I was listening to the B-52’s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aepSPpU4S2o when I started to crave Lobster… and then macaroni… and then cheese…eureka! Lobster Mac and Brie cheese!
My cooking process sometimes get fired up in mischievous ways… I definitely was craving macaroni and cheese… “the bad one”, the one that comes in a little blue box with radioactive namaste orange cheese powder…. yes, I must confess sometimes I do crave things that are not to good for me but they bring me a sense of un-complicated comfort…
No, I did not succumb to the blue box, in fact I Rock-ed it out and made a great version of Macaroni, throwing some lobster in it. (There goes my “un-complicated comfort” uh?)
By applying a few macaroni principles you can have the most luscious, silky cheese macaroni.

Four Macaroni Commandments:

1-Thou Shall Use Ridged macaroni elbows…

It makes a huge difference, the amount of cheese sauce that sticks to the pasta is extremely desirable.

2- Thou Shall Use No Flour or Rue In Your Sauce…

This is a controversial statement; I’m convinced that if you use the right amount of cheese and cream in the sauce, there is no need to add flour to thicken the sauce, the sauce will not curdle and it will make the sauce light and silky.

3-Thou Marry Thy Ingredients Before Baking….

‘Al dente’ pasta + silky sauce = perfect creamy and light consistency with out over cooking it.
When adding the pasta to the cheese sauce, let them talk to each other for a couple of minutes, this will allow the pasta to absorb the extra liquids in the cheese sauce and flavor the pasta before reaching a high temperature when it hits the oven.

4- Thou Shall Bake the macaroni cheese at a high temperature for a short period of time…

The high temperature will allow to form the desirable outside crust and the short period of time will allow the pasta to keep its creamy gooey inside.
I promise if you stick by these four commandments you will always have a great success in your mac & cheese!
Make sure you are listening to the B-52’s…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aepSPpU4S2o

Lobster Mac and Brie

Serves 4 mermaids or 2 sailors

3 cups -1 lbs. Ridged macaroni elbows (since the sauce does not have flour, you can easily substitute for any gluten-free pasta like quinoa which has great flavor and texture)
2-4 6oz Lobster tails
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup white wine (California Chardonnay or a Dry Riesling will work great)
8-10 oz triple cream Brie cheese (If you do not like Brie, you can substitute any creamy milder cheese you prefer…like cream cheese or baby cheddar)
2 tablespoons butter
1 garlic clove
1 lemon:
the juice and the zest of ½ a lemon
½ lemon sliced
½ teaspoon dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon of cornstarch diluted in 1 tablespoon of milk.
2 ears of sweet corn ( approx. 2-3 cups of corn kernels)
1 teaspoon kosher salt /plus more for cooking the pasta
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper.

To garnish:

3 green scallions finely chopped
1 or two pinches of smoked paprika
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
¼ teaspoon garlic powder.
Lemon wedges

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F/205 C

1.-

In a medium pot of boiling salted water add lemon slices and a bay leaf and cook the Lobster tails for about 4-5 minutes. Once cooked, immediately remove them and shock them in an ice cold water bowl to stop the cooking process.
After cooling them in ice water for a few minutes crack the back of the shell open with kitchen shears to make it easier to peel.
(See picture below). Remove the shells and slice into medallions. Set aside. (the lobster should appear a little under done, it will finish cooking in the oven)

2.-

In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente.
While the pasta is cooking start your sauce in a separate pot. Bring wine to a simmer add garlic clove, turn down the heat and add the heavy cream, butter, salt, black pepper, lemon zest, dijon mustard. Bring to a slow simmer. Whisk in the cornstarch. With a wooden spoon stir slowly for about five minutes. Make sure it’s free of lumps. Simmer for ten more minutes. Remove the garlic clove. Stir in the Brie cheese until well combined. Adjust salt and pepper if needed. Add the corn kernels cook for 3-4 minutes. Fold the macaroni into the sauce, mix, and let it cook, stirring occasional on a low heat for 3-4 minutes until the sauce appears to have a little thicker consistency.

3.-

Pour the macaroni into a 2 – 8” oval ramekins / or  4 – 4” ramekin dishes. Arrange the Lobster medallions on top of the macaroni and add a few dices of butter. Save the tales for garnish, see picture below.
Top the macaroni with chopped scallions, a pinch of smoked paprika and the seasoned panko bread crumbs. Bake for 15-18 minutes. Remove from oven and let it rest for 5 minutes before serving.

ROCK- Lobster Macaroni & Brie Cheese…make it soon!