Shangri Lee Lobster With Crispy Spinach Recipes

SANDRA'S SHANGHAI LOBSTER

Steps:

• Fill a pot large enough to hold the lobster tails with water. Add the salt, pepper, celery, onion and thyme, and bring to a boil. Add the lobster tails. When the pot returns to a boil, remove the tails and set them aside. They will not be fully cooked but will finish cooking in the sauce.
• Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook until soft. Add the wine and cook until it is reduced by half. Add the garlic, ginger, curry powder and red pepper flakes. Cook for 1 minute. Add the clam juice and cook until it is reduced by half, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the coconut milk, cream and soy sauce, and then bring to a simmer. Add the lobster tails to the pan. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for 5 to 6 minutes. Remove the lobster; set aside and keep warm. Turn the heat to medium-low and cook until the liquid is thickened and reduced by half, 6 to 8 minutes. Taste, and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.
• To serve, put a pile of jasmine rice onto a plate. Nestle a lobster tail next to the rice. Pour over some sauce and garnish with the Crispy Fried Spinach.
• In a deep fryer or a Dutch oven filled about halfway with oil over medium-high heat, bring the oil to 375 degrees F.
• While the oil is heating, look through the spinach leaves and pick off any tough stems. Gently drop a small handful of leaves into the hot oil. Be careful as the oil will splatter. Cook for about 30 seconds, turning once, and remove leaves to paper towel lined plates to drain. Season with salt. Serve as soon as possible.

BRICK HOUSE MARY

Steps:

• In a large pitcher, combine the vodka, vegetable juice, Worcestershire sauce, horseradish, and jalapeno juice; mix thoroughly. For each cocktail, rub a lemon wedge around the rim of a 12-ounce high-ball glass and dip the glass upside-down into the celery salt, coating the rim with salt. Fill the glass with ice and pour the drink mixture over top. Garnish with a lemon wedge and a whole chili pepper. Repeat for each cocktail and serve immediately.

CRISPY LOBSTER SKEWERS WITH GREEN PAPAYA AND MINT SALAD

Steps:

• Put coconut into a plastic bag and drop the bag onto a hard surface to split the coconut and catch the liquid. Remove the outer shell and discard. Finely grate 1 cup of fresh coconut. Thinly shave the remaining coconut into moon shaped pieces. Toast shavings lightly and set aside for garnish.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Drop live lobsters into a pot of boiling water and cook for only 5 minutes. Remove the lobsters from the water and plunge them into a large bowl or pot filled with iced water to stop the cooking. The lobsters should be cooked early in the day so the lobsters have time to reabsorb their wonderful juices.
• In a 2 quart saucepan, add the oil and butter. Remove the claws and tails from all the lobsters. Set aside. Remove the outer shell from 3 of the lobsters. Saute the 6 lobster bodies over medium high heat until a little bit colored. Leaving some of the shells on will give your sauce a pink cast.
• Add the shallots, chile, and lemongrass. Cook gently until tender. Deglaze the pan with white wine. Add grated coconut and ginger. Add enough cold water to barely cover the lobster bodies. Add curry paste or curry powder. Let sauce simmer slowly for 20 to 30 minutes until reduced, showing a little "body".
• Add heavy cream and let sauce reduce slightly. Add lime juice and lime zest. Add salt and pepper, to taste. Finish with 2 tablespoons of butter for silkiness.
• Strain sauce. Take approximately 1/2 of the solids and puree in blender with some liquid. Add pureed solids back to sauce. Set aside.
• Remove claw meat from their shells. Split the tail, removing all the shell carefully from the tail, except the last segmet of shell connected to the actual tail flippers.
• Skewer the 2 segments of the tail with 1 claw and 1 piece of scallion in between. You will have 6 skewers.
• Beat the egg whites with the 2 tablespoons of cold water to thin out. Dip each skewer lightly into the egg white mixture. Very delicately, sprinkle water chestnut flour all over the lobster. Don't pack on too much.
• Bring a large pot of peanut oil to 350 degrees. Fry 2 skewers at a time. They will only take approximately 2 to 3 minutes to crisp. Remove skewers from the oil and drain. Place in barely warm oven while the other skewers cook.
• To serve, place finished skewers on plate with your delicate salad leaning against the lobster. Spoon the curried coconut sauce around the plate and garnish with toasted coconut "moons".
• In a large bowl, assemble the salad, combining the green papayas, the mint, the Upland or watercress, daikon, carrot, cucumber, and scallions rounds. Dress salad with vinaigrette right before serving.
• Yield: 6 servings
• Whisk together rice wine vinegar, Nam Pla, ginger and oil. Set aside.
• Yield: approximately 1/2 cup

SZECHWAN CRISPY BEEF

Steps:

• Trim away fat from steak. Slice across the grain into 1/4-inch thick slices. Slice steak again across the grain for matchstick pieces of steak. Set aside.
• Add 2 tablespoons of oil to a hot wok or large skillet over high heat. Add carrots and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Remove carrots and set aside.
• Add enough oil to coat the bottom of the wok or skillet. Once hot, add beef strips and stir-fry for 8 to 10 minutes, or until beef is dark and crispy. Be careful as beef will splatter for the first 3 to 4 minutes while it loses its moisture.
• Remove beef from skillet and drain out all oil, except for 1 tablespoon, if desired. Add scallions and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add carrots and beef back to skillet. Stir-fry for another 30 seconds. Add stir-fry sauce, sherry, and chili-garlic sauce. Stir-fry for another 30 to 60 seconds. Garnish with green scallions and serve hot.

PARMESAN CREAMED SPINACH

Steps:

• In a small saucepan over medium heat, warm the milk. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Whisk the flour into the butter and cook for 2 minutes to make a roux. Whisk in the warm milk a bit at a time to avoid lumps. Cook until the sauce begins to thicken, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the pumpkin pie spice and a pinch of salt and pepper. Turn the heat to low, stir in the cheese, and let melt. Stir in the spinach and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes to heat it through. (Save 1 cup for Round 2 Recipe Spinach and Cheese Souffle).