VALENTINE’S DAY DINNER
Tag Cloud for Vanilla-Butter-Braised Lobster: Exquisite. Delicate. Aromatic. Heavenly.
How often do you serve lobster for dinner? My answer is not very. Geographically a born-and-bred Iowa girl, lobster was not a food choice in my youth. When I was a working girl, wife and mother, lobster was not a food choice in my budget. As I became more worldly and sophisticated (using the sarcasm font), lobster was a restaurant choice but always the priciest option. Since my Mother taught me to never order the most expensive item on the menu, lobster was not an option. Period.
I approached this week’s FFWD’s recipe choice, Vanilla-Butter-Braised Lobster, with trepidation. How the heck was I going to pull this off? That’s when Susan and John Lester, longtime French Fridays colleagues, threw a lifeline, inviting me to spend Valentine’s Day Weekend with them in southern California. Last Saturday evening, we enjoyed an elegant, delicious dinner: Vanilla-Butter-Braised Lobster served on a bed of Risotto alla Milanese (Risotto with Parmesan & Saffron), and lemon-steamed spinach. The wine, Chevalier de Bayard Blanc, a perfect choice. For dessert, See’s chocolate, a heart gift from John.
If you wish, freeze these in a plastic bag until you have enough seafood shells to make a flavorful broth.
Basically lobster tails are precooked for 3 to 4 minutes in well-salted, boiling water before being separated, meat from shell. Now, clarify 6 sticks of butter. Holy Cow, that’s not happening in my kitchen. (Cut that amount in half.) We short-circuited the clarifying technique by slowly melting the butter, straining it through dampened cheesecloth before returning to the sauce pan. Scrape the pulp and seeds from two vanilla pods Add that, including the pods, to the butter. Warm the mixture to infuse the flavors before adding the lobsters. Cook for about 4 minutes before serving.
Spice Envy: Susan and John’s Inventory.
Please link to Susan and John’s blog, Create Amazing Meals, for a more detailed version of this recipe.
CALIFORNIA’S GALAPAGOS
It was only last year I discovered California’s Galapagos. Never mind that in 1976 this unique environment became part of the UNESCO International Biosphere Preserve Program. Never mind that in 1980 Congress established the very precious Channel Islands National Park and National Marine Sanctuary. Never mind that I maintain a continual pout because I haven’t yet visited Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands. Lesson learned, look in your own backyard.
I shared this news flash with Melissa, my Cali daughter. “Oh, yeah,” she said, “there’s great scuba diving in the Channel Islands. Stephen and I are going there next year for our 25th wedding anniversary.”
Then the Lester’s who live in Oxnard told me the boats to the Islands left from the Ventura harbor, a 10-minute drive from their home. “When you visit us, we’ll go,” they promised.
Keeping a promise made to me a year ago, Susan and I are ready to go aboard the Island Packers. John Lester Photo
Californians must be keeping the Channel Islands as their own well-kept secret because many of my friends were as clueless about these Islands as I. Right here and now, let’s put an end to that.
We watched hundreds of dolphins swimming in the Santa Barbara Channel. Susan Lester Photo
Because pictures speak volumes, let me be brief. Last Saturday morning, following a 30-minute boat ride across Santa Barbara Channel during which we watched countless pods of Common Dolphins frolic while California Brown Pelicans, Western Gulls and Double-Crested Cormorants basked in the sun, we landed at Santa Cruz Island.
Seeing this little guy, the Island Fox, was the highlight of my trip. Endangered, by 1999 their numbers had declined by 95%. They are slowly recovering. Each of the 5 islands has its own subspecies of the Island Fox. They are found nowhere else on earth.
Santa Cruz, about three times the size of Manhattan, is the largest of the five protected islands. On this particular island there are 600 plant species, 140 land birds, 11 mammal species, large colonies of nesting sea birds, breeding seals and sea lions, three amphibian and five reptile species. Due to millions of years of isolation some of these animals and plants are found only on this island as is true with each of the five landforms. Its cultural history is rich, having been home to the Chumash Indians for 10,000 years and European explorers for 150.
Wild mustard was in full bloom and gorgeously displayed on the island’s interior hills Susan Lester Photo.
These primitive and pristine islands seem wrapped in a cocoon of reverence. There’s an aura about these wild places. My fellow visitors, I sensed, were southern Californians. Young families. Kids, carrying enormous back packs, on weekend camping trips. The excursion is not for the faint of heart. After the boat landed, we had to scramble up a forbidding-looking iron ladder to reach the pier. There are no services on the islands which must explain the dearth of older tourists. However, the day was not long enough. I was sad to leave.
Hoping to return.
FRENCH FRIDAYS LUNCH
For the past four years I’ve virtually cooked-the-book with other French Fridays with Dorie colleagues. During those years, we’ve made an effort to also know each other personally. Thus, the Lester/Hirsch friendship. Susan invited the southern Cali “Doristas” for Sunday lunch. John made delicious pork carnitas tacos and served them with his very drinkable sangria. It was a 90-minute drive and effort for both Katie, a UCSB professor and Diane, a dietician/nutritionist, but a great time was had by all.
Susan, Katie, Diane and Mary , French Fridays with Dorie colleagues. John Lester Photo
French Fridays with Dorie is a international group cooking their way through Around My French Table, more than 300 recipes from my home to yours, written by Dorie Greenspan. Find our Link here.
Wow, what a wonderful meal and adventure! You are blessed my friend ☺️☺️
What wonderful trip! Loved reading about your adventure and seeing you enjoying Valentine’s Day with your friends face to face! Loved the dolphin and fox pics too! What a highlight! We love Lobster Tails – not sure about all that butter either! Thanks again for everything
Fabulous trip and what a fun Valentine’s dinner 🙂 Doristas unite!
Gorgeous photos of the islands, Mary! I adore the one with all the mustard! Glad that the lobster worked out for you all and, as you know, we also didn’t use all the butter called for in the recipe. It was so so so lovely to meet you last weekend: it’s something I don’t think I’ll ever forget (for good reasons)!
I am so envious of your adventure but fortunate to have learned about this gem.
I also get your spice envy… What an I impressive display. I rest easy thinking that some of Susan’s spices are probably expired.
Fab pictures and agree with Katie that Susan’s mustard photo is a beauty. Did you remember to tell them about the 4 petals
I think they should pay us an advertising fee! It was such a special and perfect day – the lobster was only the icing on the cake. We enjoyed every minute of our time together and look forward to seeing you next month. I love the photo of us getting ready to get on the boat. You’ll have to share all your photos with me as well. xoxoxo
What an absolutely great post! I had no idea about California’s Galapagos (and I lived for 1.5 years in southern California), but they’re now on the long list of places I’d love to go. The photos you shared are amazing. Also so great that you’ve had the chance to become “in person” friends with so many Doristas. I love seeing all of the photos of the meet-ups.
My husband used to work for a Santa Cruz company and absolutely love it there. He has never been to those islands and would love to go. So funny to me about you not eating lobster and not ordering expensive items in restaurants. I grew up by the shore and lived on lobster rolls in the summer… as for expensive dinner items, Italians like to live large. We could always order anything we liked, especially because we didn’t go out to eat very often.
What a fun Valentine’s you had Mary! The Channel Islands look amazing. Scott and Nick (our son) went there years ago and camped for a week. They raved about the incredible beauty. Looks like they were right. You look great – looks like California is agreeing with you!
I wish we could have joined you on the island. Looks like it was wonderful. I enjoyed meeting you and spending time with you. Your blog entry is lovely. I will have to save John’s photo of us, very nice.
Did you know Maddy went to UC Santa Cruz? Now I see why! Thanks for sharing your dinner/Dorista time with us all. I ditto all your reflections on being born a landlocked Iowa girl 🙂
What a perfect weekend getaway! Good food, good friends, new friends, nature, what more could you ask for? I wish I’d known about the Channel Islands when we were out that way last summer. Next time. And what a nice way to handle the lobster challenge, sharing with other Doristas. I’ve made my way through most of the posts and so far I’m the only one who used a whole lobster. We’ll have to cook them when you’re here in October, as picnic table food, not fancy restaurant food. And that fox is absolutely gorgeous!
Mary, beautiful post as usual. I love all your adventures and the info that goes with it. It must be so much fun to be with Susan and John, I am sure you had a blast. That’s wonderful. It is also fun to cook together and enjoy all the
friendship that goes with it. I am so happy that you got to meet a few more Doristas, the group is getting bigger and better.
Love the writing, love the photos, love the people, love the recipes, love the Galapagos (in Ecuador AND Ca….have been to neither) love Sees chocolate, love Susan and John’s ridiculously organized Penzey’s mecca and simply love this post.
So so fun that you all got together.
Awesome job and so glad you had a fabulous time !!!
How wonderful that you shared this lobster experience with Susan and her husband. I have never heard of the Cali Galapagos before – but it looks beautiful.
Dear Mary, all your pictures and all your information are leaving me breathless – such an incredibly beautiful place to visit, I would love to spend some time there – nature abound – just the best…Your lobster looks out of this world delicious and I applaud you for pointing out the part about keeping the shells for a broth. You must have listened to me this morning as I was telling Thomas that I did not understand why any of the Doristas who had the fortune of enjoying some real lobster, did not mention the part about keeping the shells. Learned that in cooking school and the teacher would really scold us if we had not kept those shells…but that is another story from another life. Alll in all, I must say, the fresh prawns in vanilla butter were not all that shabby either though.
What a treat to have met Susan and her hubby (again) as well as Katie and Diane!
Fabulous pictures – I still cannot get over the beauty of the island (which, btw, I had never heard of either) –
Hope you are having a wonderful Sunday,
Andrea
I wanna go on a nature walk with Mary…
This was a very enjoyable post – filled with so many adventures and information. I love when I discover those “hidden gems” – Santa Cruz island sounds exactly like my kind of place. My secret dream is to take a trip to Isle Royale NP (Michigan) one summer, but I am pretty sure I will never get Joe to sign up for that one 🙂
P.S. Stay away from the grapefruit! We like you healthy…
I got that same lesson from my mother and here in Germany it is insanely expensive. So I don’t get to have them very often and this was a welcome excuse to splurge:-)