Lobsters are known as a luxury food item globally, and if you go to a restaurant and order a live lobster from the tank, you should be ready to pay a hefty price by the end of dinner. However, if you have access to a very good fish market, you may be able to save on the hefty price tag and cook lobster at home for a special occasion. The next question is, how do you then cook a lobster after purchase? Should they be alive when purchased or dead?

Look, as a general rule in restaurants, lobsters are always purchased live. This is because once a lobster dies, they spoil quite easily, and can cause severe food poisoning. So if you have the fridge space at home I would buy the lobster alive then put it in a container with ice in the fridge. The low temperature in the fridge or freezer disorients the lobster, and makes them easier to handle. Bring a pot of salty water to the boil then dunk the lobster in, a kilo of lobster takes about 12 minutes to cook, and each 500g adds 5 minutes.

If it’s illegal to boil lobster where you live, your other option after putting the lobster in the fridge is stabbing the lobster in the space between the head and body then splitting it straight in half lengthwise. I hate this method because I have to physically stab a live animal, so I prefer the boiling method.

I love this dish because let’s face it, it’s absolutely impressive. I like adding caviar and pairing with champagne. It’s absolutely perfect for a romantic dinner at home or to cook on a special occasion. I add this dish to my catering menu when I know it’s a sit down and a special occasion, and people just love it and never forget it, and my clients don’t even mind the hefty price tag and most of them even add-on the optional caviar.

The sauce is a beurre blanc. Beurre blanc is a classic French white sauce made by reducing white wine, bouquet garni and French eschallots then adding butter while whisking constantly to make a rich and creamy sauce. The key is to not bring the liquid to the boil to avoid splitting. When done correctly, you get a shiny sauce that hugs each spaghetti noodle without running all over the plate.

To be honest, I don’t think I’ve done any justice to this dish with the photos that I took, because this is me plating it and shooting it right before dinner. Next time I plate this up for a catering function, I will make a note to take a nice photo, but for now, this is the homely version of this beautiful and delicious lobster spaghetti. Don’t forget to pop the champagne! Happy eating!

 
Difficulty: Medium

Lobster Spaghetti

Serves 2

Ingredients

Instructions

0/5 Instructions
  • Cook pasta according to packet and set aside. In a small sauce pot, place tarragon, eschallot and white wine together. Reduce until the liquid is halved. Drain and discard the tarragon and reserve the eschallot. Place the liquid back in the sauce pot.
  • Heat the liquid back up and start adding in the cold butter cubes gradually while whisking continuously. Keep whisking until the liquid starts to thicken. Do not bring the liquid to the boil or it might split. When the sauce has emulsified, take off the heat and set aside until ready to use.
  • Take the flesh of the lobster from the shell and reserve the head. Cut the lobster to bite size pieces.
  • Heat the sauce up in a medium pot that could fit the pasta, lobster and sauce. Toss the pasta, the eschallots and lobster in the warm sauce until everything is coated. Season with salt & pepper, sprinkle with chives.
  • Twirl the pasta using a carving fork and place on a long platter. Use the head as a garnish, making it look like the pasta is the lobster's body. Sprinkle with chopped chives. If using caviar, place the caviar on top. Serve immediately.

What is a beef stroganoff? When I was in uni, I would often go to The Chocolate Kiss cafe at the Ang Bahay ng Alumni in UP Diliman and order a plate of this yummy beef strips in cream sauce served on top of egg pasta. This was my first encounter with beef stroganoff. It was my favourite dish on their menu and I would love to go back and have that with a slice of their devil’s food cake or Kahlua butter cake. It would bring back so many memories!

Nowadays, I cook my own version of this dish, some people use chuck steak and slow cook their beef stroganoff. When I first started making it, I cooked it that way, but I’ve discovered that the rump gives you an equally yummy result for less cooking time and less fat in the meat. So I have now changed my recipe to use beef rump steaks. My beef stroganoff recipe takes half an hour to cook, is freezer friendly and can be made ahead. Make-ahead and freeze by putting in freezer-safe containers. To defrost, thaw thoroughly in the fridge and heat up in a pot.

Try this recipe and let me know how much you love it! To add some colour, top with chopped chives or parsley.

 
Difficulty: Easy Prep Time: 10 Mins Cook Time: 20 Mins Total Time: 30 Mins

Beef Stroganoff

Serves 6

Ingredients

Instructions

0/5 Instructions
  • Cook egg pasta according to packet. Run under cold water and toss in a little olive oil. Set aside. Season rump slices.
  • Heat oil in a deep wide pan until smoking. Brown beef on all sides, take out of the pan and set aside.
  • In the same pan, cook onions and push on the side of the pan. Add another tablespoon of oil and reheat. When oil is hot, cook mushrooms and add thyme. Drain off excess oil then add red wine. Reduce red wine to half then add beef stock. Bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer.
  • Add hot english mustard and sour cream, whisk until sauce is smooth and thick. Do not boil, this will cause the sour cream to split. Put the beef back into the pan and let simmer for 10 minutes.
  • Serve with cooked egg pasta.

Notes

  1. Can use button mushrooms or portobello.
  2. Can substitute with mash, rice, other pasta, as you wish.
  3. Make-ahead and freeze by putting in freezer-safe containers. To defrost, thaw thoroughly in the fridge and heat up in a pot.