Wordless Wednesday- Bison New York Strip Steaks and Boiled Salt Potatoes with Veal Demi Glace and Glazed Carrots

Classic Maine Lobster Rolls from Lobster Gram

Good afternoon friends and foodies! It's Friday and it's a gorgeous day here in Chicago! Every year when spring rolls around (first official day of spring is Sunday!) Lobster Grammers start craving that classic New England favorite...the Lobster Roll.
There are literally dozens of ways people prepare Lobster Rolls. Some use nothing but lobster meat and clarified butter, others use mayonnaise.
At Lobster Gram, we have used a single Lobster Roll recipe since 1987. Other variations were still good...but they were not the lobster rolls we spend all winter dreaming about.
So, in the spirit of sharing this spring, here is the Classic Lobster Gram Maine Lobster Roll Recipe. Bon Appetite!

Classic Maine Lobster Rolls
-1 lb. (1-1/2 cups) cooked lobster meat, thawed
-1/4 cup green onion, chopped
-1/2 cup celery, chopped
-1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
-1 Tsp. lemon juice
-1 Tsp. Worcestershire sauce
-1/3 cup mayonnaise
-1/3 cup sour cream
-salt & pepper to taste

To make Lobster Rolls
Combine ingredients well, let stand 20 minutes for flavors to mix completely.
With 4 long French or hoagie-style sandwich rolls, slice the bread lengthwise, hollow out the inside of the bread, and toast or grill until slightly crunchy on the outside. Spoon in the lobster filling and it's ready. Serve with crunchy potato chips, side salad and lemonade or a hearty beer.

Wordless Wednesday- Triple Bean Vanilla Cake

Tutorial Tuesday- Making Lobster Tails As Seen on TV

Dan "The Lobster Man" Zawacki is here with another great tutorial on how to prepare beautifully butterflied and baked Maine Lobster tails in the comfort of your own home.

I Have a New Favorite Bakery, and You Should Too!

Good morning friends and foodies! I hope everyone of you had a relaxing Thanksgiving weekend!
My weekend was great. It was my very last weekend off for December, so I decided to spend it relaxing as much as possible and relaxation now involves a trip to my new favorite bakery near my house. Cookies Fresco.
Matt and I found this place a few weeks ago when I was getting out of the immediate care center. He wanted to make me feel better, and knew full well that a bakery would do the trick.
OMG did this place ever do the trick. Their hook was the sample of the Lemon Ricotta Cookie.
After one bite, I HAD to bring some home. They are the most moist, lemony, light cookie you could imagine with a delicate glaze on top that brings just a subtle pop of sweetness. Beware, once you try them, there is no walking away. That's why the sample is free. These people are brilliant.
So on the first visit, (after discussing a few wedding cake details with the owner!) we left with chocolate chip butter cookies, lemon ricotta cookies and gorgeous white chocolate shooters filled with the most dense, creamy raspberry mousse ever to grace a dessert plate. We were in foodie heaven. After we had gotten through all of our goodies, we knew it would only be a matter of time before we returned to try their other goods.
It took 9 days for us to go running back for more.
Saturday afternoon we are in the bakery once again trying to figure out what we should try. Obviously, we were never going to leave without another helping of the Lemon Ricotta Cookies and the mousse, but we wanted to try something savory. The answer? Fresh Focaccia and pretzel buns. I am a hopeless fool for a good fresh focaccia, and this one took the cake. I left the bakery with two of them actually. The one I kept for myself (but was forced to share with Matt, that's love right there) and the other is sitting here in the office on the snack table for the enjoyment of the Lobster Gram crew. From the looks of it, they enjoyed it a great deal because it was gone within minutes.
So with that, I will leave you with some images of the goodies. If you are in the area, drop by. The people are wonderful and really put a lot of time and effort into their products. You can always tell when someone loves their craft. It shows in everything they bring to their business and Cookies Fresco is a wonderful example of just such a place.

Wordless Wednesday- Braised Balsamic BBQ Pork Shanks

New Products in the Lobster Gram test Kitchen

Yeah...that's right. I'm trying to get your attention the cheap way! But it's for a good reason. I MUST tell people about this BBQ Pork Shank...



Today I was downstairs in the Lobster Gram test kitchen doing some cooking with Dan "The Lobster Man". Today, we prepared some some of our NEW line of heat & serve entrees to illustrate how dirt simple it is to make the most delicious cuts of meat and glazes you could ever hope to experience.
Personally, I'm Über excited about this new line for several reasons. Hopefully by the time I'm finished enumerating them, you will be excited too :)
1) It's literally easier than making Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. Heat water, throw bag in, wait, serve. Imagine having a gourmet feast that goes from freezer to table in 20 minutes flat.
2) The cuts and flavors that we are carrying are beyond delicious. These people are true masters of their craft and they take the time to make their glazes with all natural ingredients that come from trusted vendors.
3) With the choices that are available, I'm just going to stuff my freezer full of these for those "I can't cook tonight" fits that I get into. I will look like the ultimate domestic goddess every night of the week with the same recipe I use for tea. Woot...effort points for Nikki.
4) The meat is so tender, you can pull it from the bones using nothing more than two spoons. Yes...really, I have pictures to prove it. I didn't even believe it at first. Silly me.

So...now that I have talked them up sufficiently, here are some images from the Balsamic BBQ Pork Shank Dan & I prepared this morning.