Lobster Grilled Cheese and Lobster Hush-puppies

Good Monday Morning Foodies! How was everyone's weekend? Mine was super busy but fantastic. Saturday, I went down to the new Chicago French Market at 131 N Clinton. It was packed with holiday shoppers, but all the fresh cheese, produce and everything else was just great. I'll be making regular trips down there from now on.
After that, I went up to the Cristkindl Market here in Chicago. It's one of my favorite Christmas activities. I also got my Christmas tree up and the house decorated...and I spend Sunday cooking and baking.
I decided it would be a great weekend for some comfort food, so I decided to make my ultimate comfort food, Lobster Grilled Cheese. I had decided to make Hush-puppies with this recipe, so I thought, what the heck...lets throw some Lobster into the hush-puppies as well.
The result...phenomenal.
So here is the video for that little adventure, and I'll post the recipes with the images next!
Happy eating foodies!

Angus New York Strip Steaks with Red Wine Reduction

Good Monday morning Foodies! I hope everyone had a great long extended weekend! I had a lot planned for this weekend, but as I should know by now, planning stuff usually means that you have made plans that are going to fall through. Murphy's law I guess, but at least I still got to cook on Sunday.
Sunday, I prepared two of our 16 oz Angus Strip Steaks with a VERY simple red wine reduction sauce, and it was fantastic. In my experience, the best meals are the ones that are super simple, and designed to augment the natural flavors and textures. This recipe, is that to a "T".
I was unable to get video of this endeavor (Someone left their flip in the office), but fortunately...I got some tasty pictures of the whole process.
So here is the recipe, and the images.
Happy eating foodies!

For Each 16 oz New York Strip Steak you will need the following:
3/4 Cup Red Wine
Salt & Pepper to taste
2-3 tbs cold unsalted butter, cubed
1/2 large shallot

Directions:
Heat the skillet before placing steaks in it.
Put steaks into heated skillet, fat side down so it can render into the skillet.
Cook steaks on fat side for 3-4 minutes until steak has released most of the fat.
Flip steak on the flat side and cook another 3-5 minutes, flip to the other side and cook for another 10 for medium rare. If you like your steak more well done, leave it in longer.
After steaks have cooked to your taste, remove them from the skillet and set aside under tin foil to keep warm. Add wine, chopped shallot and butter to skillet with drippings and reduce by half (15-20 minutes),
After sauce has reduced, serve immediately with warm steak.
Bon Appetite!

Thanksgiving & The Best Turkey I have EVER had

It's the Friday after Thanksgiving, and instead of being trampled down in a store, I will be here in the office, patiently awaiting the feast of Thanksgiving left overs that waiting for me at home.
Yesterday, I made my first entire Turkey. I was a little nervous because the last thing anyone wants on Thanksgiving is a dry bird, but I was up for the challenge.
Besides, even if the Turkey wasn't perfect...my Mom and Oma couldn't be that mean about it...could they? (For future reference, yes: the elder generations of a German family can be down right cruel when it comes to judging others cooking skills)
Nerves aside, I decided that since it was a year of firsts, I would also treat the turkey to 24 hours of flavor with an AMAZING Turkey Brine that was sent to me by the Spice Hunter.
It sounded really good. Brown Sugar, Pepper, Sea Salt, Rosemary, Thyme, Sage, Cranberry, Juniper berries, simple and flavorful.
My turkey was tender and juicy, it literally fell off the bones when I tried to place it on the serving platter. Every person at the dinner table raved about how incredible this turkey was, and how we will never prepare a turkey without it again.

Nikki's Cooking -1
Judgmental family-0

The turkey wasn't pretty enough to take pictures of because it had fallen off the bones, but presentation does not matter when it's only close family gathered around the table.
So the moral of this Thanksgiving story is: Go to the Spice Hunter, and get some of that turkey brine!
After the turkey was carved and served and everyone had their fill of stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberries and fresh bread, we served dessert which of course, came from Lobster Gram. After all, it's just not a special occasion around my house without the Lobster Gram food. For dessert, we had one of our new 6lb Apple Pies which is always a HUGE hit;

As well as Super Chunk Caramel Brownies (A)

After that, no one was able to move for a few hours lol. Overall, Thanksgiving was a smashing success, and I'm really looking forward to this weekend when I prepare some Angus New York Strip Steaks with a Red Wine Sauce.
Happy Eating Foodies :)

Pictures from Veal Chops with Pears and Rosemary

Veal Chops with Pears and Rosemary

Good Monday afternoon foodies! I hope everyone had an outstanding weekend. I know that I did!
Over the weekend I prepared my veal chops with pears and rosemary.
This was a new recipe I had never tried before, and it was out of this world!
The fresh pears and rosemary really brought out the freshness of the veal chops. They were tender and juicy and I was very sad when the meal was over. So, as promised, here is the video and the recipe to go along with it! If you get the chance to prepare veal, I highly recommend this recipe!


Ingredients
2 12 oz Bone in Veal Chops
1 tablespoon butter
3 green onions, whites only
½ cup fresh orange juice 125ml
1 pear, peeled, cored and sliced ¼ inch thick
1½ teaspoons fresh rosemary
½ teaspoon dried rosemary 2.5ml
¼ teaspoon grated orange peel 1ml
Orange slices, rosemary sprigs

Directions
Cook Veal Chops in butter in 12 inch (30cm) non stick skillet over medium heat until lightly browned, about 3 minutes per side. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and continue cooking 10 minutes. Transfer chops to platter; keep warm.
Cook white parts of onion in same skillet over medium heat until tender, 2-3 minutes. Stir in orange juice, pears and rosemary. Simmer until sauce thickens and pears are tender-crisp, about 5 minutes. Gently stir in orange peel and remaining onions. Spoon sauce over veal. Garnish with orange slices and rosemary sprigs.

I Love Cooking in the Fall- Veal with Pears and Rosemary this weekend

Good Friday morning Foodies! Another week has flown by, and I feel guilty about not posting more. Things get insane for Lobster Gram around the Holidays, and right now I'm in high gear trying to prepare for it. Fortunately, I will have the time this Sunday to prepare a nice big meal again, and I have decided to go with a great veal recipe I got from a Twitter friend @EclecticGrocer. The recipe sounds great: Veal Chops with Pears and Rosemary and I found a roasted rosemary potato salad recipe I'm going to make with them.
I just love spending chilly weekends at home cooking. The house gets all warm and cozy, and the smells that permeate from the kitchen...tantalizing.
I don't think I have ever prepared Veal with Pears and Rosemary, but I imaging the aromas will be mouthwatering. I love fragrant fresh rosemary in an assortment of dishes, so I'm looking forward to this with great anticipation. This will help you see why...
When you start out with ingredients as fantastic as this, it's really hard to mess things up.
So when I get off work today, I'll hit up the grocery store and stock up, then retreat to my cozy kitchen and start kicking out some lovely flavorful and fragrant dishes.
That is until Sunday. Sunday, I will emerge from my kitchen and head to the movies to see New Moon. Yes, I admit that I am a huge Twilight fan. After seeing the first movie, I read the books, and was hooked. The writing it's self isn't something to write home about, but the story sucks you in, and you have to keep reading.
Not to mention that Robert Pattinson is hot beyond all rationality.
So Sunday afternoon, I will be in the VIP 21 & over theater near my house avoiding the throngs of giggling teen girls and enjoying a Sunday Screwdriver in front of the big screen on a comfy love seat. I'm really anxious to get this rocking weekend rolling!
And with that I will close this post.
Keep a look out for the video and pictures from Veal with Pears and Rosemary early next week!
Have a great weekend and Happy Eating!

Wordless Wednesday Part 2- The Conclusion of Last Week's Raw Steak Shots