A New Cooking Class at the North Carolina Aquarium.

Today's cooking class was very enjoyable.
Tom Luzupone, director of operations at Stripers Bar and Grille,
conducted the demonstration.
The food was quite good, plus there was a lot of it so we got to bring home extras.

Our Menu:

Lobster Bisque
Stripers Tortilla Crusted Crab Cakes with Tartar Sauce
Grilled Mahi Mahi Enchilada
with
Queso Sauce, guacamole, sour cream, and Pico de Gallo
Gambas al Ajillo (sauteed shrimp)
Chocolate Mousse


First, the Lobster Bisque.

The chef started with:
1 lb. yellow onions, shredded
4 stalks celery, shredded
1/4 cup garlic, chopped
(Process in food processor.)
Melt 1/2 lb. butter and add above ingredients on medium heat until veggies are soft.
He then added 1 lb. pureed lobster meat, but when I make this
I'd prefer nice chunks of sweet lobster meat.
Actually his lobster meat comes to the restaurant already cooked and frozen in 1 pound packages, 24 to the case, and obviously quite expensive.
Stir and cook for about 10 minutes.
Next, the chef added something he calls lobster base (2 oz.), which I can buy from him at his restaurant.
I'm not exactly sure what's in it, but I gathered it was like a powdered lobster essence.
I imagine I could somewhat duplicate it when I cook my lobsters and make a lobster stock with the lobster shells and probably some shrimp shells
with some aromatic vegetables added to the mix.
3 quarts heavy cream went in next.
And 3 cups cold water. (Place one cup in each heavy cream container
and swirl to remove leftover cream.)
Then 1 1/2 lbs. cream cheese, at room temperature, to thicken.
He added 2 tsp. white pepper, but I like to see my pepper, so I'll use black.
And finally, 1 tsp. cayenne pepper.

Bring to a boil, stirring often, for 3 minutes.

Yield: 1 1/2 gallons

This was buttery, rich, and quite good.
Like I said before, I would have cooked my own lobster and used nice chunks of lobster meat.
And maybe I'll add a splash of sherry for good measure.

And he recommended Westminster brand oyster crackers.


Next, Stripers' Tortilla Crusted Crab Cakes

Since crab meat is out of season now, the chef used pasteurized crab meat, recommending Phillips brand. I wouldn't bother making it with pasteurized crab meat. Best to wait until crabs are in season and use fresh.

First he mixed the wet ingredients:

1 egg
2 TB mayonnaise
2 tsp Dijon mustard

Then he added "J.O. spice" which he described as kind of like Old Bay Seasoning.

Next, he carefully added 1 pound of crab meat to the mixture.

Finally he added 1/4 to 1/2 cup panko crab meat.

Let mixture set at least 1/2 hour in the fridge so the bread crumbs absorb the liquid and tighten the crab meat mixture up.

He then pulverized non-salted white corn tortilla chips and coated the cakes with the chips.

He sauteed some of the crab cakes in extra virgin olive oil over medium heat.
The rest, he baked with oil drizzled over them in an oiled tray for 12 minutes in a 500 degree oven, turning over 1/2 way through cooking.

These were served with his Tartar Sauce.

2 cups mayo
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 lemon juice
1/2 sweet pickle relish
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
1/2 tsp white pepper

Mix all ingredients and refrigerate before serving.

Like I've said, I prefer to see my pepper so I use black.
The red onion was a nice touch. I usually use green onions.
And I like dill pickles with my tartar sauce.

This crabcake is the baked one.

And this is the sauteed one.
And of course I preferred the sauteed crab cake to the baked cake.

They were good, but I prefer crab cakes without the tortillas.
And yeah, Mr. Hawthorne and I make better crab cakes.

Our third dish was Grilled Mahi Mahi Enchilada with Queso suace, guacamole, sour cream, and Pico de Gallo.

The chef had already grilled the mahi at his restaurant.
He put slices of mahi inside a tortilla, sprinkled some shredded cheese on it, then rolled it up.

Queso

This recipe yields 1 gallon, so you can cut it back however you want.

1 1/2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature
3 pounds Velveeta
1 qt. heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
2 TB cumin
2 TB chili powder
1 TB cayenne pepper
1 TB Kosher salt
1 TB coarse grind black pepper

Place all ingredients in pot and bring to a slow melt.


Guacamole

1 container avocado pulp (2 lbs)
1/2 cup Pico de Gallo

Now, the chef gets 2 pound bags of avocado pulp in sealed vacuumed packages.
I don't know where one could find such a thing, plus I don't need 2 pounds of avocados,
so just adjust the recipe.


Pico de Gallo

1 lb. Roma tomatoes, chopped small
4 oz. red onion, chopped small
1 oz. jalapeno, chopped fine
1 oz. scallion, chopped fine
1/2 cup cilantro
1.2 cup lime juice
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cracked black pepper

Yield: 1 quart.

I'll actually be buying some Velveeta to make the sauce.
It would be great for dipping.

Our fourth dish was Gambas al Ajillo, or to you and me, Sauteed Shrimp.

He started with a very hot pan, then added 1 part Extra Virgin Olive Oil to almost smoking.
Then he added 1 part unsalted butter.

Next he added minced garlic and the shrimp.

We asked him why the garlic didn't burn, because normally, I would add garlic near the end.
He said it was because his pan was the "proper temperature."

Next, he added the salt, the pepper, and red pepper flakes.
Then he deglazed the pan with Fume Blanc and served the shrimp.
He suggested serving it with a nice slice of bread to sop up the sauce with.

We really liked the shrimp. The sauce was quite good. The chef suggested if you wanted it a bit spicier to put the red pepper flakes in at the beginning when you put in the garlic.
I wanted to lick the leftover sauce off my plate, but I restrained myself.

Lastly, for dessert, we had Chocolate Mousse.

4 eggs, separated
3/4 cup confectioner's sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup heavy cream
1 oz flavoring (liquor, coffee, etc.)
12 oz. chocolate, bittersweet, melted, room temperature

Place yolks, sugar, and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl and whip until egg yolks are light in color and ribbon-like. With mixer on low speed, slowly add the melted chocolate. Fully incorporate and add any flavoring. In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites until stiff. In another bowl, whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Alternate folding the egg whites and heavy cream into the chocolate mixture.

Now, if you like chocolate, you'd love this. He made it right on the spot and served it, but I think it would be better chilled.
Of course, Mr. Hawthorne had to make the comment about what it looks like, but that didn't stop him from scarfing down all of his and most of mine.

All in all, this was some good eats.
Each class has been $20 and I know of no restaurant we could have gone to and gotten everything we had to eat today for that price. Plus we got to take some home.

Now, here's the sad, sad part for Rosie.
At the end, I fought the crowd trying to fill their styrofoam cups with lobster bisque and their styrofoam containers with shrimp and mahi enchiladas. Quite proud of myself and my take of the spoils, I headed back to my table and seeing xmaskatie with no cup of soup, asked her why. She said they were out of the bisque. "No, " I say, "there's plenty up there. I was just there." Xmaskatie shook her head and looked at me sadly, like I'm the poor, pitied relation. Then she opened my cup of, not lobster bisque, which I thought I had, but Queso sauce.
I had used the last of the lobster bisque on my enchilada.
Next time, I should wear my glasses.