Lobster and Brie Dip

My family came to visit me for Christmas (YAY!) and it was awesome.  The next series of food posts will focus on all the meals I fed them, and believe me, I made a LOT of food - but that's why I love for my family to come visit.  I get to cook!  And I have so many untested recipes in my Binder-o-Recipes, that I love being able to "knock a few out" :)

I had seen this recipe on Pinterest (god bless / hate Pinterest!), which promised to be a low cal dip made with lobster and brie - just the thought of brie and low-cal together made it seem too good to be true, and made me wonder how it would taste, so I figured I'd make my family the guinea pigs :)

I had the grocery store cook a full lobster for me, so all I had to do was get the meat out.  I don't have any seafood utensils, but I do have a tool box, which is just as handy: 

This recipe also calls for 6 cups of baby spinach, sauteed with garlic.  Oooooh it was GOOD...

After slightly wilting the spinach, you put it in the colander and drain as much of the excess water as possible...

Beautiful brie cheese....

Combine spinach, chopped lobster meat....

With a cream cheese/greek yogurt/brie mixture...

Then bake, and SERVE!  Easy, cheesy :)

It was good.  The garlic-sauteed spinach added so much flavor.  To be honest, I didn't really notice the lobster that much, sigh.  Good lobster should not be wasted. But regardless, it was DELISH.  And, my family seemed to enjoy it (maybe they were just humouring me, you never know!)

I served it with Wheat Thins and Triscuits (variety, people!), but any good cracker, or perhaps some whole wheat crostini, would be fine.

Here's the full recipe:

Lobster & Brie Dip

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 cups baby spinach, lightly packed
• 1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup low-fat plain cream cheese, softened
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• Pinch ground cayenne pepper
• 1 1/2 cups chopped cooked lobster meat
• 1 1/2 cups low-fat Brie cheese, diced (about 7 oz)
• 2 tbsp each chopped fresh chives and flat-leaf parsley
• Sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. In a large skillet, heat oil on medium-high. Cooking in batches if necessary, add garlic and spinach and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until spinach is just wilted. Transfer to a colander, allow to cool for 2 to 3 minutes and gently press to drain excess water. Cool to room temperature and transfer to a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
2. Add mozzarella, yogurt, cream cheese, lemon juice and cayenne to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until thoroughly combined. Using a spatula, scrape cheese mixture into bowl with spinach. Stir in lobster, Brie, chives and parsley. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Transfer dip to a shallow ovenproof casserole dish and place dish on a baking tray. Heat in oven for 15 to 18 minutes, until hot and bubbling. Remove from oven and let rest for 3 to 4 minutes. 
4. ENJOY.

Crustless Broccoli Cheddar Tomato Quiche

My parents came to visit me a few months ago... and whenever they come, I have a list of "to do"s for them to complete - sometimes I ask my Mom to hem a pair of pants... sometimes I ask my Dad to fix a drawer or replace a kitchen faucet.

But a staple of any visit is a trip to CostCo.  I LOVE COSTCO.  I go crazy in that place. I'm like a kid in a candy store, but instead of candy, I go gaga for the abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables at crazy insanely inexpensive prices.  A 16 pack of gala apples, a 12 pack of plums, a giant veggie tray, 5 lbs of tomatoes.  My eyes are like saucers and, of course, there's a giant cart that I can easily load up... The problem is that I'm just one person... it's almost impossible for me to eat everything I buy.  Which I conveniently only remember AFTER I swipe the credit card.

So what's a girl to do with a giant bunch of veggies?  Make a veggie quiche!

I started with a Martha Stewart recipe and slightly adapted it to fit my needs:


Crustless Broccoli Cheddar Tomato Quiche
Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of broccoli, chopped into bite size pieces
• 1 pint of cherry tomatoes, halved
• 6 large eggs (4 egg whites, 2 whole eggs)
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3-4 slices of reduced fat cheddar cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Lightly coat the bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie dish with PAM spray; set aside.
3. In a large bowl, toss broccoli, tomatoes and cheddar cheese; add to pie dish and spread evenly.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Pour over veggie mixture in pie dish.

5. Bake until golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes.

EASY PEASY, right?!?!

It was so easy... and it's so freaking yummy, not to mention healthy.  Crustless quiches (or are they called frittatas?) are my go-to breakfast meal.  You can make them ahead of time, portion out into individual containers, carry to work and easily heat up... and best, it fills you up so you're not starving by 10:30/11am.  It's not a diet maker, not a diet breaker!!!

But now that I've used up all the veggies, I need my parents to come visit me again :) :) :)

Random Inspiration: Pesce all' Acqua Pazza

Do you ever go to the grocery store and see a seasonal, beautiful ingredient, like a carton of fresh California Mission Figs, or a stunning piece of fish? Do you think "Wow, if only I had a recipe to use that gorgeous ingredient in..." and move on without placing said gorgeous item in your shopping cart?  Yeah, I do that all the time, cause I'm a planner. 

Except, a few weeks ago, I was NOT me, and I blame it on a stunning fillet of halibut.  It was just sitting in the case at the seafood counter, and it was thick, and white and PRETTY and I JUST HAD TO HAVE IT.  So I bought it.  No plan for how I was going to make it.  Just boom.  And there I was, a proud owner of a beautiful piece of fish, and I needed to do it justice.

Immediately upon arriving home with this piece of fish in tow, I consulted my trusty binder full of recipes (ala Binders full of women).  I flipped to the seafood section (yes, I organize my binder of recipes into categories... I know, I'm a nerd), and I found this recipe from Shape magazine for Pesce all' Acqua Pazza: 

It's actually a recipe from Teresa Giudice's (she's one of the "Real Housewives of New Jersey) cook book, and apparently Pesce all' Acqua Pazza means "Fish in Crazy Water," which is pretty perfect considering that Teresa is CRAY CRAY, and also... I had just "survived" Sandy, where I experienced CRAZY amounts of water outside my front door, and in fact, inside my front door. (I was never in any personal danger, but it was a surreal experience, and I am, in fact, a survivor, right?!?) 

It was like destiny.  Except, I didn't have any of the other ingredients handy.  (This is why I'm a planner, people!!)

So I made a second trip to the grocery store (thank goodness it's a short half mile walk away), and picked up the remaining ingredients.  But forgot THE MOST important one... a bottle of dry white wine.

Which, at the end of the day is not a problem considering I'm surrounded by at least three liquor stores within a 2 block radius... except that two of those three were still not open yet as they were still cleaning up after Sandy.  I lucked out that the only store open had a bottle of cheap dry white wine.

And then, FINALLY, after three trips for ingredients, I cooked. 

And I sipped (hey, I had an open bottle of wine in front of me!):

Here's the recipe:

Pesce all' Acqua Pazza, slightly adapted from Teresa Guidice

Serves 4, 5 minutes prep, 35 minutes cooking time

1 T olive oil
1/2 cup chopped red onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved lengthwise
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 lemon, juiced (Teresa calls for the full lemon, thinly sliced, but the rind made the sauce bitter, so I'm steering y'all clear)
4 4-to-6 oz skinless fillets of halibut (or Chilean sea bass fillets or cod)
1/4 t salt
1/8 t freshly ground black pepper
3 T chopped fresh Italian parsley (garnish)

1. Heat oil in large skillet over medium.  Add onion and cook, stirring often, for about 3 minutes or until softened.  Mix in garlic and cook for 1 minute or until fragrant. 

2. Add 2 cups water along with the tomatoes, wine and lemon slices (only use lemon juice, trust me here!), and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.

3. Place fish in the simmering liquid and cover; cook for about 15 minutes or until fish is opaque.  NOTE: I overcooked the fish.  A travesty, I know, so watch your fish closely and don't go away for 15 minutes.  Maybe check on it every 5 minutes or so... 

Look at this gorgeous fillet of halibut!!!  AHHH SO PRETTY

4. Using a slotted spatula, remove fillets and place one each into four bowls, then distribute the tomatoes and lemons evenly; tent each bowl with aluminum foil to keep warm.

5. Increase heat under the skillet to high.  Boil the remaining liquid, stirring often, for about 5 minutes or until reduced by half.  Season with salt and pepper. Remove the foil tents from bowls.  Pour broth evenly over fillets and sprinkle with chopped parsley.  Serve immediately.

As you can tell from my commentary, the original recipe called for lemon slices, but that turned the sauce bitter, which is a freaking shame because this recipe had SUCH potential to be SOOO FREAKING good.  Next time I make it (if I ever make it again), just do lemon juice, even though the lemon slices are pretty...)
 
What I learned from this recipe: I shouldn't feel ashamed of being a planner.  I like planning, as I feel I'm more efficient when I only have ONE trip to the grocery store instead of three... but at the same time, I was able to experience something beautiful that I might have missed had I not allowed myself to be spontaneous and go without a plan.  So... I resolve to attempt more spontaneous experiences in my cooking life... even though I know I'll be planning 99% of the time :)