It's been TOO long

Wow, it's really been too long.... let me just say, that it's been a crazy few months, including trying to get school stuff sorted out, trombone practices (yes, trombone, and yes it's Miss M. playing it.) and, just recently, young Mr. J. being assaulted on the bus (he's okay, and the other kid got suspended - ugly situation, but he's handling it well).

So, there are some changes going on for my blog. After realizing how many people in my area are actually reading it (about 7 that I know of, but they're all friends), I came to the conclusion that I need to eliminate my kids pictures, and start using pseudonyms for them. Back when this was a very anonymous (ie there was only 1 person reading it, lol) blog, I didn't really worry about that so much. And quite frankly, after my long absence, I might be down to 1 reader again! (So if you are still out there, thanks for hanging around :O)

From now on, the kids will be as such: Oldest Son will be known as, well, Oldest Son. Younger Son will be known as Mr. J. My daughter will be Miss M. And I will be removing pictures bit by bit.

I'm not sure when I'll be able to catch up with everyone and their blogs. Still a lot going on around here, just with the whole living life thing. I always thought as the kids got older, things would slow down a bit. Seems that isn't really so.

But for now, I will leave you with this great recipe that I am working on. The original comes from the Food Network's show Barefoot Contessa:

Ingredients

nocoupons

• 1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion (1 large onion)
• 3/4 cup chopped fennel (1 fennel bulb)
• 1/4 pound unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cups fish stock or clam juice
• 1 tablespoon Pernod
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream
• 3/4 pound cooked fresh lobster meat
• 1 1/2 cups frozen peas (not "baby" peas)
• 1 1/2 cups frozen small whole onions
• 1/2 cup minced flat-leaf parsley

Pastry:

nocoupons

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 8 tablespoons cold fresh lard, diced (1/4 pound)
• 8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, diced
• 1/2 to 2/3 cup ice water
• 1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water or heavy cream, for egg wash

Directions

Saute the onions and fennel with the butter in a large saute pan on medium heat until the onions are translucent, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the flour and cook on low heat for 3 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Slowly add the stock, Pernod, salt, and pepper and simmer for 5 more minutes. Add the heavy cream.

Cut the lobster meat into medium-sized cubes. Place the lobster, frozen peas, frozen onions, and parsley in a bowl (there is no need to defrost the vegetables). Pour the sauce over the mixture and check the seasonings. Set aside.

For the crust, mix the flour, salt, and baking powder in a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Add the lard and butter and pulse 10 times, until the fat is the size of peas. With the motor running, add the ice water; process only enough to moisten the dough and have it just come together. Dump the dough out on a floured surface and knead quickly into a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic and allow it to rest for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Divide the dough in half and roll out each half to fit a 9 or 9 1/2-inch round by 2-inch high ovenproof glass or ceramic baking dish. Place 1 crust in the dish, fill with the lobster mixture, and top with the second crust. Crimp the crusts together and brush with the egg wash. Make 4 or 5 slashes in the top crust and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbling hot.

Now I found a few things with this recipe. First of all, there is now way on earth I can afford 3/4 of a pound of lobster meat. Or even 3/4 of a pound of lobster shell. This recipe works just as well with any mix of seafood. Try a mix of shrimp and crab (haven't tried it with imitation crab, but I bet it would work out just fine.) or throw in some clams if you have 'em - or any combo of seafood or maybe even some firm, white fleshed fish, like cod.

This was really the first time I had worked with fennel. It smelled so wonderful! And in the finished product, it was fabulous. If you haven't cooked with it before, try it. It's great with seafood dishes. Just cut off the long stocks, cut off the end, cut it in half and slice.

Too many peas! I'm not a huge fan of peas, and this recipe just had too many. Next time I'll cut the amount down at least half.

I threw some raw diced carrots into the mix. I was glad I did. They added some extra color and flavor.

I left out the Pernod. I didn't have any, and I wasn't buying a bottle of something I wouldn't use often just for a tablespoon of it. You can substitute a white wine here, or just leave it out completely.

I wasn't a fan of the baby white onions, either. I thought the sauted onions were enough, and these just weren't neccessary. While they look cool in there, they just didn'tdo it for me. I think next time I might throw in some diced potatoes instead.

On the pastry side, I have never, ever used lard in any recipe. Never. It's so gross. That said, I did get some and try it for this pastry. HOLY CRAP. This was the flakiest, most delicious crust I've ever made! Wow! I hate to say it, but I'm sold. I'll never make crust again without lard. Not that I actually make crust all that often.

Overall, though, I have to say that this was a thumbs up recipe. I will tinker with it a bit, and then one of these days I will post my own version, complete with more reasonably priced seafood and not so many darn peas! In the mean time, give it a try! The sauce is so creamy and delicious (go fennel!) that it's so worth making it!