Corn and Lobster Chowder

When I think of New England, one of the first things that come to my mind is chowder… or as they call it "chowda." When it comes to seafood chowder, New England has the best:  New England clam chowder, Rhode Island Clam chowder, lobster chowder… you get the idea. When we were in Rhode Island last month, we had a lobster feast (remember I told you about it here?) and had some leftovers. I debated whether to make lobster salad or lobster bisque… although I like both of them, I wasn't "feeling" any of those dishes. I perused recipes for over an hour (yes, I know, I am an anal person) and found a recipe that looked interesting: Corn and Lobster Chowder.

For some reason I always thought that making chowder would be complicated and time-consuming. I was so wrong. I think I spent about half-an-hour making this dish and the most "complicated" part was making the corn puree. This is a good recipe. However, I did not taste much of the lobster. The next time I make it, I will probably add more lobster. I also added garlic because surprisingly, the recipe did not call for it. Don’t let my comments deter you from trying this recipe. It was really good – especially the following day.

Corn and Lobster Chowder
Adapted from Epicurious.com

Ingredients:
2 cooked lobster tails, cut into bite-size pieces
8 cups frozen yellow corn kernels
3 cups low-salt chicken broth
8 bacon slices, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 cups chopped onions
3/4 cup peeled finely diced carrots
2/3 cup finely diced celery
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 cups bottled clam juice
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
6 tablespoons sour cream
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter

Directions:
1.       Purée 4 cups corn with 1 1/4 cups broth in processor until almost smooth.
2.       Sauté bacon in large pot over medium heat until crisp, about 5 minutes. Transfer bacon to paper towels. Pour off and discard all but 3 tablespoons drippings from pot.
3.       Add onions and garlic to pot; sauté until light golden, about 5 minutes.
4.       Add remaining 4 cups corn; sauté 3 minutes.
5.       Add carrots, celery, and cayenne; sauté until vegetables soften slightly, about 5 minutes.
6.       Add lobster, clam juice and 1 3/4 cups broth; simmer 10 minutes.
7.       Stir in corn puré and whipping cream; simmer 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Remove soup from heat; stir in sour cream.
8.       Melt butter in medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add lobster meat and sauté just until heated through, about 2 minutes. Ladle soup into bowls. Garnish each serving with lobster pieces, bacon, and chives and serve.

Causa Limena - A Potato and Tuna Dish From Peru to Your Kitchen

Have you tried Peruvian food? If not, I highly recommend it. I am lucky to have a friend from Peru who has introduced me to several traditional Peruvian dishes such as papas a la huancaina, Peruvian ceviche, alfajores, and today’s recipe, causa limena. I have enjoyed each and all of them.

Causa Limena is a cold, layered, potato and tuna dish that is very enjoyable during the summer with a glass of cold vinho verde.  I bet that you have almost all the ingredients for this dish in your kitchen: potatoes, canned tuna, eggs, tomatoes and mayo. One ingredient that you probably don’t have is “aji amarillo,” which you can either find as a powdered spice or paste. Its taste is similar to a mix of Hungarian paprika and yellow pepper: spicy but fruity at the same time. You may be able to find it at your local grocery store but if not, you can find it online.  Aji Amarillo is a staple in Peruvian cuisine so if you buy it, you’ll find that you can use it in many other dishes, such as papas a la huancaina.  

If you have brunch at your house before summer is over, why don’t you surprise your guests with this Peruvian dish? I can assure you they’ll like it.

Causa Limena

Adapted from Daisy: Manana, Mediodia y Noche

8 servings

Note that some recipes don’t call for the chopped jalapenos, sliced tomato and egg. So, feel free to skip them.

Ingredients:

4 potatoes

5 tbsp. aji amarillo paste

2 cans of tuna in water (5 oz. each)

2/3 cup mayo

1 stalk of celery (chopped)

1 small jalapeno pepper (chopped)

1 roma tomato (sliced)

1 boiled egg, sliced

1 lime (juice)

Salt & Pepper



Aji Amarillo Paste

Directions

1, Peel the potatoes and cook in boiling water until soft.

2, Mash until relatively smooth. Add lime juice, salt, pepper and aji amarillo.

3. Mix well. Set aside for 1/2 hour.

4. In another bowl, combine the tuna, mayo, chopped celery, chopped jalapeno, salt and pepper.

5. in an 8x4 glass dish, spread a layer of mashed potato, a layer of tuna filling, half of the diced tomato and half of the diced egg. Repeat one more time and finish with a layer of potatoes.

6. Cover with plastic wrap and chill until cold.

Enjoy!

Raspberry Cupcakes with Mascarpone Cheese

I have a surprise for you today… my friend Amanda is a great baker. In fact, her specialty is cupcakes! For a while, she has been concocting different recipes (such as avocado cupcakes) and about two weeks ago, she created a facebook page dedicated to her creations. Although I love cupcakes, I have never made them, can you believe that? So, I asked her if she would share with me and you one of her favorite recipes… and she obliged. Here she is:

Hello my name is Amanda and I, along with my partner Whitley, have created SasCakes Cupcakes (http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/SasCakes-Cupcakes/197983710259310 ). We decided to make cupcakes simply because we love cupcakes and good ones. SasCakes is about using really good and fun flavors and creating really good combinations. When you visit our Facebook page you’ll be seeing a lot of really great recipes and recipes that are really easy to make. This recipe was a great one that I created because I love berries, and berries just scream summer! It’s a Chocolate Raspberry cupcake with a Raspberry mascarpone icing. I loved the cupcakes and I hope you love it as well.

 

  

Raspberry Cupcakes           
Ingredients

1 1/2 cups Flour
1 1/2 tsps baking powder
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup raspberry puree/ or desert filling
1/2 of lemon juice
 4 blocks unsweetened chocolate (melted)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup half &half

Directions:

1. Mix the flour and baking power in a bowl.
2. In a separate bowl using a hand mixer, mix together sugar and butter until it starts looking fluffy.

3. Then in the bowl that has the sugar and butter mixture, add the eggs one at a time. Then add the vanilla extract, lemon juice, raspberry puree, and the melted chocolate.

4. When the wet ingredients are mixed together making a smooth batter, start adding the mix of flour and baking power slowly. Add the half and half and mix.

5. Take a cupcake pan and line them with your favorite kind of cupcake liners, scoop the batter into each of the liners, making it half full.

6. Put the pan into the oven at 325 for 20 minutes, checking the middle with a toothpick to make sure it is cooked thoroughly. Once they are cooked, take them out of the pan and let them sit until they are cool, after cooling start icing and enjoy

 

Raspberry mascarpone icing

Ingredients:

6 tbsp. unsalted butter

1/2 cup confectionary sugar
8 oz mascarpone cheese
1/4 cup raspberry puree

Directions:

1. Beat the butter and confectionary sugar together in a bowl until it is combined.

2. Add the mascarpone cheese and raspberry puree in to mixture and fold until smooth.

3. Add it to your wonderful cupcake!

ENJOY!
Amanda Behr