Lobster affordable enough for weekday meal
| • | Thai, the Chai way |
By Bonnie S. Benwick
Washington Post
The end of 2008 saw a drop in demand for lobster, and its price fell accordingly. One result: The following recipe is affordable as a weeknight dish and suitably decadent enough to serve as a festive main course.
Use freshly steamed lobster meat or frozen, cooked lobster meat that has been thoroughly defrosted. A total of 3 1/2 pounds of live lobster ought to yield enough for this recipe, or about 3 packed cups of the cooked meat.
Serve with sauteed haricots verts. Adapted from "The Best Casserole Cookbook Ever," by Beatrice Ojakangas (Chronicle, 2008).
LOBSTER MAC WITH FOUR CHEESES
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a shallow, 3-quart casserole dish with nonstick cooking oil spray.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the macaroni and cook according to package directions. Drain; reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking water.
Mince the garlic and the shallots; they can be combined and should total about 1/3 cup. Coarsely chop the lobster meat.
Meanwhile, fill a large saucepan with about 2 inches of water; heat over medium-high heat.
Combine the cheddar cheese, 1 cup of the Parmesan, the Gruyere and the cream cheese in a stainless-steel (or heatproof) mixing bowl that will just fit over the top of the medium saucepan (so that the water will not touch the bottom of the bowl). Once the cheeses start to melt, add the milk or cream and stir gently; this process will take about 10 minutes total. Remove from the heat; cover to keep warm.
Pour out the heated water from the saucepan, then add the butter and melt it in the saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and shallots; cook for 2 minutes, until softened, then add the lobster meat and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until just heated through.
Pour the reserved pasta cooking water over the macaroni to loosen it (still in the colander); drain, then add the macaroni to the saucepan and stir to coat with the butter. Add the cheese mixture and stir to incorporate. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Transfer to the prepared casserole dish, sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese and the bread crumbs. Bake uncovered for about 10 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown. (If the topping does not brown, run the casserole under the broiler for a few minutes; watch closely to see that it does not burn.) Serve hot.
Makes 4-6 generous servings.
