Get Your Claws On This!
WELL, it’s official. Christmas is upon us. If you’re reading this in paper form, tomorrow is the first of December, and the merry-go-round begins to lurch into action.
Some supermarkets have been taking their run-up at the festive season since September, which is ludicrous, but understandable, I guess.
But we can now properly start to look forward to Christmas and all of its pleasures.
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be offering some different festive recipes which you may want to try to fit into your Christmas schedules – I’m leaving the traditional recipes alone this year, but there will be seasonal treats to tempt the tastebuds, and some fancy nibbles for your New Year celebrations too.
And even this week there’s a little luxurious touch because we’re cooking with lobster. I love lobsters. And here I feel I have to explain fully – not only do I enjoy eating them, but I think they’re beautiful, amazing creatures.
That iridescent blue fringed with pink, the jet black eyes, that primordial beauty.
They’re an incredible bit of evolutionary engineering.
I’ll admit to always feeling a tinge of remorse when I’m cooking with lobsters, but such is the burden of the omnivore.
If we can’t deal with the death part, we shouldn’t be eating animals.
Best to dispatch them quickly, with as little discomfort as possible.
If you can find fresh lobster, then by all means go for it, but I used frozen lobsters which are available in most supermarkets these days (including one of the ‘value’ outlets whose frozen lobsters are not only very keenly-priced, but meaty and delicious).
And of course, if you can’t contemplate lobster for whatever reason, this recipe works just as well with prawn or langoustine tails, so don’t worry.
The magic is in the combination of that sweet shellfish flesh with crisply-fried smoky bacon, tangy cheese and nutty mushrooms, folded into buttery mashed potato, enlivened with the flavour of onion and chives, all baked into a crunchy potato skin glazed with bubbling cheese.
It’s comfort food deluxe, a satisfying supper or delightful lunch, requiring nothing in addition but a few crisp salad leaves (I like wedges of baby gem lettuce with mine, adding extra crunch) and a dollop of classic cocktail sauce.
This ketchup based condiment is one of the few American creations that hasn’t successfully made it across the Atlantic, which is baffling.
It’s a brilliant, tangy concoction of hot sauce, sweet ketchup and feisty horseradish, and in the States is the default sauce for fresh shellfish.
A shrimp cocktail is invariably a handful of fat prawn tails, some shredded lettuce and a big serving of this sauce for dipping.
It works so well together, the sauce complementing the salty seafreshness perfectly.
Most commercial versions are made by simply adding horseradish sauce to ketchup, but my version is a little more refined, and if you can locate fresh horseradish root, you’ll have a wonderfully fiery, fragrant version.
Shop-bought horseradish will work ok, but don’t buy the creamed version. It needs to be the simple relish. You’ll find yourself using this dip on lots of dishes – it keeps for weeks in the refrigerator.