Food Goes In Mouth

I may be stuck in a hotel without so much as a microwave or a good bottle of whiskey six pack of ginger ale clue, but that doesn’t mean I can’t find a way to cook. Check out how this pimp urban survivalist makes do (h/t Hugging The Coast):

While I do have an iron, I’m not sure I’m ready to start using it to make bread. Hell, I should probably use an oven to bake bread first. Also, my room lacks an electric kettle or coffee maker. I guess the usual upper-class hotel patrons have gotten the message through to the staff that coffee and tea do nothing to wipe away the taste of cheap sushi and hooker. So this leaves me with one viable option.

Commandeering.

This post’s wicked pro photography and kitchen facilities have been brought to you by Patricia Yee. In exchange for kitchen use she gets food and the distinction of being allowed to photograph my food with her D80 and then send me the results. :P

What I Used

• Live Lobster
• Elbow Macaroni
• Sharp Cheddar Cheese, grated or chopped into small chunks
• White Truffle Infused Brie
• Parsley, chopped
• Panko Breadcrumbs
• Whole Milk
• Bay Leaves
• Unsalted Butter

What I Did

1. Cook macaroni until not quite al dente, and strain.
2. In a pot melt butter, add bay leaves, milk, and bring to a simmer. I suggest making a standard béschamel with flour, but I didn’t do that this time.
3. Add 3/4 of the cheddar cheese, all of the truffle cheese, and the chopped parsley. Cut the heat, and stir.
4. Boil a large pot of water and move the live lobster into the water head first.
5. Cook lobster until the shell starts to turn red. This should only take a couple minutes.
6. Remove from water and harvest the claw and tail meat. The claw meat will probably be very runny still, as this is not fully cooked. Chop all the meat into bite size chunks.
7. In a baking dish stir to combine the milk/cheese mixture, lobster meat, and cooked pasta.
8. Top the baking dish with the remaining cheddar cheese, then a layer of breadcrumbs.
9. Melt some butter in a pan and pour over the breadcrumbs to assist browning.
10. Bake at 425°F for 50-60 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

With lobster currently on the cheap (got mine for $8/lb) this orgy of decadence is a steal. Considering what you would pay in a restaurant, now’s a great time to try your hand at a gourmet homemade dish like this. Just get the ratios right on the ingredients.

Yeah, I know, I didn’t include ratios. I seriously recommend just using Google. I screwed up the cheese to pasta ratio on this one so bad I feel like a douche even calling it Mac and Cheese. It’s pasta with truffle cheese flavor and lobster chunks. Which is tasty. I’ll just have to pay more attention next time.

The truffle cheese idea was born out of a conversation with Chris. He recommended boschetto al tartufo and I brilliantly forgot to write this down, so I grabbed the first white truffle infused cheese I found. Even that took a few minutes given how stupidly large the selection at Whole Foods can be in the SF bay area. But whatever, it worked. I think if the cheese is truffled up and melts well, you’re set.