My pictures of this are not as good as they should be, but the flash kept drowning out the goodness.
I made Lobster Mac N Cheese for dinner last night to celebrate Mr Carinae’s return from a particularly harsh international travel week — Monday he left for London and Stockholm…and then he returned on Friday. It was a brutal trip for all involved. Unless you’re fortunate enough to find old school McDonald’s apple pie like one of the guys did. You know the kind – the deep fried kind. Or are you too young to remember that?
This is a dish I don’t make often because lobster can get pricey. For this particular round I used 2 lbs of lobster claws and tail. I purchased it from a local place here in the Bay Area called New England Lobster. If you live in the Bay Area and haven’t gone, you really must.
Originally located in South San Francisco, they sold fresh Maine lobster that was flown in daily. They eventually expanded to scallops, clams, shrimp, etc. They just recently moved to their new Burlingame location – like within the past month and a half – and it has kind of exploded! Now not only do they sell the things they did at their old location, but now they offer food as well. For those of you looking for an Old Port Lobster Shack, you may be disappointed. They do the bone basics here and they do it well. There are no french fries, but they have freshly made chips. Price for food isn’t much different (maybe by a dollar) and just knowing you’re steps away from fresh seafood makes me all crazy.
Anyway, I purchased 2 lbs of fresh lobster claws and tails for a little over $60. Yes, I know I can go to the Asian markets, but this lobster tastes so much sweeter and fresher than their stuff that I’m willing to fork out extra $$ just for that alone.
Some notes about the recipe…
I used 3 cheeses – gruyere, parmesan and cheddar. You can always shred up a bit more for you can never have too much cheese. NEVER! For the cheddar, if you can, go to Costco and get the Kerrigold Irish Cheddar. It’s sharper and heartier and yields a much more flavorful cheese blend than using American cheddar. We will not discuss my cheese snobbery. Gruyere gives the cheddar a nice earthy balance. It’s good and so worth it. Parmesan gives it the salty bite. You can always leave it out. I added dijon mustard for a bit more tangy flavor that goes well with the lobster. Cayenne pepper gives a tiny bit of heat that isn’t noticeable, but adds a nice subtle smokiness to it that one would think I used bacon in there somewhere!
Finally I said 4 cups of milk (make sure it’s full fat and not that skim/2% stuff) because I prefer a tiny bit more liquid so my bechamel is creamier and cheesier…I like my mac and cheese to have cheese sauce, too…I know some who like it all perfect. Not me!
Anyway, here are some pics and the recipe is at the bottom. As always, if you like what you’ve read, please make sure to click Like at the bottom.
Thanks for stopping by!
Lobster Mac and Cheese before going into the oven
Lobster Mac and Cheese – it’s what’s for dinner!
Recipe:Â Lobster Mac & Cheese
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