Christmas Eve Warm Tea Smoked Lobster Salad with Gold and Red Beets

The combination of lobster, lightly smoked over burning brown sugar and tea leaves (my adaptation of the ancient technique of Chinese tea smoking), and roasted beets may seem odd, but I promise you they are delicious together. The Lobster is smoked ahead of time and just barely warmed before serving. The beets are best roasted the day before serving and left to sit in a dressing of fresh lemon juice and olive oil overnight to fully develop their sweet nutty flavor.

Just before serving, I put the beets and lobster in a 325 degree oven for 15 minutes to warm. To serve, arrange the beets on a platter with the lobster on top and bathe the entire salad in tarragon buerre blanc.

To Roast the beets:
2 medium sized golden beets
2 medium sized red beets
1/4 Tablespoon of olive oil
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Wash the beets and trim the top and root, drizzle with a bit of olive oil and wrap in aluminum foil.
Roast in a preheated 350 degree oven until they are easily pierced with a knife, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. When the beets are cool enough to handle simply slip off the skin with your fingers, or pare them with a knife. Slice the beets and sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Drizzle a little bit of fresh lemon juice and EVO over them, season and chill-best if made a day ahead.

To Smoke the Lobster:
2 Lobsters
1 cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons fragrant black tea-I used Jasmine

Perform the "Coup de Grace" by severing the lobsters heads between the eyes. Steam the lobsters for 8 minutes, crack the shells slightly so that the smoke can more easily penetrate the lobster flesh. I use a small electic smoker. Place a disposable aluminum cake pan in the bottom of the smoker, and spread out the brown sugar, sprinkle the tea leaves over the sugar and turn on the smoker. Place the lobsters on a rack over the sugar and tea and cover. The brown sugar disolves and burns the tea, creating a delicious smoke. When the smoke is evident, turn off the smoker and let the lobster sit in the smoky environment for 10 minutes. No longer than 10 min utes because you do not want to overwhelm the delicate lobster with too much smoke. Let the lobsters cool and then pick the meat from the shells and cut into bite sized chunks. Can be made ahead and refrigerated until needed.

Tarragon Buerre Blanc:
2 Tablespoons minced shallot
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup unsalted butter cut into small pieces
Salt to taste and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 Tablespoons of minced fresh Tarragon

Combine the shallot, wine and vinegar in a non-aluminum saute pan and reduce until the mixture is a syrupy glaze. Turn off the heat and add the butter, bit by bit and shake the pan to incorporate it-resist the temptation to stir or whisk as you get a fuller volume sauce by shaking the pan. Season the sauce with the salt, pepper, and Tarragon. This sauce does not hold well and should be made close to serving time.

To Assemble the Salad:
Gently reheat the lobster and beets in a preheated 325 degree oven, just to warm them slightly-do not let them get too hot. Arrange the beets on a serving platter and top with the lobster, drizzle the Buerre Blanc over the beets and lobster.

Seafood Tostada

I made this for myself, but it is going to be an off menu appetizer special tonight. It was too large for an appetizer, so I am going to eliminate the lobster and make it smaller. I started with a tortilla, crisped, toppped with lettuce, tomato, and thinly sliced red onions. I composed crab and lobster meat over the lettuce and placed a grilled prawn on top. I dressed the salad with a vinaigrette made with lime juice and tequila. I garnished with avocado, jalapeno,sour cream, and lime wedges. It was refreshing delightful.

New Year's Day

It has been so busy that I pretty much gave up on trying to keep this blog current. The restaurant was literally non-stop the last couple of weeks before Christmas. It has been lovely. We sold a boatload of seafood (please forgive the pun), lots of steaks and Prime Rib Roasts, over the top sauces, glazes, and garnishes, spreads, dips, and appetizers-ENOUGH ALREADY! And still today I could not control myself and made just a couple of things to nosh on while I tried in vain to connect my new Sirius Satelite Radio.

Black Eyed peas of course. I pickle them like Helen Corbett recommends. Helen Corbett was an influential foodie in the 1950's. She was cooking at a country club in Houston and was faced with the Southern tradition of serving the peas on New Year's day, when she did not care for them at all. She came up with the idea of pickling them and making a salad of them and I think I prefer them prepared this way as well. She went on to even greater fame as the creator of the Zodiac Room and menus for the Neiman Marcus Corporation.

Oysters with two toppings one bacon, leek, and hot sauce, and a second of my nephew's Mother-in-law's home preserved green tomato relish. We call them Oysters Lalette after the lady herself. It is also delicious as part of a cheese tray.

And last I made a lobster curry. I think I'll experiment with alot of Indian food in the new year. I got an antique apothecary mortar and pestle as a gift and it is perfect for grinding the spices and herbs to make curry pastes. I just split the tails and threw everything in the wok with some coconut milk, some vegetables, and diced pears. It was fantastic, but difficult to eat. Even with the shells split, the lobster meat was difficult to extract.