Tag: brandy

Classic Lobster Bisque – Finally!

I usually don’t have a good answer for why I’ve not gotten
around to filming certain iconic dishes like risotto, beef Wellington, and puff
pastry; but when it comes to lobster bisque, I do have a great excuse.

I won’t bore you with the details of how the tradition
started (translation: I don’t remember), but for as long as I can remember,
I’ve always made lobster bisque on Christmas Eve, to celebrate my sister-in-law
Jennifer’s birthday.

And since the few days leading up to Christmas are always so
busy and hectic with shopping, cooking, and travel, I’ve just never felt like
I’ve had the time to set up the camera to properly film the procedure. Well,
this year I decided to give it a go, and despite all the aforementioned
challenges, I was very happy with how this came out.

One word of warning: this recipe requires live lobsters,
brandy, and heavy cream. If you can’t get, or don’t want to use those
ingredients, then you’ll have to make something else. Sorry, but this recipe is
too sacred for substitutions.

Speaking of live lobsters, I know many are skeptical that
these “bugs” can actually feel pain, but to play it safe, I recommend putting
them in the freezer for 20 or 30 minutes to knock them out cold before their
ultimate demise.

I only showed the cracking and the picking of the lobster meat
very briefly, as this video was already too long for my tastes, but below I’ll
link an additional tutorial that show this in more detail. Yes, this soup takes
a little bit of work and expense, but I think you’ll agree with me (and
Jennifer) that all the effort is well worth it. Enjoy!

Makes about 1 1/2 quarts:
2 live lobsters (about 1 1/2 pounds each)
1 onion, chopped
2 rib celery, chopped
3 quarts cold water (this will reduce by about half during
the entire cooking process)
3 cloves garlic
4 springs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1 cup crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 tsp paprika
1/3 cup white long grain rice
2 tbsp cheap brandy (inexpensive brandy tends to be a little
sweeter, and works well here)
1/2 cup heavy cream, or more if you like it creamier
salt and cayenne to taste
1 tbsp chopped tarragon to garnish

Bonus Lobster Meat Recovery Video:
This video shows the picking of the lobster meat in much
more detail than I did. Since they are boiling the lobster, you can just skip
to the part where he is liberating all the meat. For more general lobster info,
you can also check out this page on Allrecipes.

Mary Berry’s mincemeat bread and butter pudding

Goodtoknow TV

Free & easy recipe video: Watch new how-to recipe videos with goodtoknow and Woman’s Weekly see all videos >

This comfort food pudding is wonderful at any time of the year – not just at Christmas!

That’s goodtoknow

It is essential to make this in a shallow dish so that you get maximum crunchy top. It rises like a souffle, so serve it at once straight from the oven.

Ingredients

50g (2 oz) ready-to-eat dried apricots
2 tbsp brandy or rum
12 thin slices white bread, buttered
1 x 450g (1lb) jar luxury mincemeat
50g (2 oz) caster sugar
3 large eggs
300ml (½ pint) double cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
150ml (¼ pint) milk
1 tbsp demerara sugar

Method

Well-butter a 28cm (11in) fairly shallow round china ovenproof dish. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/Fan 160ºC/Gas Mark 4.
Snip the apricots into smallish pieces and soak in the brandy or rum whilst making the pudding.
Make sandwiches of the bread using the mincemeat, but don’t fill right to the edges because these are trimmed off. Cut off the crusts and cut each sandwich diagonally into four. Arrange the sandwich triangles across the dish, slightly overlapping.
Beat together the caster sugar, eggs, cream and vanilla extract. Stir in the milk.
Scatter the apricots over the bread. Gradually pour over the cream mixture, making sure all the bread is coated. If you have time, leave the pudding to stand for 30-60 minutes (to allow the bread to absorb the liquid, so it becomes light and crisp during cooking). If you have no time, don’t worry – you can still bake it straightaway.
Sprinkle the demerara sugar over the top of the pudding, and bake in the preheated oven for about 40 minutes until well-risen, crisp and golden. Serve warm with creme fraiche or cream.

Top tip: It is essential to make this in a shallow dish so that you get maximum crunchy top. It rises like a souffle, so serve it at once straight from the oven.Mary Berry’s Christmas Collection is available from Amazon, RRP £16.99.Win Mary Berry cook books

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Nutritional information

Guideline Daily Amount for 2,000 calories per day are: 70g fat, 20g saturated fat, 90g sugar, 6g salt.

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What’s your budget to spend on food and drink for Christmas this year?

£151+ 27%
£101-£150 16%
£71-£100 12%
£51-£70 10%
£31-£50 9%
Less than £30 10%
I don’t know yet 5%
I’m not setting a budget 11%

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Brandy Roast Beef Recipe – La Cucina Italiana – Italian Cuisine

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With the use of the pressure cooker, in addition to perfect cooking such as in the oven, you also get an excellent cooking base with which to season the meat and finish cooking the vegetables as an accompaniment

Ingredients

1 kg sirloin of beef
250 g carrots
250 g Brussels sprouts
rosemary
sage
brandy
butter
extra virgin olive oil
salt
pepper

Duration: 50 min

Level: Easy

Dose: 8 people

Tie beef sirloin with a few rounds of kitchen twine.
Peel carrots. Cut the Brussels sprouts in half and blanch them for 4-5 minutes in salted water. Drain them and set aside.
melt in the pressure cooker 30 g of butter with 2 tablespoons of oil and add a sprig of rosemary and a sprig of sage. Add the meat and brown it on all sides, turning it with two wooden spoons so as not to pierce it and not to disperse the juices.
Pour with 1/2 glass of brandy, over low heat; salt and pepper. Close the pressure cooker and cook for 10 to 15 minutes from the whistle, depending on the preferred degree of cooking. Turn off and let the steam out of the valve, remove the roast beef and let it cool on a wire rack.
United at the bottom of cooking a knob of butter, remove the herbs and reduce the sauce by half. Add the vegetables and cook for another 5 minutes in the sauce. Serve the roast beef with the vegetables and the cooking sauce.
To know: in general, for a pink roast beef calculate, from the whistle, 1 minute of cooking for every 100 g of meat (with the traditional pressure cooker).

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