AUG9

Grilled Corn and Lobster Chowder

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Devany

Grilled Corn and Lobster Chowder

Another offering from my Charleston kitchen. It is the peak of summer. Time for lobster and corn on the cob. While both are abundant, I decided to make a Chowder on a rainy summer day. It is not hard at all. I used lobster tails that I found on sale and some claws I had frozen for this, but usually I use live lobsters. I always save the shells for stock. This makes enough for 6 servings and reheats well.

Ingredients: 

• 2 (1 1/2-pound) cooked lobsters, cracked and split (reserve shells)
• 4 ears corn

For the stock:

• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
• 2  yellow onions finely chopped
• 1/2 cup sherry
• 1 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
• 4 cups whole milk
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup dry vermouth

For the chowder:

• 2 tablespoon olive oil or butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups large-diced  potatoes (3 medium)
• 2-3 large shallots, finely diced
• 2 cups diced celery (3 to 4 stalks)
• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh chives
• 3 sprigs of thyme
• 1/2 cup sherry

Method:

• Remove the meat from the shells of the lobsters. Cut the meat into large cubes and place them in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
• Reserve the shells and all the juices that collect.
• Grill the corn by removing the stocks and silk, spray lightly with olive oil. Grill on medium heat for 2 minutes on each side.
• Allow the corn to cool, then cut the corn kernels from the cobs and set aside, reserving the cobs for stock. I use a great corn cutter made by OXO. It really works well. There are not a lot of gadgets that impress me, but this one does.

For the stock:

• Melt the butter in a stockpot or Dutch oven large enough to hold all the lobster shells and corncobs.
• Add the onion and cook over medium-low heat for 7 minutes, until translucent but not browned, stirring occasionally.
• Add the sherry and paprika and cook for 1 minute.
• Add the milk, cream, wine, lobster shells and their juices, and corn cobs and bring to a simmer. Partially cover the pot and simmer the stock over the lowest heat for 30 minutes.

For the chowder:

• In another stockpot place the shallots, celery and butter or olive oil. Stir until slightly translucent.
• Add the potatoes, corn kernels, salt, and pepper to the same pot and saute for 5 minutes.
• Add the flour and stir in and add a ladle full of the stock.
• Remove the largest pieces of lobster shell and the corn cobs with tongs and discard.
• Place a strainer over the soup pot and carefully pour the stock into the pot with the potatoes and corn.
• Simmer over low heat for 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Add the cooked lobster, the chives,  and the sherry and season to taste. Heat gently and serve hot.

Grilled Baby Bok Choy

So simple and so delicious! Grilled Baby Bok Choy…

Baby bok choy is one of many Asian greens available here year round. In our farmer’s market a bouquet sized bunch of it is just $1. If you live on the mainland, you may have to wait for Spring to get fresh local bok choy, but it does grow everywhere in temperate months. It is also very easy to grow in the garden. 

After you have soaked the bok choy in water and drained it, all you do is cut each baby bok choy in half and trim the thin upper leaves a little. Then drizzle with a simple lemon vinaigrette (1/4 cup of lemon juice, ½ cup of olive oil, a tablespoon of Dijon mustard, a pinch of salt and two tablespoons of agave syrup) and allow the bok choy to rest in the marinade. I also had some golden beets that I had roasted and I sliced them thickly and placed them in the marinade too. 

Heat a grill on high and once it is good and hot, turn down to medium. Place the baby bok choy on the grill, being careful of flare ups because of the marinade. I keep a water bottle handy. It only takes about 2-3 minutes on each side, just till you see some grill marks, you want the greens with just a little crunch. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper to taste. 

You can also use a more Asian marinade instead, but I like the freshness lemon adds to the dish. You could also use other baby Asian greens such as baby Tat Soy. 

Ribs Extraordinaire

I am going to call this recipe "Cheating the Cheat".  I got the original concept from Sam Sifton who among other things (like being the chief restaurant reviewer for the Times) does a column in the New York Times Sunday Magazine called The Cheat. It has long been one of my favorite things. He goes to a restaurant and deconstructs the food that he thinks is most delicious. Sometimes he gets a little help in the way of hints from the chefs, more recently this is true. I have a dog eared copy of a recipe he did for brined pork chops with glazed apples that is at least 6 years old. This is literally how I learned to cook. I would go to a restaurant and taste... then I was most often able to replicate flavors and textures. All of this intuition was of course backed up by technique and skills that I learned along the way, but the ability to figure out the things that really make a dish unique are somewhere in my DNA. Of course Mr. Sifton takes it to a whole new level... because he is none other than Sam Sifton whom I humbly revere.

In a recent "Cheat" article he explored ribs... really wonderful ribs, Malaysian style and perfectly cooked. The restaurant he reviewed earlier and had a lust for the ribs from was "Fatty Cue" in Brooklyn. The Chef/Owner there, Zachary Pleaccio had recently made a trip to Malaysia in search of inspiration for his food. His theme is: "The appeal of “strong cocktails, chili, palm sugar and smoky fat.” All of those elements appeal very much to me. You can read Mr. Sifton's review of Fatty Cue here. Warning, unless you are a vegetarian, this is going to make you salivate incessantly and inspire you to buy a ticket on the next plane to New York. 


Here is what I have learned about really great ribs: 

#1 You do NOT want fall off the bone ribs, those are ribs smothered and cooked in a way that loses much of the flavor and all of the bite of a good rib.
#2 When smoking (my favorite way to do ribs) you need to take time, do it slowly and in the end, you must have a smoke ring when you bite into it.
#3 My favorite ribs are those cooked with Malaysian/Asian elements.
#4 Sauce is good, but it is not the key element and I usually do not sauce my ribs, but serve sauce on the side, though these ribs end up being lacquered with a glaze at the end of the cooking process.

Mr. Sifton's recipe included all of those elements ~ and so I knew I would love these ribs. He did not use a smoker, but a grill. I have and love my Digitally controlled Bradley Smoker, so I used it, but this can also be done using the indirect method on a grill and with a smoke box in the grill. I did finish my ribs off on the grill, just to get a nice char on the exterior.

And, so here is the recipe. There is some wiggle room if you want to personalize it, but one thing you cannot remove or change is the element of the Fish Sauce. Three Crabs being the preferred brand. This takes an entire day to do. I added the star anise, lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves,. chiles and increased a few things like the amount of garlic. This makes a lot of brine, I halved the recipe because I was using just one rack of ribs, this formula would work for two racks, maybe even three if you cut them up into sections as I did.

Recipe: Fatty 'Cue Spare Ribs (slightly altered)

2 cups fish sauce (preferably Three Crabs brand; see note)

10 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed

2 medium shallots, peeled and sliced

1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

3 whole star anise

4 kaffir lime leaves

1-2 fresh hot chiles cut in half (seeds intact)

2 stalks of lemon grass, bruised and tied in a knot

1/2 cup sugar

2 racks pork spare ribs (I used meaty back ribs)

2 tablespoons toasted and ground Indonesian long pepper, or to taste (see note)

6 ounces palm sugar (see note)

1. Combine 1 1/2 cups fish sauce with the garlic, shallot, lemon grass, kaffir lime, star anise, chile, black pepper and sugar in a large pot. Add at least a gallon of water, then cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat, place in a nonreactive container and chill. Place the ribs in the brine for at least 6 hours and no longer than 12.

2. Remove the ribs from the brine and dust lightly with ground Indonesian long pepper.

* Steps 3 & 4 were replaced by me using my digital smoker. I just set it on 220 degrees, put the Jim Beam Whiskey Barrel Wood disks in and let it go. If you do not have a smoker that you can control the heat with , use steps 3 & 4. I did char the ribs on the grill. 

3. In a grill with a cover, build a small fire to one side, making sure all the wood or charcoal becomes engulfed in flame. When the flames begin to die down, leaving flickering coals, place the ribs on the grill on the side without fire. Do not let the flames touch the meat at any time.

4. Cover the grill, vent slightly and cook, checking the fire every 30 minutes or so and adding a bit more fuel as necessary, for about 5 hours at around 220 degrees, until the meat recedes from the bone and its internal temperature is at least 170 degrees but no more than 180.

5. Meanwhile, make a glaze. Combine the palm sugar and 3/4 cup water in a small pot over a medium flame, and heat until the sugar melts. Combine that simple syrup with the remaining 1/2 cup fish sauce.

6. When the ribs are ready, glaze lightly and sear on the grill for about 5 mintues, then heavily glaze them again and serve. I served them with grilled corn on the cob, grilled smashed potatoes and parsley carrots. Salad on the side. Asian Slaw would be great with them too. 

Serves 4 to 6. Adapted from Robbie Richter and Zakary Pelaccio.

Note: Three Crabs fish sauce, long pepper and palm sugar can be found at most Asian Markets or at Amazon.com or Kalustyans.com.