BBQ Bison Steaks and Crab Stuffed Lobster Tails for Mother's Day from Lobster Gram!

Good Monday morning foodies! I hope everyone had a relaxing weekend. For all of you Moms out there...I hope you enjoyed Mother's Day.
As I myself am not a Mom, nor do I ever plan to be, this weekend was all about my Mom.
Unfortunately she had to work both Saturday and Sunday, but that gave me plenty of time to get everything prepared for our late lunch/early dinner on Sunday.
Because Mother's Day is such a special occasion in my family (my Mother raised both my sister and I single handed) I decided nothing less than a great Surf & Turf feast would do the trick.
But I'm not just talking any Surf & Turf...it had to be unique. As unique as my Mom is, if that's even possible.
The answer came to me Friday...
Crab Stuffed Maine Lobster Tails and Bison Steaks with my (now) famous homemade Hot & Sweet BBQ Sauce (heh, it's kinda like me :).
Extra Surf & Exotic Large Game Turf...that sounds like a meal worthy of the strong willed woman who raised me.
So it began on Saturday. I had to prepare the BBQ Sauce for the Recipe. I didn't take any pictures of this process, but BBQ sauce really isn't that photogenic to begin with. Oh well.
So in lieu of pictures...here is the recipe to my very best BBQ Sauce. I hope you enjoy it.

Nikki's Hot & Sweet BBQ Sauce

Ingredients
1/2 cup 18 Year old traditional Balsamic Vinegar
1/2 cup Pear & Cinnamon Balsamic Vinegar
1 cup dry red wine
2 cups ketchup
2/3 cup brown sugar
4 tbs minced fresh garlic
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp. Spicy Apple Cinnamon Ginger Mustard
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
Hot sauce to taste (I use regular Louisiana Hot Sauce)

Directions:
Place all ingredients together in a medium cooking pot and bring to a boil while stirring occasionally. Reduce mixture until about half. Once sauce is sufficiently thickened, allow it to cool and jar it immediately. Allow to sit overnight for maximum flavors.

So...here are the pictures from my weekend of food. I also had a chance to swing into my favorite vendor's location on Saturday and pick up some tasty treats for myself.
Happy Eating foodies!

Raspberry Cheesecake Heart with Chocolate Decoration

Mini Chocolate Mousse Heart Cakes

Plain NY Cheesecake

NEW- Petite Fours

Giant Strawberry dipped in three types of chocolate.

Mom's Surf & Turf Feast for Mother's Day 2010

Bison Rib Eye Steak and NY Strip Steaks from Lobster Gram

Crab Stuffed Maine Lobster Tails from Lobster Gram

Lobster Gram Bison Steaks for Mother's Day Dinner

Steak & Tails...it does not get much better than this!

Bison Surf & Turf for Mother's Day.

Home Made Berry Cobbler

Wordless Wednesday- Mother's Day Cake

Cajun King Crab Cakes

Very few things make me as happy as crab cakes. Maryland, King, Creole...no matter what crab or spices are used, the outcome is rarely bad.
This past weekend, I decided to make Cajun King Crab Cakes. I had never made these before, but I had made something similar about a year ago called Creole Crab Burgers. This dish was good, but I remember it needing a little more flavor.
The solution was simple. Skip the Jonah Crab meat and go for the Alaskan King Crab.
King crab is so much more flavorful, and the texture really stands up to all of the mixing, and frying that is involved in making these delicious little treats.
Shucking 2 lbs of Alaskan King Crab is not an easy task, but well worth the effort in the end.
Give this recipe a try if you get a chance. These would be perfect served along side a nice thick NY Strip Steak. YUM!

Cajun King Crab Cakes

King Crab Cake Ready for the Fryer

Ingredients
2 lbs whole Alaskan King Crab Legs- Shoulder to tip
2 cups plain bread crumbs
2 tbs Spicy mustard (I use an apple/cinnamon spicy mustard: I'll supply a picture tomorrow)
Cajun Seasoning to taste
Granulated Garlic to taste
Pepper to taste
Salt to taste
Dried parsley to taste
Dried oregano to taste
Old Bay Seasoning to taste
1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 oz melted clarified butter
3 whole large eggs
Vegetable Oil for Frying
1/2 red bell pepper, minced
1/4 large red onion, minced
1 large stalk celery, minced

Directions
Thaw and rinse salt water glaze from the Alaskan King Crab legs. To remove the meat from the legs, take a leg, and break it by bending it backwards against the joint. Once you have a segment of leg broken off take your sea sheller and insert the pointed end into the shell. Using a can opening motion, move the sheller through the shell. Once the shell has been cracked, separate the shell and remove the interior meat. Be careful not to pull the cartilage with the meat.
Once you have the meat collected, put some vegetable oil in a deep skillet and begin heating it.
After the oil starts heating, combine all ingredients except for butter and eggs in a large mixing bowl and mix by hand. Once that is worked in, add the butter and work that in. Afterward, add all three eggs and mix well using your hands. Form crab cakes by rolling a 2 inch ball of the mixture between your hands and pressing until you have a patty about 1 inch thick.
To cook the crab cakes, place them gently in hot oil for 3 minutes per side. Finished crab cakes will be browned and crispy on both sides.

Meat Shucked from 2lbs of Alaskan King Crab Legs

Getting ready to shuck the King Crab

Lobster Gram has REALLY nice legs! There are only 2 legs per pound.

Lobster Gram King Crab legs are the whole leg shoulder to tip.

Alaskan King Crab from the Bearing Straight

Gorgeous King Crab Cakes

Everything tastes better when it's fried!

These King Crab Cakes will be a beautiful crispy brown once they are fried.

Lots of red pepper and red onion are the secret to making these Alaskan King crab cakes awesome!

The Perfect Cajun King Crab Cake

Mixing ingredients by hand is half the fun!

Fresh veggies bring this recipe to the flavor level I was searching for!

The Best Korean Food Place in Town

Morning Foodies.
Hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend. I began mine slightly early Friday when I left the office at 1, and went out for lunch at my FAVORITE Korean restaurant in Chicago.
Cho Sun Oak 4200 N Lincoln Ave- Chicago.
My Mom introduced me to this as a child. She has been going to this place for the last thirty years, and it's really easy to see why after you try their food.
First of all, when it comes to any type of ethnic food, it's always a good rule of thumb to visit a restaurant that is filled with people of this ethnicity. They are obviously more experienced than I with Korean food, so if it's good enough for them, it is more than good enough for me.
From this springs just one issue...
The service.
Unfortunately no one in the restaurant speaks English. I mean, no one.
When my family or friends and I go here to eat, we are often the only Caucasian group in the place....and they never fail to give us spoons to use for the following reasons:
A. As Caucasian city dwellers, we obviously don't know how to manage eating with chop sticks. (False- Been able to eat with chopsticks for as long as I can remember.
B. There are no forks. There are no forks because it's mostly Korean families that eat here.
Ironic...don't you think.
You should have heard the fiasco I had trying to order the Jab Chae without sesame seeds.
A friend of mine suffers from diverticulitis, and therefor can consume no seeds, kernels, pretty much anything that can't be digested. So for him to enjoy the Jab Chae, it has to be seedless.
The first time I tried to order it this way, they thought I ordered it without the use of sesame oil.
And it came with a crap-ton of seeds on it. Like...a laughable amount of seeds.
The second time, I used my fingers to make the "small" motion like a seed and that seemed to open the door.
I should have been a mime.
But aside from the communication snafu, the Cho Sun Oak is everything you could want in fantastic food and a cozy intimate atmosphere far from the trendy neighborhoods and bustle of the north side.
When you step into this restaurant, you feel like you have stepped back in time, and into another country. The dining area contains no more than 5 booths and a small hand full of tables, most of which are very large because at Cho Sun Oak, a lot of the Korean clients prefer to cook their own meals on their table top grill. It's impressive as hell to watch, but if I'm going out to eat, I prefer not to have to cook the meal.
Every time I go there, they ask me if I'm going to be doing the cooking. I always feel sheepish telling them "no". I feel like by now I should be able to prepare my favorite Korean dishes, but I'm pretty sure if I were given Bul-Go-Gi meat to marinade and grill, I would end up with a marinated strip steak that tastes no different from any other steak I have made. I just don't know enough about their use of spices and flavors to be able to get it right. And it is Nirvana when it is done right.
And with that, I will leave you with some pictures from the meal. Please forgive the fuzziness of some of them. I felt that if I took my Nikon out and tried getting really great photos, I would have attracted a lot of negative attention. So I pulled a slick one, and used my Flip camera to catch some footage. Happy eating foodies!

Sweetened Brown Potatoes and Carrot ( Part of Kimchi side dishes)

Sliced and lightly pickled radishes ( Part of Kimchi side dishes)The EVIL Kimchi - Fire hot cabbage

Seaweed, White Onions and Carrots another Kimchi Side Dish

Bean Sprouts with Peppers and onions-again...Kimchi

Fish cake type things? It reminds me of Surimi. I'm not sure exactly what they are comprised of, but it's AMAZING!

Gelatinous Soy cubes topped with sesame seeds and seaweed and Potato, Apple, cucumber and tomato under a cream.(Kimchi Side dish- dessert type)

Jab Chae- Clear rice noodles, stir fried veggies and thinly sliced beef (bul-go-gi)

The short video that was taken- All images were clipped from this video.

The Illusive Pearl Onions and My Bacon Wrapped Comfort Zone

I was so excited to make Boeuf Bourguignon on Sunday.
I went grocery shopping with my recipe in hand. Choosing the freshest looking mushrooms, carrots, celery, peal onions and bacon with the rind.
The problem...
I couldn't find pearl onions to save my life. I went to three different stores hunting for the them. I had everything else, and this was the last missing piece to the tasty puzzle.
I had to find pearl onions SOMEWHERE..this is Chicago! Right?! Alas...there were no onions to be found.
The search for onions consumed so much time, if I began cooking then, I would have been eating dinner at 11pm.
It was time to come up with a back up plan.
And a damn good one at that. I was pretty disappointed that I wasn't going to be able to make what I wanted to, and what I had already purchased fresh produce for.
It was time for a comfort food plan.
It was time for stuff wrapped in bacon.
Had plenty of it on hand already, and it always makes me feel better!
So here we are friends and foodies, bacon fest 2010.
And in case you were wondering, I felt much better afterwards :)
Go Bacon!

Easy Apricot Glazed Pork Chops & Paying Homage to a Foodie Goddess Next Week

Another week is almost at a close. I actually did some cooking last weekend, this is just the first opportunity I have had to post.
Please forgive me... I recently got back into school at DePaul, and between work and school/school related time (IE studying, reading course material, working on a team project)it's been hard to find the time to do all the cooking and blogging I want to. It's been almost a month since I have created a video recipe, and I'm really hoping to break that habit this weekend.
This weekend, I'm making a very special recipe. I have never made this before because my hand at French cuisine is shaky, and ruining this recipe would be like dishonoring the woman who's recipe and method I will attempt to duplicate. They say that imitation is the highest form of flattery. Not everyone believes that. Julia Child didn't believe that, and when Julie Powell wrote a blog that followed Learning the Art of French Cooking by Julia, she was less than thrilled. Unfortunately Julia is no longer here, so I don't have to worry about the proverbial smack down if this recipe fails.
So next week, I will bring you Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguigon. Keep your fingers crossed for me foodies :)
Now that I'm done talking about whats up next week, lets discuss what went down last weekend...Apricot Glazed Pork Chops. This recipe was so easy, and delicious I know I will keep it on hand to experiment with lots of different flavors. So here are the images and recipe from Easy Apricot Glazed Pork Chops.










Easy Apricot Glazed Pork Chops

• Two 10 oz bone in center-cut pork chops
  
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
  
• 1/3 cup apricot jelly
  
• 1/3 cup white wine
  
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• Salt & pepper to taste
  

Directions
Sprinkle salt and black pepper evenly over chops. Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; add pork. Cooks on each side until browned (About 5 minutes per side).
Remove Pork chop from pan, and keep warm. Combine preserves, wine, and ginger in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add preserves mixture to pan; simmer 4 minutes or until mixture thickens. Return pork to pan; cook 1 minute, turning to coat.
Serve immediately with rice.

Wordless Wednesday- The Deformed Lobster