Friday, February 18, 2011

Beauty is only skin deep

Here's a picture of a perfect strawberry tart. But just like the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, appearances can be deceiving. (Sorry, guys.) Expensive fresh fruit and homemade egg custard disguising a disaster of a tart. For some reason, the dang crust stuck to the bottom of the pan like it was glued on, and the soggy thing fell apart in a glop. Bad things sometimes happen to good cooks.

But the little lobster tails turned out great on Valentine's Day. These are tricky, but I found an Expert Village video with an easy-going chef who wasn't stressed about cooking his big, fancy Maine tails. He cut the shell right down the top with scissors, pulled it apart and gently separated all the meat from the shell with his fingers. The meat then lays daintily on top so it cooks evenly, plus the diner doesn't have to wrestle a flying shell at the table. It gives that nice restaurant "cauliflower" presentation.

It wasn't hard to do. Then you just season the tails lightly and drizzle with butter. Broil for about 10 minutes. Delicious! Especially with a piece of steak.

A classic surf n' turf dinner with strawberry "pudding" for dessert.

2 comments:

  1. Yummy! We had a delicious dinner at our French Bistro. I have been eating fresh strawberries almost every day 25pesos/kg.

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  2. This is why I've come to appreciate Julia Child again. I watched her cook on TV when I was young and I thought her recipes were too ambitious for real life. Despite the "fancy" french recipes, she was a real cook. When things stuck to the pan in her kitchen, she would make do, have another glass of wine and laugh about it. She would pretty up the presentation and say "your guests will never know that happened." I've rediscovered Julia the last couple of years and now I find I wouldn't hesitate to tackle many of her recipes and I definitely cop her attitude. Whoops, that calls for a glass of wine!

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