirring often, for about 5 minutes. Add the bay leaves and anise seed and cover with about 1 quart of water. Simmer this about 45 minutes, or until reduced by half. Strain and reserve.
• Get a large pot of water boiling and add enough salt to make it salty. Drop the heat to a simmer and proceed.
• To make the sauce, sauté the onion in the olive oil over medium-high heat until the onion is just starting to brown on the edges, about 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in the garlic and chiles and cook another minute or three.
• Stir in the tomato paste and let that cook for 2 minutes, stirring almost constantly. Pour in the vermouth or white wine and use a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits in the pan. Add the remaining ingredients (including the reserved stock), except for the lobster and the fresh basil. Bring to a simmer, taste for salt, and let this simmer 20 minutes.
• Now you want to boil your pasta. It'll be ready when the sauce is now.
• Add the lobster and let this cook about 10 minutes, just until the chunks are cooked through. Stir in the basil or parsley and, if you want, add some lemon. Serve over the pasta.

LOBSTER FRA DIAVOLO

Steps:

• Par cook the lobster tails: Heat a large pot of boiling water over high heat. Quickly blanche the lobster tails just long enough so the shell turns red and the meat isn't fully cooked but can be removed from the shell, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the lobster tails to an ice bath to stop the meat from cooking. Turn each lobster tail onto its back on a cutting board and cut from the center belly down. Turn the tail around and cut again from the center belly down, splitting the tail in half. Use your hands to crack it open and remove the meat, reserving the shells. Chop the lobster meat into 1/2-inch pieces and set aside.
• Heat 1 cup oil in a medium saucepan to 325 degrees F. Gently drop in the quartered artichokes to prevent the oil from splashing. Crisp the baby artichokes until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Set aside on a paper towel-lined plate, season with salt and reserve for later.
• Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over high heat. Season the cod with salt and pepper on both sides, then sear the cod, presentation side down. Add a sprig of thyme and 2 tablespoons butter and allow to brown. Baste the fish with the melted butter until cooked through, about 2 minutes. Transfer the fish to a plate, making sure to leave a little butter in the skillet.
• Add the cockles and 3 tablespoons butter to the skillet and cook, uncovered, until the cockles open, about 5 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove the opened cockles to a plate. Discard any cockles that do not open.
• Add the chopped lobster to the butter and clam juice mixture in the skillet and cook until warmed through, about 1 minute. Remove the skillet from the heat.
• Meanwhile, heat the lobster broth in a medium pot over medium heat. Add the juices from the cooked cod, cockles and lobster to the broth, along with the remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Reduce the heat to low and whisk to combine until heated through.
• To assemble, add 4 tablespoons sunchoke puree to the center of a 12-inch rimmed bowl. Place a piece of cod in the center of the sunchoke puree. Arrange 7 to 8 cockles and some of the lobster around the cod. Add the crispy artichokes and garnish with picked fennel fronds and parsley. Serve with 4 ounces broth, tableside.
• Bring the cream, sunchokes and salt to a simmer in a medium saucepan over low to medium heat and cook until the sunchokes are fork tender, about 15 minutes. Place the sunchokes in a food processor or blender and puree, adding reserved cream if needed, until smooth and creamy (like baby food). Makes about 2 cups.
• Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the celery, carrots, onions and fennel. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Sweat and caramelize the veggies, about 10 minutes. Add the lobster shells to the pot, then stir and crush the bodies into the vegetables.
• Add the garlic, tarragon, bay leaf, basil, thyme, rosemary and chile flakes and bloom the aromatics for 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the butter to melt. Stir in the tomato paste and bloom for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the bourbon and white wine, stir and reduce until the alcohol is cooked off, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the lobster base and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes. Add the water and bring back to a simmer, stirring occasionally and crushing the shells to extract as much flavor as possible, 30 minutes. Strain through a sieve, pressing on the solids to get all the liquid and flavor. Strain the liquid through a fine-mesh sieve. Rapid chill in an ice bath. Makes about 5 cups.

SEAFOOD FRA DIAVALO WITH CHARRED GARLIC BREAD

Steps:

• For the lobster: Heat a large pot of water over high heat until it comes to a boil. Quickly blanch the lobsters just long enough so the shells turn red and the meat isn't fully cooked but can be removed from the shells, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the lobsters to an ice bath to stop the meat from cooking. Separate the tails and claws from the bodies, reserving the bodies for the broth. Remove the tail and claw meat from the shells and roughly chop. Set aside until ready to use.
• For the seafood broth: In an 8-quart Dutch oven over high heat, add the oil. Let get hot, then add the onion, celery and carrots and allow to saute and brown, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic, parsley, rosemary and basil and stir to combine. Allow to bloom for 1 minute. Add the reserved lobster bodies and shrimp shells and stir to combine. Add the butter, habanero, chile flakes, tomato paste, lobster base, bourbon, white wine, chicken stock and salt and stir combine. Allow this to come to a simmer and cook until mildly thick, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• Strain the broth through a wire mesh strainer into a large bowl or saucepan. Pour the broth into a blender and blend until smooth. Reserve until ready to use or keep warm in a saucepan over low heat.
• For the seafood: Heat a 14-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat and add 1/4 cup neutral cooking oil. Sprinkle the scallops with salt and pepper and add to the heated oil to sear, without moving them, about 4 minutes. Flip the scallops, then add the butter and rosemary. Once the butter has melted, add the shrimp and lobster meat to fully cook the shrimp and warm the lobster through, about 4 minutes.
• For the roasted fennel: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
• Spread the fennel on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle with the olive oil. Roast until caramelized, about 12 minutes. Reserve until ready to plate.
• For the garlic bread: Preheat a grill on high heat.
• Char both sides of the bread aggressively and evenly, about 3 minutes per side. Rub each piece of grilled bread with 2 to 3 swipes of raw garlic and place on a platter. Drizzle each piece with 2 tablespoons finishing oil and season with salt. (Yes, it's a lot of oil, I know. It's good.)
• Assemble and arrange all the seafood in the bottom of a large serving bowl or large shallow dish. Spread the roasted fennel all around and put the herbs on top. Nestle some of the garlic bread in the dish and serve the remaining on the side. Pour the broth all around the dish and serve.

LOBSTER FRA DIAVLO WITH BUCCATINI

Steps:

• Add bucatini to a large pot of boiling, salted water.
• Insert the tip of a heavy, sharp knife into the head of the lobster and cut through the head. Cut the lobster body in half lengthwise by taking firm hold of the tail and inserting a heavy, sharp knife where the tail meets the body section. Bring the knife down to the cutting board in a swift motion, cutting the body section clearly in half. Turn the knife in the other direction and cut the tail in half in the same way, splitting it right down the back. Split the claw at the joints. Split everything down the middle. Quarter each lobster half. There should be 8 small pieces of lobster.
• Heat extra-virgin olive oil in a 12-inch skillet over high heat. Add garlic and shallots and cook until they start to take color, about 10 seconds. Add lobster pieces and cook for about minute per side, until lobster is golden on both sides. Add the tomatoes and saute for about 1 minute until the tomatoes plump up and some split open. Then, add the white wine and let it simmer rapidly for about 2 minutes, until it begins to reduce a bit. Use your hands and crush the 2 tomatoes directly into the pan. Add salt and pepper, to taste, the oregano, the thyme, and the red pepper flakes. Let the mixture simmer for another 1 to 2 minutes. Drain the pasta, without shaking out the excess water. Add pasta into the pan with the lobster, tossing it for about 1 minute until it is coated with the sauce. Add parsley and basil, toss 1 more time, and serve.

LOBSTER FRA DIAVOLO

Steps:

• Heat 3 tablespoons of the oil in a heavy 3-quart saucepan. Add the onion and garlic, and saute over medium heat until they begin to brown. Stir in the pepper flakes and oregano. Stir in stock, tomato paste and bay leaf. Pour the canned tomatoes into a strainer held over the saucepan so that you add the juice but not the pulp. Chop the pulp; then, add it to the saucepan. Bring to a simmer, and cook over medium heat, stirring from time to time, for 30 minutes. Season to taste with black pepper. Set aside.
• Heat the remaining oil in a large saute pan. Add lobster pieces, and sear them over high heat, turning often, until the shells are bright red.
• While the lobster is searing, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the linguine.
• Spoon the sauce over the lobster, bring to a simmer and cook, partly covered, about 10 minutes.
• While the lobster is cooking in the sauce, add the linguine to the boiling water, and cook about 7 minutes, until al dente. Drain well.
• To serve, transfer the lobster pieces coated with sauce to one side of a large platter, leaving some of the sauce in the pan. Sprinkle with half the parsley.
• Add the drained linguine to the sauce in the pan, and reheat briefly, stirring to coat the linguine. Transfer to the platter alongside the lobster, sprinkle with the remaining parsley and serve.