Around My French Table (63 page)

STORING
Like all stir-fries, this is meant to be eaten as soon as it's done, and it's best that way. However, like so many noodle dishes, the leftovers are good the next day, eaten while you're standing at the kitchen counter.

I
THINK IT WAS THE LEGENDARY AND REBELLIOUS
Paris chef Alain Senderens who first thought to pair lobster with vanilla, and I can imagine that he might have had to cajole his guests to go for the nouvelle duo. I can also imagine that once they did, they'd have been won over immediately. Tasting luxurious sweet lobster with powerfully fragrant sweet vanilla is one of those eureka moments: you know in an instant that the combination is inspired.

Senderens' first foray into vanilla-lobster land was roasted lobster with a vanilla beurre blanc, and that gave me the idea to infuse clarified butter with vanilla and to gently and quickly braise lobster tails and claws in it. The dish looks and tastes as though it were made in a top chef's kitchen, when, in fact, it requires no complicated techniques or equipment. It is, however, expensive—lobster, butter, and vanilla are all luxe ingredients. But if you're looking for a special-occasion dish, make this recipe.

Even though you use only part of each lobster, I like to buy whole lobsters for the dish and boil them just long enough to remove the meat from the tails and claws (I pick out the body meat and enjoy it for myself). If you want to make this dish even simpler to prepare, you can start with lobster tails (2 per person), either freshly cooked by the fishmonger or defrosted frozen lobster.

I prefer vanilla beans (plumpness and pliability, along with fragrance, are your signs that the beans are in prime condition), but you can use pure vanilla extract—imitation will spoil the dish.

As for the butter, you need the full amount called for to poach the lobsters properly, but you'll be left with plenty, which you can use in mashed potatoes, or for sauteing seafood, or as a great dipping sauce for soft-shelled crabs or boiled lobster.

BE PREPARED:
The recipe is long but not complicated, and you can precook the lobsters and clarify and flavor the butter ahead of time, so read it through first and plan a schedule that works for you.

To get the lobsters ready for braising, have a nutcracker, a lobster pick or a pointy skewer, kitchen shears, and a heavy chef's knife at hand, along with a few kitchen towels. I'd suggest that even if you never wear an apron, you make an exception and don one now.

Bring a big pot of generously salted water to a boil. You can precook the lobsters all at once, but since it's easier to remove the meat from them when they're still warm, it's better to work with one or two at a time. Plunge the lobsters headfirst into the water and cook for 3 minutes. Pull them out of the water with tongs, holding the lobsters over the pot so that most of the water drips off them, then transfer them to a tray or large pan. (I put the lobsters on a cooling rack over a baking sheet.) Protecting your hands with dish towels, break off the claws where they meet the body, and return them to the pot to boil for another 3 minutes.

Now set to work separating the meat from the shells. Using the knife (or your hands), remove each tail from the body and lay it down on a cutting board. Using whatever tool works best for you (I grab the shears at this point), cut down the center of the tail without cutting into the meat and then, using your fingers, pull the meat from the tail in one piece. To release the claw meat, use the nutcracker to break the shells, then, if necessary, run a table knife (or a marrow spoon, if you've got one) between the meat and the shell to free the meat. Now use the pick to remove the knuckle meat, and enjoy it—it's your reward for the work you've done and your encouragement to keep going.

Put all the tail and claw meat in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
(You can prepare the lobster up to a day ahead and keep it covered in the refrigerator.)
As for the rest, you can munch on the bodies or freeze them and the shells for soup.

Cut the butter into pieces and drop them into a small saucepan. Place the saucepan over very low heat and melt the butter slowly—don't rush the process. When the butter is melted, leave it over the heat for a few minutes more while you carefully skim off and discard the foam that has risen to the top. Remove the pan from the heat, place it on a trivet, and let it sit for 3 minutes or so.

Very slowly and gently pour the clear yellow liquid—the clarified butter—into a container (I use a Pyrex measuring cup), stopping as soon as the white milk solids start to creep up to the edge of the pan. If you've poured a little too quickly, let the clarified butter rest for a moment and then repeat the pouring process. Alternatively, you can pour the butter through a fine-mesh strainer lined with dampened cheesecloth to catch the solids.
(You can clarify the butter up to a week ahead and keep it tightly covered in the refrigerator.)

Put the butter into a saucepan that will just hold it and the lobster meat—the smaller the diameter the better, so the butter will cover more of the lobster when you add it. (I use a 6-inch-wide 3-quart pan.) Cut the vanilla beans lengthwise in half and scrape the pulp and seeds into the pan, then drop in the beans themselves, or add the vanilla extract, and add a pinch of fleur de sel. Once again over the lowest possible heat, warm the butter for 10 minutes—it shouldn't boil, although you might get a bubble or two—then turn off the heat and let the butter stand for another 10 minutes.
(You can flavor the butter up to a day ahead and keep it covered in the refrigerator.)

To braise the lobsters, bring the lobster meat to room temperature if it was refrigerated. Return the pan with the butter and vanilla to low heat, and when it is hot—about 160 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer—drop in the lobster. The butter should cover most of the lobster; if you've got a little piece above the butter, turn it after a minute. Cook the lobster for 4 minutes, or until it is opaque—if you're not sure that the lobster is done, make a small cut in a tail. Lift the lobster out of the butter, reserve the butter for another use, and season the lobster with fleur de sel and white pepper. Serve now!

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

SERVING
My favorite way to serve this elegant dish is to pair it with Lemon-Steamed Spinach (
[>]
). I put a small bed of spinach in the center of each of four shallow soup plates, top with the lobster, making sure it's seasoned with salt and pepper, and spoon over some of the vanilla butter. I finish each plate with a piece of vanilla bean—it's not edible, but it is beautiful and aromatic.

STORING
The lobster can be parcooked a day ahead, and the butter can be clarified a week ahead and flavored the day before. Once the elements are united and the dish is completed, it should be savored immediately, with no thoughts of leftovers.

Asparagus and Bits of Bacon
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Lemon-Steamed Spinach
[>]

Pancetta Green Beans
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Garlicky Crumb-Coated Broccoli
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Spiced Butter-Glazed Carrots
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Boulevard Raspail Corn on the Cob
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Corn Pancakes
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Endives, Apples, and Grapes
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Crunchy Ginger-Pickled Cucumbers
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Pipérade Stir-Fry
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Slow-Roasted Tomatoes
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Tomatoes Provençal
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Chanterelles with Napa and Nuts
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Baby Bok Choy, Sugar Snaps, and Garlic en Papillote
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Swiss Chard Pancakes
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Brown-Sugar Squash and Brussels Sprouts en Papillote
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Roasted Jerusalem Artichokes with Garlic
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Go-with-Everything Celery Root Puree
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Matafan
(Fluffy Mashed Potato Pancakes)
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Broth-Braised Potatoes
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Salty-Sweet Potato Far
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Potato Gratin
(Pommes Dauphinois)
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Cauliflower-Bacon Gratin
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Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good
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French Lentils:
A Basic Recipe
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Dressy Pasta "Risotto"
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Beggar's Linguine
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Herb-Speckled Spaetzle
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Gnocchi à La Parisienne
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Storzapretis
(aka Corsican Spinach and Mint Gnocchi)
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Warm-Weather Vegetable Pot-au-Feu
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Creamy, Cheesy, Garlicky Rice with Spinach
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Cardamom Rice Pilaf
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Lemon Barley Pilaf
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T
OSS BOILED ASPARAGUS WITH NUT OIL
and lemon juice, then top the spears with onion and bacon, and you get sophisticated flavor, texture, and looks—all in about 10 minutes.

Stir together the nut oil and lemon juice; set aside.

Put the bacon in a large skillet, set over medium heat, and cook, turning occasionally, until both sides are well browned. Drain the bacon well, and pour off all but 1 teaspoon of the bacon fat from the skillet; set aside.

Cut the bacon into ¼-inch dice and combine with the onion.

Bring a large skillet of salted water to a boil. Put the asparagus in the pan and cook until a knife pierces the stalks easily, about 4 minutes. Drain, pat the asparagus dry between paper towels, and gently toss with the oil and lemon juice. Season generously with salt and pepper; taste and add more oil or juice if needed.

While the asparagus is cooking, heat the bacon fat remaining in the skillet until warm. Add the bacon bits and onion and stir to warm slightly and coat with oil (you don't want to color or cook the onion).

To serve, drain the bacon and onion and spoon them over the asparagus.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

SERVING
Arrange the asparagus on a serving plate. Lift the bacon and onion out of the skillet with a slotted spoon and spoon them across the asparagus.

STORING
This is a make-and-eat recipe.

H
ERE'S A SMART, IF TOPSY-TURVY,
way to perfectly steam and season spinach. It's topsy-turvy because you season the spinach before you steam it, and it's smart because it solves the problem of how to toss spinach with flavorings once it's wilted. What I do is mix the cleaned spinach with salt, pepper, olive oil, and grated lemon zest, as though I were making a salad, then steam the leaves and just lift them out of the pot and onto plates. Nothing could be simpler, and the best part is that the preseasoning sticks—the flavor and fragrance of the grated lemon really stand out after steaming.

You can cook the spinach in any kind of steamer or steaming basket, but ever since my friend Patricia Wells told me she uses her pasta pot, which has a perforated insert, as a steamer, I've been doing it too. It's perfect for the job.

Have your steamer set up and ready to go—make sure you don't fill the pot with so much water that it will boil up into the steaming basket.

Put the spinach in a bowl and toss it with 1 tablespoon of the oil, the zest, and salt and pepper to taste. Taste for seasoning and, if the spinach looks dry, add some or all of the remaining olive oil.