Lobster Mac N Cheese

I first started this blog to get myself to branch out when cooking. So far I have not being doing a good job of shaking things up...but this week things are changing!

Yesterday, Raymond and I did our weekly shopping trip and decided we would fill our cart with new, fresh, and healthy items. We wanted to focus our exploration around fruits, veggies, and seafood. After a good hour in the grocery store we had gone from plan A- "Try New Everything", to plan B- "Work with What You Can Find" and then finally plan C- "Here is what the store actually carries and we can afford".

We had planned on leaving the store with two lobster tails and two crab clusters. Instead we ended up with one lobster tail and a big piece of salmon. More affordable but still delicious. So what do you do with one lobster tail? Lobster mac and cheese!

To prep the lobster:

I boiled the lobster tail until the meat was just cooked (5 mintues) and then let it cool on the cutting board. From there I used kitchen scissors to cut along the back of the shell down the middle. After that I pulled the shell off of the meat using a butter knife and my husbands helping hands. It pulled away easily after the butter knife loosened the meat from the shell.

From there I followed the lovely Ina Garten's recipe with a few changes. The first being, I cut this recipe in half and still had tons left over. The recipe below calls for a large amount of lobster so you be the judge how much you want to prepare.

I put my changes below in blue.

Ingredients

• Kosher salt
• Vegetable oil
• 1 pound cavatappi or elbow macaroni ( I used mini shells)
• 1 quart milk (1pt)
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided (4 tbs)
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (1/4 cup)
• 12 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated (4 cups) (I used 2 cups sharp cheddar)
• 8 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar, grated (2 cups) (I used 3/4 cup mozzarella and 1/4 cup Parmesan)
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (1/4 tsp)
• 1 1/2 pounds cooked lobster meat (1/2 lb)
• 1 1/2 cups fresh white bread crumbs (5 slices, crusts removed) (1/2 cup)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Drizzle oil into a large pot of boiling salted water. Add the pasta and cook according to the directions on the package, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain well.

Meanwhile, heat the milk in a small saucepan, but don't boil it. In a large pot, melt 6 tablespoons of butter and add the flour. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring with a whisk. Still whisking, add the hot milk and cook for a minute or two more, until thickened and smooth. Off the heat, add the Gruyere, Cheddar, 1 tablespoon salt, the pepper, and nutmeg. Add the cooked macaroni and lobster and stir well. Place the mixture in 6 to 8 individual gratin dishes.

Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, combine them with the fresh bread crumbs, and sprinkle on the top. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the macaroni is browned on the top.

Enjoy!