Saffron Scented Lobster, Sweet Potato and Green Beans, Baked En Papillote

Our July 2012 Daring Cooks’ host was Sarah from All Our Fingers in the Pie! Sarah challenges us to learn a new cooking technique called “Cooking En Papillote” which is French and translates to “cooking in parchment”.

Several years ago, baking in parchment became one of my favorite cooking methods, still it was good having the opportunity to expand upon it..  I wanted to try some new takes on the fabulous En Papillote.  For instance, I realized from the given recipes that various oven temperatures and cooking times were possible.  Previously I'd just stuck to a basic formula, with variations only in the ingredients, herbs, etc., on the theory that if it works, don't mess with it.

Fish seems to lend itself perfectly to this method of cooking.   So, for my first reprise it was salmon with sweet potato slices in a dressing of seasoned olive oil, paired with blanched kale, salted lemon and a few pats of butter.  I used fresh ginger in the sweet potato dressing, but those garlic chives got eliminated.

There is an element of fun in opening your mystery (to anyone else at the table) packet, aromatic steam puffing out, and dinner revealed.  They had just the right amount of moisture from the blanched kale, butter and sweet potato marinade.  Scoop it off the paper onto your plates and enjoy.

The next take involved a pair of overpriced lobster tails, saffron (they deserve each other), sweet potato again, just because it was so good, green beans and butter.  I sprinkled those garlic chives and blossoms on top after we opened the packets.

First cut out your 12x17" rectangles, then make a heart out of them by folding in half and cutting.  Now get all your ingredients ready.

I tossed the raw veggies separately in a mixture of melted butter, saffron, salt and pepper, then put the potatoes on the bottom, followed by green beans, and lobster tail, topping it all off with slivers of salted lemon and pats of butter.

You just make a nice little stack on one half of the heart.  Pretend you're a fancy chef plating up your creation.

And, remember the butter is good for you.  Everyone needs some healthy fat in their diet, to make sure all those fat soluble vitamins get utilized.

Now fold the other side over so the edges meet, make a seam, turning up a 1/2 inch or so to close the opening, then crimp little pleats to secure the edges.  Before closing off the top I added a tablespoon of white wine into each of my packets.  Bake at 400F for 15 minutes.  Let the packets sit for a few minutes before opening.

Just fabulous, decadent and so delicious with the saffron, butter and lemon scented lobster, the sweet potatoes and green beans done to perfection and then sprinkled with chopped chives.  Make yourself some and enjoy!

I still want to make the prosciutto wrapped asparagus, which was one of the recipes provided by our Daring Chefs hostess .  I'll add the directions for it after the break, as it is a bit different, being slow-roasted.  Our markets were out of asparagus, so my trial on that one may have to wait.

Caribbean Style Curried Lobster with Breadfruit Salad and Guava Chutney

We're off on another vicarious adventure at Cook the Books Club, this time in the Caribbean with voyager and writer, Ann Vanderhoof, author of An Embarrassment of Mangoes, (Doubleday Canada, 2003), which means a whole lot of them. Adventures as well as fruit. What an inspiring, envy provoking, and darn good read!

She and her husband had a dream - to cast off for a year or two from jobs, cold weather, the stress of city living, and sail South to the islands of the Caribbean. They saved their money over a period of several years, acquired a near perfect yacht and made the plunge. This book is Vanderhoof's log of events, characters met and wonderful meals - which she kindly shares with her readers.

I did go through a phase, with Bob, wherein we saw ourselves sailing off into the sunset, living on our own little home away from home at sea. We purchased a small boat (23 ft.) to learn sailing. Round and about in Kaneohe Bay was fun for awhile. Then, life interfered with our tentative plans. Like a newborn daughter, below decks in the cabin, squalling her sweet head off; Bob's ever present fear we were about to rack up the investment onto a nearby coral reef; and of course, the not so small matter of money. Truthfully,  I did wonder about encountering pirates and whales (too close). Possibly just not determined or brave enough.  Anyway, that's what arm chairs are for, right?

One of the nice things about our blogger club is that you usually get an excellent read as well as some wonderful recipes, and this selection is no exception. I wanted to cook up everything Ann mentioned eating. However, given the opportunity to eat lobster, guess what?? Yes, I'll take lobster. And curried, oh boy! I really had to try Dingi's recipe, which Ann gives us on page127. When I've eaten lobster in the past it has always been with butter and lemon. Standard fare. Time to rock the boat.

This guy is saying, "Please do something special with me."

Luckily, my brother-in-law's brother is a fisherman.  I mentioned wanting to cook some lobster, and a few days later he had a nice one for us. Then, with a freshly picked green breadfruit, I made up a Potato Breadfruit Salad, which along with rice for the curry to nestle up next to, and a bit of Guava Chutney, our meal was set. True island style ingredients, with a tang of the Caribbean.