Tarragon Lobster Rolls

Today, while I was out shopping for the invasion of 20 boys tomorrow night, I noticed that there was a sale on lobsters.  They cried out to me.....and somehow 3 of them landed in my shopping cart.  :)  It's been a long winter in New England and a touch of summer sounded so appealing.  My new Friday night dinner became lobster rolls.  I am a believer that fresh lobster rolls don't need much; too much seasoning and you suddenly lose the wonderful taste of the lobster meat.  I shelled the lobster, added a small amount of mayonnaise, lemon juice and tarragon and we were good to go. With a warm, buttery bun they were perfect! Don't you need a little sunshine in your house?

Tarragon Lobster Rolls(makes 5 rolls)

3 1 1/4 lb lobsters, cooked, meat removed and chopped

2 tsp lemon juice

1/4 cup mayo

2tsp dried tarragon

1/2 tsp salt

top split hot dog buns

1 tbslp butter

In medium bowl, mix lobster meat with lemon juice.  In small bowl, whisk mayo, tarragon and salt.  Fold into lobster meat.  Refrigerate for at least 2 hours to meld flavors.  In pan, melt 1/2 tblsp butter over medium heat.  Add buns and cook until brown.  Add remaining butter and flip buns to brown.  Remove from pan, place on platter and add lobster mixture.  Serve immediately.

My Plans for the Weekend

This promises to be a crazy weekend in my house.  Words don't do it justice, so here goes my pictorial:

Soccer... Although we'll be indoor watching the kids play. I never take any indoor pictures because I am usually shivering in my coat wondering how it can be so cold at an indoor facility! Soccer season has started in my house!

Swimming.... and lots of it.  Sunday is my 17 year old's last big meet :(.  We've spent the last 10 years hanging out in very hot pools. (Definitely not complaining based on the cold soccer facilities).  I like to think of it as moisturizing my skin in a steam room. :)

And last but not least:

I'm going to be cooking - a lot!! I have the swim team (20 high school boys) coming for dinner tomorrow night.  I've done it before but this always scares me.  20 teenager boys are like a tornado! You have never seen large quantities of food disappear so quickly.  They walk in and, whoosh, their plates are full and they are back looking for more. 

I'll report back ......today I plan to bake a lot of yummy treats for the boys.  And... I promised the kids I would make an ice cream they could actually eat for dessert!

Happy Friday!

A wonderful dessert....

Doesn't this ice cream look wonderful?  Too bad we couldn't eat it tonight! We had a really simple dinner from my freezer stash: chicken soup.  Since I had bought the ice cream maker yesterday, I decided I would make a chocolate ice cream and try out the new machine. My kids absolutely love ice cream, especially Brittany.  As I've become more aware of reading labels, I am always amazed at what is in the ice creams at the grocery store, even high end ice cream.  Even though the ice cream I was making tonight was certainly not low fat(milk, cream, sugar, bittersweet chocolate) I think a little homemade ice cream is so much better then a big bowl of chemicals.   So, this afternoon I got everything ready and as we were eating dinner I popped it all into the ice cream maker.  It is delicious!  We all took a little taste as I was scraping it out of the bowl.  But then I realized... it was so rich and so chocolatey(is that a word?) that if we ate it tonight, we might be up all night. It was akin to having a large cup of coffee.  The kids were actually happy with their few spoonfuls, it was enough for them tonight and hopefully, we'll all sleep well and maybe I will let them have some ice cream after school tomorrow!  I am going to work on perfecting a peppermint stick ice cream in the next few days(safer then chocolate) and will post the recipe soon.  

A Variation on Spaghetti

Doesn't this look good? This was our dinner tonight... or some of ours.  I wanted to use the meat sauce I had in the freezer from a few weeks ago.  (I know what you're thinking...didn't they have sauce last week?)  I was determined that we were having spaghetti this week because last week I bought a spaghetti squash and didn't use it.  $9.43 worth of spaghetti squash!!! So, tonight I made "real" spaghetti for the kids and the adults had spaghetti squash(that's it, in the above picture). It was so delicious!  I really didn't miss the pasta at all!  I am feeling quite virtuous, in fact. :)  The kids were adamant that they weren't eating it, but I think next time I will try it for everyone.  If you are wondering how I made the squash... I put the whole thing in the oven at 375 for almost an hour.  Then I took it out, scooped out the seeds and took a fork to it, scraping out the squash, which comes out in strands just like spaghetti.  My only complaint.... it made a ton($9.43 gets you a lot of squash!) If you're on a health kick, give it a try...it makes a great pasta substitute.  

Speaking of health kick, we have one slight problem here:  I just bought an ice cream maker. Stay tuned for tomorrow night's indulgence!

Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad

And I do mean grilled!  Here's my proof I'm keeping it real:

Can you see me in the dark?  Yes, I am out in what's left of the snow, grilling my chicken!! It was worth the cold and of course, no pan to scrub.  There is nothing like chicken right off the grill. Especially in a cool salad, the combination is so yummy and enticing. Besides needing to put the chicken on the grill, I had everything prepared this afternoon so when I walked in from driving carpools tonight dinner could be ready in under 15 minutes.  Got the romaine lettuce washed and in bowl.  Grated the parm into the lettuce.  Made the croutons.  Made the croutons again(kids came home and ate them all.)  Really, I could have just served croutons and lettuce tonight with a little dressing and they would have been happy.  The croutons were to die for.  I used brioche rolls and purposely left on the crusts..... a little olive oil, kosher salt and lots of pepper and they were ready to go in the oven:

While the croutons were in the oven, I quickly put together my dressing and left it in the fridge until later.  It was so good, but just a disclaimer:  no eggs and only 1 very small clove of garlic.  I don't like a lot of garlic(nor do I like everyone reeking of it) so I don't use a lot. If you are a garlic glutton, use a big clove!!

Either way, try this salad -it is so much better then anything you will get out!

Chicken Caesar Salad

In large bowl, place torn, clean, romaine leaves from one large head of lettuce. Grate a good amount(at least 1/2 cup) of fresh parmesan cheese.  Add croutons*, 2 large sliced grilled chicken breasts and dressing**.  Toss salad!

*Croutons

3 brioche rolls cubed(makes about 6 cups)(Or leftover Italian Bread)

2 tblsp olive oil

Kosher Salt

Pepper

Toss cubes with olive oil, salt and pepper and lay on cookie sheet in single layer. Bake at 325 for 15 minutes, turning every 5 minutes.  Let cool and put aside.(Hide these if you want to have any left !)

**Dressing

2 tblsp mayonaise

1tblsp + 1tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 small clove of garlic

1/2 tsp Worcestershire 

1/2 tsp dijon mustard

1/4 tsp salt

1/4-1/3 cup olive oil(I used something in between!)

In blender mix all ingredients except oil.  With blender on low, add oil in slow, steady stream. Serve immediately or refrigerate. (If refrigerating, take out for 10 minutes before using and blend again.)

I tried it so you don't have to.....

If you are a fan of my page on Facebook, you may have seen a few weeks ago that I posted a link to the New York Times, with an idea for oven fries.  The claim was that by heating the pan first, the potatoes will get crispier. Sounded good. Don't do it!!  I am going back to my oven fries(see sidebar for recipe)! They were a total bust last night.  For whatever reason, they stuck to the pan and I was scraping potatoes off the pan to try and come up with enough to feed the crew.  And they weren't nearly as crispy as my recipe.  :(  So, the moral of the story is.... if it ain't broke, don't fix it!! 

My new favorite accessory...

Clearly, I need to get a life.  As I write this, it strikes me that many of you will think I am completely insane.  A few weeks ago when we were childless for a weekend,  Mart and I wandered into Sur la Table. (If you don't have one near you or haven't seen a catalog, its like Williams Sonoma).  We browsed in ways you never can with kids running through the store.  I managed to find quite a few things on the sale table.  Included in my stash is my new favorite kitchen accessory:

A Salt Box!  Oh, how I love this! :)  It is the most fabulous thing I have bought in a long time(hence my comment that I need to get a life).  It sits on my counter right near my stove, filled with kosher salt.  No more digging in the cabinet for the salt, no more screaming "who didn't put the salt shaker back?"  Nope, not for me.  All I do now is open the top and take a pinch (with clean hands, of course) or dip my measuring spoon into it.  Can I just say that this is life changing?  I love, love, love my salt box.  And it looks so nice on my counter, too.  Don't you need one now?