Boozing Up My Cranberry Sauce and Tart

I'm thankful I didn't have to cook an entire Thanksgiving dinner today and am looking forward to sharing the evening with friends and family. I made the Bourbon-Caramel Pumpkin Tart featured on the cover of Fine Cooking, Cranberry Sauce with Red Wine & Figs suggested by David Lebovitz, and will be making Yorkshire Pudding (from my man, Tyler) with the drippings from the prime rib. Of course, there will also be turkey, stuffing, sides, desserts and wine!

The cranberry sauce tastes great, but you'll need to wait for my take on the tart. After reading the online reviews, I'm a bit skeptical about the texture of the crust and consistency of the caramel. I sprinkled a little fleur de sel on top but now regret messing up the glossy finish of the caramel.

Happy Thanksgiving to you!

Cheers,

Denise & Trapper

Make a Pickle Out of It: Jerusalem Artichoke Tartar Sauce

"One of the smartest things you can do on 'Chopped' is to take one of those ingredients and make a pickle out of it, because almost every dish benefits from that..."

                                                                                                         -Ted Allen


It's funny how a thick, elongated, nubby, and unsightly tuber can stir up a few great memories. The culprit is the Jerusalem Artichoke, or sunchoke. The recipe I'm sharing today, for Day #6 of NaBloPoMo, is Cornmeal-Crusted Yellowtail with Jerusalem Artichoke Tartar Sauce (you can find the recipe here). Carmen let me borrow her Lee Bros. Charleston Kitchen cookbook and there are so many recipes I want to try. I had a craving for a fish sandwich, like they serve at Point Loma Seafoods, and thought this recipe would make a killer fish sandwich. I didn't make it into a sandwich this time, but definitely plan to in the future. I enjoyed the unique tartar sauce with its crunch from the sunchoke pickles and tang from the buttermilk. I added some chopped parsley and lemon zest.

My first experience tasting sunchokes was less than a year ago, during Chefs' Holidays at Yosemite's Grand Ahwahnee Hotel. One of the afternoon cooking sessions featured Peter Scargle, executive chef of Lucy Restaurant at the Bardessono Hotel and Spa in Yountville. Chef Scragle's philosophy is ruled by the seasons, and he says, "If it's not growing in the garden, it's the wrong time to be serving it." Scargle spends his mornings in Lucy's lush gardens looking for just-right ingredients to put on the day's menu. For the demonstration, he prepared and served cups of creamy soup made with sunchokes and garnished with finely diced apple, crème fraiche, chervil sprigs and shaved truffle. I have the recipe buried somewhere and need to dig it out. The soup would be nice for Thanksgiving since sunchokes are in season.

The Jerusalem artichoke has no relation to Jerusalem, and it is not a type of artichoke. It is a species of sunflower cultivated for the edible tuber, which has a delicate, artichokey flavor. It looks like ginger root and has a bad reputation for causing, um, gas, but only when eaten raw. Pickling, roasting, or slow or cooking eliminates that problem.

Raw Jerusalem Artichokes aka Sunchokes

Jerusalem Artichoke Pickles

Jerusalem Artichoke Tartar Sauce

The pan-fried fish recipe will work well with several firm, white-fleshed, medium-oily fish, but it was designed for Charleston's most popular and most sustainable fish: the dolphinfish, aka mahi. Although our market had mahi, it was previously frozen and I chose local yellowtail instead.

The fish is dipped in buttermilk, dredged in a mixture of seasoned flour and cornmeal, and pan-fried in peanut or vegetable oil.

Cornmeal-Crusted Yellowtail with Jerusalem Artichoke Tartar Sauce

I dug up the soup photo from Chefs' Holidays and another photo of the first dish I made one evening cooking dinner with friends...good times and good memories.

Above left: Little Farms Sunchoke Soup; Right: Pan-Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Oyster Mushrooms and Sunchokes with Creamy Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette (Tasting Table), recipe here.

Here's the Point Loma Seafoods' fish sandwich, served with their famous tartar sauce on freshly baked sourdough. The fish, calamari and fried oyster sandwiches are all wonderful!

Pt. Loma Seafoods' Fish Sandwich

                ***

Andean-Style Roasted Potatoes with Huatacay-Yellow Chili Sauce

During our stay at Rancho La Puerta, we had the opportunity to meet and cook with visiting guest chef,  Liz Caskey. Liz gave up her career as a Wall Street investment banker to pursue her passion of food and wine. She moved to Chile where she and her husband host luxury culinary and wine tours throughout Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Peru.  Their Signature Journeys take guests deep into South America's terroir to mingle with local food artisans, chefs, winegrowers, bakers and fishmongers, and to explore bucket list locations like Machu Picchu. Sign me up!

Two highlights of our stay at Rancho La Puerta included the early morning 4-mile Organic Garden Breakfast Hike, with a tour of the garden led by Executive Chef Denise Roa and a lovely breakfast on the patio, and the late afternoon cooking class and dinner with Liz Caskey.

Organic Garden Breakfast Hike

Tres Estrellas, the organic farm

Garden Tour

Later that afternoon, John and I returned to Tres Estrellas to take a few more photos before joining the other guests for the Hands-On Cooking Class at La Cocina que Canta ("The Kitchen that Sings").

Man of the Corn

Tres Estrellas

Chef Liz put together a Peruvian menu and recipes for the class, including: classic Lima-style ceviche, chilled avocado soup, fava bean salad, quinoa and hearts of palm salad, Andean-style purple potatoes with a duo of sauces, marinated vegetable escabeche, and roasted figs with honey, whipped ricotta and lemon balm. John and I were assigned the task of preparing the Andean-style purple potatoes with a duo of sauces.

Chef Liz picking fresh herbs

Rancho La Puerta Hands-On Peruvian Cooking Class with Liz Caskey
Salsa Criolla and Huacatay-Yellow Chili Sauce

Huacatay, also called black mint,  is an herb belonging to the tarragon and marigold family. In Peru, and throughout the Andres, it is used to season meats, potatoes or yucca, and corn, and is made into green sauces with chilies for use as a minty, fiery condiment. It has a distinctive aroma and flavor that is a cross between basil, mint and cilantro.  In the cooking class, we substituted 3/4 cup basil and 1/4 cup equal parts cilantro and mint leaves.

Classic Lima-Style Ceviche and Tiradito

When we returned home, we were able to find the ingredients necessary to make the Andean Roasted Potatoes with Huatacay-Yellow Chili Sauce.

We grilled a couple lamb kebabs to accompany the potatoes, uncorked a nice bottle of Chilean red wine, and enjoyed a beautiful summer evening on the patio.

A few days later, the sauce paired wonderfully well as a "pesto" for the bottom layer of my Tomato and Queso Fresco Tart, an adaptation of Tomato-Cheese Tartlets for French Fridays with Dorie.

Tomato and Queso Fresco Tart, with Peruvian "pesto"

A Note on the Tomato Tart: Dorie's Tomato-Cheese Tartlets, from Around My French Table, are built on a base of puff pastry that's been weighted down so that it bakes to a flat crisp. The baked crisp is then covered with a thin layer of tapenade or pesto, and alternating slices of tomato and mozzarella in a pinwheel pattern. The tartlets are finished with a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic and garnished with fresh basil. My version was inspired by White on Rice Couple's Tomato Tart, with our Huatacay-Yellow Chili Sauce as the "pesto." You can peruse the various Tomato Tarts and Tarlets made by members of French Fridays with Dorie here.

***

Andean-Style Roasted Potatoes with Huatacay-Yellow Chili Sauce
Adapted from South American Cooking, by Liz Caskey
(Makes about 1 1/2 cups)

2 pounds Peruvian purple potatoes, or a mix of baby potatoes
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano leaves (optional)
Salt and freshly ground pepper

For the Huatacay-Yellow Chili Sauce:
1 cup fresh huatacay leaves (sold frozen at Latin speciality grocers)**
1/2 cup fat free evaporated milk
1/2 pound low fat Farmer's cheese (queso fresco)
1 tablespoon Peruvian yellow chili paste, or more if you like it spicy
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
2-3 soda crackers (if needed to thicken sauce)

**If fresh or frozen huacatay leaves are not available, you can substitute about 3 tablespoons jarred huacatay paste. In the cooking class, we substituted 3/4 cup basil and 1/4 cup equal parts cilanto and mint leaves.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Wash the potatoes well, dry, cut them in half, and place in a bowl. If cutting ahead of time, cover with water to prevent discoloration.

Toss the potatoes with olive oil, oregano (if using), salt and pepper. Spread the potatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast for about 30-45 minutes, or until tender.

While the potatoes are roasting, prepare the sauce.

If using fresh or frozen huatacay leaves, de-stem, thoroughly wash, and chop huatacay leaves. In a blender, place huatacay leaves (or paste), evaporated milk, cheese, yellow chili paste, garlic, and salt. Puree until a creamy, smooth paste is achieved. Adjust for salt and spiciness. If the mixture is too thin, add soda crackers, one at a time, to thicken. If mixture is too thick, adjust with evaporated milk, adding one tablespoon at a time.

Serve with potatoes, or as a side for meat or fish.

Shucks, Why Did We Wait So Long? Grilled Oysters with Garlic-Chile Butter

We're looking forward to returning to New Orleans, reclaiming our seats at Cochon's bar, and grazing through several of the small plates on the menu. But in the meantime, I will continue to pull out Real Cajun: Rustic Home Cooking from Donald Link's Louisiana, which has recipes for some of dishes served at Link's Cochon.  Delicacies like Fried Oyster and Bacon Sandwiches and Grilled Oysters with Garlic-Chile Butter. I can't believe I've waited this long to try these grilled oysters at home!

The Garlic-Chile butter is incredible on the oysters, but I'm convinced it would be awesome on just about any grilled fish or shellfish, or even corn on the cob.

Garlic-Chile Butter

We took the scenic drive to the newly remodeled Point Loma Seafoods to buy our oysters, and a loaf of freshly baked sourdough bread. Add a bottle of wine, grilled vegetables, my man and my puppy, and it doesn't get any better on a warm summer evening in Coronado.

Grilled Oysters with Garlic-Chile Butter
From Rustic Cajun: Rustic Home Cooking from Donald Link's Louisiana

1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter
3 cloves garlic
2 anchovy fillets
Zest and juice of one lemon
2 tablespoons Vietnamese garlic chile paste**
2 teaspoons crushed red chile flakes
¼ teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon salt
16 oysters
Lemon wedges, for garnish

**Sriracha is a Vietnamese red chili sauce, but it is strictly chiles and doesn't have much depth to it - just a lot of heat. Vietnamese hot garlic chili sauce is different; it's made from chiles and garlic and has a little bit of sweetness that balances the heat.

Cut the butter into 1-inch cubes and allow it to soften to room temperature.

Mince the garlic, anchovy fillets and lemon zest (or mash in a mortar and pestle), and then fold in the butter, lemon juice, garlic chili sauce, red pepper flakes, cayenne, and salt.

Roll the butter into a log, or pack into small ramekins, cover with plastic and refrigerate until needed.

Open the oysters as you would for oysters on the half shell, discarding the top shells. Place about a tablespoon of the chilled compound butter on each oyster, and carefully place on a hot grill until the juices begin to bubble and the oyster curls up around the edges, 6 to 10 minutes (it's good to have some melted compound butter on hand to drizzle over the grilled oysters, to replenish any that spills out during grilling). Serve immediately, with wedges of fresh lemon.

What about me? I'd like to slurp down a few of those!

Sylvie's Turkey Breast Ballotine

For this year's Thanksgiving dinner, we traveled to a remote village close to the Mont St. Michel castle and dined in a historic stone manor with walls so thick that they trap all the aromas of the food being prepared in the kitchen. Well, not exactly, but that's how Chef Bernard Guillas describes his sister Sylvie's home in France, where she grows her own vegetables and raises chickens, ducks, turkeys, rabbits and sheep.

Sylvie's Turkey Breast Ballotine is featured in the Wings chapter of Flying Pans - Two Chefs, One World, the award-winning cookbook by Chefs Bernard Guillas and Ron Oliver.  It is also The Marine Room's featured recipe of the month. When we planned on just three of us for Thanksgiving dinner, I wanted a change from roasting an entire turkey with all the traditional sides. After spending an afternoon with Chef Bernard at Rancho La Puerta, I was inspired to prepare something from his cookbook.

Chefs Bernard and Ron have a passion for fine cuisine, travel, and life. Flying Pans takes you on a culinary voyage through forty countries, combining recipes with anecdotes, trivia, and stories. The recipes were photographed at San Diego's Macy's School of Cooking, and were all styled by the chefs themselves.

"The role of a chef is to create a feast for the senses...

 telling the tale of a region and its people via taste, texture, scent, and sight.

I am always striving to discover new styles of cuisine with original cultural roots."

 - Chef Bernard Guillas

Sylvie's Turkey Breast Ballotine

Sylvie's Turkey Breast Ballotine
Croissant Sausage Stuffing, Glazed Carrots, Cipollinis, Apple Cider Gravy
Minimally adapted from Flying Pans - Two Chefs, One World
The Marine Room's Featured Recipe for November 2011
Serves 8

Stuffing:

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 cup stemmed, diced oyster mushrooms (I substituted chanterelles)
2 cups minced leeks, white part only
1/4 cup chopped roasted hazelnuts
1/2 cup diced sun dried tart cherries
1 teaspoon chopped sage
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1 cup chicken stock
6 links hot Italian sausages, casings removed (about 3 cups)
8 large croissants, cubed
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 4-pound boneless free range turkey breast
1 stick unsalted butter, diced
2 teaspoons chopped thyme

Preheat oven to 375°F. Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms, leeks, hazelnuts, cherries, sage and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Cook 5 minutes without browning, stirring often. Transfer mixture to large mixing bowl. Add chicken stock. Fold in sausage and croissants.

Place turkey breast on cutting board. Butterfly-cut breast lengthwise to create pocket. Place two thirds of stuffing in center. Roll. Tie with butcher twine. Transfer remaining stuffing to baking dish. Cover.

Place turkey in roasting pan skin side up. Dot with butter. Season with thyme, salt and pepper. Bake 1 hour or until center of stuffing reaches 160 degrees, basting often. Bake reserved stuffing during last 30 minutes of cooking turkey. Transfer turkey to cutting board. Place roasting pan on stovetop over medium heat to make sauce.

Apple Cider Sauce:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup chopped shallots
2 green apples, cored, chopped
4 leaves sage
2 tablespoons sifted flour
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 cup sparkling apple cider
2 cups chicken stock
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Add butter, shallots, apples and sage to roasting pan. Cook 5 minutes, stirring often. Stir in flour. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add balsamic and apple cider. Bring to boil. Add chicken stock. Bring to simmer. Reduce to sauce consistency. Strain through fine sieve. Season with salt and pepper.

Cranberry Relish:

1 cup dried cranberries
1 pound fresh cranberries
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 stick cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Mint sprigs for garnish

Place all ingredients, except mint, in saucepan. Cook, over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until cranberries have popped and reduced to relish consistency, 6-8 minutes. Transfer to serving bowl, or individual serving ramekins. Serve at room temperature. Garnish with mint.

Vegetables and Presentation:

1/2 cup verjus (you can substitute ½ cup of Savignon Blanc plus 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar)
1/2 pound young carrots, peeled, trimmed
1/2 pound cipollini onions, peeled
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon minced mint
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Add butter, verjus, honey, cipollini onions and carrots to large skillet over medium heat. Bring to simmer. Season with salt and pepper. Cover. Cook 2 minutes. Uncover. Cook until liquid is syrupy. Add mint. Toss. Adjust seasoning. Set aside.

Slice turkey breast into 1-inch thick slices. Place in center of warm serving plate. Garnish with carrots and cipollinis. Spoon sauce onto plate. Serve with cranberry relish.

Fresh ingredients for the Croissant-Sausage Stuffing

Chopped and ready to be sauteed

Large Croissants

Stuffed, rolled, tied, and ready for the oven

Some of the Cranberry Relish ingredients

Cranberry Relish

This may become a new Thanksgiving tradition in our home

Newfie Notes:

• I purchased a 4.5 lb. boneless turkey breast. When I unwrapped it, I discovered it was actually one full breast, or two half breasts. I decided to make two ballotines at that point, one from each half breast. Not knowing how to butterfly a turkey breast, I watched a few videos online. This one by Martha Stewart was helpful (but I still made John do it!)
• My turkey breasts took a bit longer than an hour, especially after opening the oven and basting often. Be sure to use an instant read thermometer to check the internal temperature, and remove from oven when the center of the stuffing reaches 160 degrees F. Allow to rest about 10 minutes before slicing.
• I bought day-old croissants for half price.
• Chanterelles are extremely expensive. The recipe calls for Oyster mushrooms.  I won't make that mistake again!
• I was unable to find verjus. As indicated above, Chef Bernard recommends substituting 1/2 cup of Savignon Blanc plus 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar.
• The Apple Cider Sauce is out of this world!
• Don't wait until next Thanksgiving to try this recipe. It would be lovely for Christmas, or any special occasion.

French Fridays with Dorie - Eggplant Caviar

You know you're addicted to food blogging when you dream about food, and compose blog posts in your sleep. Normal women dream about wild sex and nude sunbathing on exotic beaches in faraway lands. Evidently, I'm no longer normal. The other morning, I stumbled out of an early morning dream about eggplants. Just as I opened my eyes and tossed the covers off, my friend's short essay about eggplants resurfaced from the nooks and crannies of my brain - it was the ideal introduction to this week's French Fridays with Dorie post.

I have to wonder why humankind ever started eating eggplants. They’re not all that appetizing. In its natural state—uncooked, unseasoned, undressed—an eggplant is downright dry, pithy and tasteless. You will never find a juicy, delicious eggplant. You will never want to chomp into one raw, as you would an apple, a pear or a peach. Oh yes, the eggplant is a fruit. Seeds on the inside; that’s the tipoff. But a strange fruit for sure. About the only way you can eat an eggplant is cooked to a fine mash, smothered in cheese and marinara sauce, saturated with olive oil—and calories. Truth be told, an honest eggplant would never claim to stand on its own in the kitchen pantheon, never presume to be more than what it is, a bland, blank canvas made to showcase the bright, bold flavors of comelier foods. On the other hand, if you can fight the urge to slice, dice and devour your eggplant—which shouldn’t really be too hard—it will reward your kindness with beauty, a gleaming purple splendor unrivaled by any other species of produce. Thus freed to embrace its truest, highest and best self, an honest eggplant can rise to the ranks of majesty.

Sandra Millers Younger

***

This week's French Fridays with Dorie recipe, Eggplant Caviar (caviar d’aubergine), is a spread/dip similar to Baba Ghanoush, but without tahini. We're addicted to the Baba Ghanoush at Apollonia Bistro, a quaint little Greek place next door to Bristol Farms in La Jolla, so Dorie's variation had a tough act to follow.

Why is it called eggplant caviar? Wikipedia explains that in some eastern European countries, such as Ukraine and Russia, "Ikra" also refers to an eggplant or squash spread which is often called "poor man's caviar." In England this is known as Aubergine Caviar. Similarly, "Texas caviar" is a type of salad or dip made from whole black-eyed peas. In the United Kingdom, "Yorkshire caviar" is a playful term for mushy peas, in reference to the stereotype of Yorkshiremen as dour folk who won't spend money on luxuries.  Okay, but I'm still perplexed.

Eggplant Caviar
Adapted from Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours
Makes about 3 cups

2 large eggplants (about 1 to 1-1/2 pounds each)
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling over the finished dip
2 cloves of garlic, minced (I used about a tablespoon of roasted garlic)
1 small onion, minced (I didn't love the raw onion flavor and texture and will try caramelizing the onions or possibly substituting a few tablespoons minced shallots next time)
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons finely chopped basil
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon Piment d'Espelette (or smoked paprika, cayenne, or other red Chile powder)
Salt and freshly ground pepper (smoked salt, if you have it)
3 Roma tomatoes, peeled, chopped and seeded (optional)

Serving suggestions: Toasted baguette slices, pita bread, or crackers

1. Preheat the oven to 400˚F. Put the eggplants on a baking sheet lined with foil, prick with a knife in several places, and roast 45 to 60 minutes, until soft and shriveled (I also like the sound of David Lebovitz' method, here, for a bit more smokiness).
2. Cool and halve eggplants; scrape the flesh into a food processor and discard the skins. Add olive oil and puree. Add remaining ingredients and pulse just to combine (If you want a chunkier texture, you can mash and mix all the ingredients in a bowl with a fork). Season to taste, with salt and pepper.

3. Spoon into a bowl, cover, and chill several hours, or overnight.

4. Just before serving, fold in chopped tomatoes, if using, and drizzle with olive oil.

Eggplant caviar can be stored, covered and refrigerated, for a few days.

Despite its deceiving name, Eggplant Caviar surely deserves a spot in your dip/spread rotation.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get naked, crawl between some crisp, cool sheets and dream about wild sex and exotic beaches in a faraway lands. After all, eggplant caviar is an aphrodisiac? Isn't it?

***

French Fridays with Dorie is an online cooking group, dedicated to Dorie Greenspan‘s newest book Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours.  As members of the group, we have purchased the cookbook and cook along as much as we can. There is a new recipe each week, and we post about that recipe on Friday. We are asked to refrain from posting the actual recipes on our blog. The book is filled with stunning photography, and personal stories about each recipe, which makes it that much more intriguing. I highly recommend adding it to your cookbook collection if you haven't already!

Christening the Grill - Steak and Lobster with Spicy Herbed Compound Butter

I'm experiencing a little difficulty sliding back into my blogging groove after the move. My life feels out of sync, in transition, and up in the air, and it's disrupting the summer flow! Concerts in the Park are in full swing, the 4th of July holiday weekend is at my front door, and John's son, Alex, will be on a plane tomorrow for his summer visit.

John made it back from his business trip in time to join the tail-end of my Saturday afternoon photo shoot at Il Fornaio, for the Homemade Pasta Cooking Class. Chef Marco packed the house with his sexy Italian accent, warm smile, engaging conversation, and amazing pasta rolling expertise.

At one point, Marco had pasta draped over the arms of everyone around the entire table!

On Sunday morning, we gave Dooley a much-needed bath in his semi-private garden sanctuary. When those Newfs need a bath, they really need a bath!

And on Sunday evening, we made the short walk over to Spreckels Park to relax and listen to Althea & Company, a great Bonnie Raitt tribute band.

For concert fare, I prepared Baked Pork Loin with Fig-Citrus Stuffing, from Pig: King of the Southern Table.  If you're a lover of all things pork, this cookbook is a no-brainer.

The stuffing was incredibly moist and flavorful with the acid-sweet balance of the citrus and figs. The pork loin cooks on rack above some beer, too, for a little hoppy aroma.

On Monday night, John spoiled me rotten with steak and lobster, while he christened his new toy - a brand spankin new grill, with all the bells and whistles! Rather than simply melting butter for the succulent lobster, he whipped up Wolfgang Puck's Spicy Herbed Compound Butter.

Compound butters are mixtures of butter and flavoring ingredients, such as herbs, spices, zests, or aromatic liquids, used to enhance flavor in various dishes. After whipping together the butter and chosen add-ins, the butter is packed into a ramekin, or shaped into a log wrapped in plastic wrap or parchment paper, and chilled until it is firm enough to be sliced. These butters can be melted on top of seafood, meats and vegetables, used as a spread, or used to finish various sauces.

Our lobster received a generous slather of butter during the grilling process, and a dab more once he hit the plate.

Grilled Lobsters with Spicy Herbed Compound Butter
Adapted from Wolfgang Puck

1/2 pound unsalted butter, room temperature
4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1/2 red or green jalapeno, seeds and white membranes removed, chopped coarsely
1/4 cup coarsely chopped parsley (we used basil)
Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons chopped chives
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Live lobsters

In a food processor, combine the butter, garlic, jalapeno, parsley, lemon zest and juice, and chives. Season with salt and pepper and process until well combined. Transfer enough butter for the lobsters to a small container (you will need about 4-6 tablespoons butter for each lobster you are grilling). Place the remaining butter on a sheet of parchment and roll into a log, twisting the ends to seal. Refrigerate for another use.

To prepare the lobsters, bring a large pot of water to a rapid boil. Place the lobsters in the boiling water and blanch just until the shells turn red, but the meat is not cooked through, about 3 minutes. Remove the lobsters and let cool slightly. Slice the lobsters in half lengthwise. Brush the meat and inside of the lobsters with some of the herbed butter, about 1 tablespoon per lobster half. Place the lobsters on the grill, flesh side down and cook until the meat has grill marks and starts to turn opaque and firm up, about 5 minutes.

Turn the lobsters over and grill an additional 3 to 4 minutes, brushing with more butter, if desired. Remove the lobsters to a large platter. If desired, serve with some of the reserved herbed butter.

As we sat outside in the courtyard, soaking up the last warming rays of the sun, sipping wine, and savoring every bite of this very special dinner, my life eased into the place it needs to be...with John by my side and Dooley snoozing comfortably at our feet.