Lobster spaghetti in tomato sauce

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basil, chicken stock, chilli flakes, cooking with white wine, cooking with wine, diced tomatoes, dry white wine, garlic, ginger, italian, lobster, lobster meal, lobster spaghetti, onion, oregano, parsley, Pasta, romantic meal, seafood, shellfish stock, spaghetti, special occasion, tomato lobster spaghetti, tomato puree, western, white wine, white wine tomato sauce

Recently I’ve been having this urge to cook lobster. Lobster… anything! I initially wanted to make a lobster roll, then I went to Signor Sassi in London and had a variety of lobster dishes. I eventually settled for making lobster spaghetti in tomato sauce and a lobster version of the Sang Har Tong Fun (big head prawn with glass noodles in wine soup). I’ve done a little research online on how to make this dish. A lot of chefs tend to boil the lobsters and then remove the meat to cook in the tomato sauce. The carcass of the lobster usually goes into a shellfish stock or a bisque later on. I do it a little differently, and I firmly believe that the lobster flavours are able to come out in all its glory this way. Obviously it would involve cooking the shell and head in the sauce ;D.Ingredients (for 2-3 pax)

• Half a lobster (this is of a larger lobster)
• 10g salted butter
• 2-3 thin slices of ginger about an inch in diameter and about 2-3 mm in width
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh basil
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 2 tbsp chopped onion or shallots
• 1 tbsp chopped garlic
• 1/2 cup chicken stock (best if you have shellfish stock but chicken is fine too)
• 1/2 cup tomato puree
• 1/2 cup diced tomatoes preferably with herbs and garlic in them
• 2-3 pinches of chilli flakes
• 1 tsp sugar and another 1tsp in case the pasta needs a little more sweetness
• 200g pasta (or around 1/3 of a 500g package of pasta) – spaghetti is slightly too thick so I used San Remo’s vermiccili pasta. Instant spaghetti by San Remo’s will do as well.
• Dash of dried oregano
• Salt, black pepper

Cooking Instructions

Prepare the lobster (prepare yourself I meant…. cutting that thing into half is no joke! It’s all spiny and painful! Coupled with a very tough shell, you may need a lot of strength to cut the head into two… or a very heavy object to help get that cleaver through). I suggest you use a towel to protect your hands from the lobster’s myriad spikes and a pair of strong kitchen scissors to cut through the tail end of the lobster.After a lot of effort… finally..See all that golden stuff?? That’s where the flavour’s at!Heat up some oil in the pan and fry the onions, ginger and garlic.

Add the lobster, brain side down, and let it fry for a minute (do not let the meat sear! It should be on medium fire), before adding the wine to the mix. I wanted to try to flambe the lobster, but the kitchen is so small and I was worried I might singe something so I just put the alcohol into the pan and let the alcohol cook off. This step is where you draw out the flavours in the lobster into the broth. 

Add the stock. Cook the lobster for about a couple more minutes in the stock before removing from the mixture. 

Add the diced tomato, tomato, chilli flakes, some salt, pepper and oregano to the lobster broth.

Remove the meat from the lobster shell. You can see that it isn’t cooked through and this is what we want as we will add the lobster meat back in to be cooked fully along with the pasta noodles. Otherwise we’ll have dry, overcooked chunks of lobster, which is a waste of such an expensive ingredient.

Place the lobster shell back into the tomato sauce mixture and simmer until the sauce is reduced and thickened like so. Then add the butter and mix in. I stuffed the sauce into the lobster shell to get the most of that lobster goodness!

At the same time, start cooking your pasta in boiling water with some salt. Cook it about 2 minutes less than the instructions stated in the packet because you’ll finish cooking the pasta in the sauce. 

Get the chopped basil and parsley ready. Add the lobster chunks back into the tomato sauce probably a couple of minutes before adding the pasta so that it’s cooked just right by the end of the whole process.

Drain the pasta (but not too much as we need some of that pasta water… about 2-3 tbsps or so) and add it directly into the sauce. I forgot to mention, remove the lobster shell before you add the pasta in, otherwise it’s going to be a struggle to toss the pasta in the sauce. Place the shell in the serving dish, it will serve as an aesthetic component.

Toss the pasta over low-medium fire so that the sauce gets incorporated into the noodles. Add the basil and parsley and toss a little more. Check on the seasoning and add more salt/pepper/sugar as you wish.

Place the pasta on the serving dish, top off with the lobster chunks, more parsley and some cheese.

If you like your spaghetti with more sauce, just add more puree and white wine but make sure you season accordingly. You also don’t want the sauce to be too wet otherwise it won’t stick to the noodle very well.

Will most likely make it again as I have another lobster in the freezer! Happy to say my brother seemed to enjoy it. He ate three quarters of it by himself.

Here’s a video that I think quite closely reflects how I cooked it:

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Wine Dinner at Bistro Soori: Domaine Chateau Malartic-Lagraviere

Tags

Château Malartic-Lagravière, red wine, white wine, wine review, wine tasting, wine tasting notes

This is a long overdue post. After this I’ve got one more wine event I’d like to review, but perhaps after the truffle series ;p. Way back in June I had the opportunity to attend a wine tasting dinner in a very cosy and intimate setting (about 10 of us at most) with the owner of Château Malartic-Lagravière, Mr. Jean-Jacques Bonnie, at Bistro Soori.

We had the following wines available for us to taste:-

Château Malartic-Lagravière White

2009 & 2007

Grand Cru Classé, Graves

&

Vertical Tasting of Château Malartic-Lagravière Red

2009, 2006, 2005, 2003 & 2001

Grand Cru Classé, Graves

Little bites and wine before going into the room for dinner.

I think the above picture shows the Château Malartic-Lagravière Red 2009. It tasted of toast wood, smoke, stone and red fruit with dark, sweet berries in the nose as it is quite young. Pretty balanced wine with around 7 seconds finish. Smelt buttery after a while ;D It has been given a score of 92 by Robert Parker.

I remember having the Malarctic White 2009 as well but only remember it being dry and fruity. Not much to work with I know ;(

Wines in decanters

Wine list above, and menu below:

The scallop was paired with the White 2007. It consists of 85% Sauvignon, is straw greenish in color and more viscous than the 2009. Quite a nice wine and I preferred it to the 2009. I think the fruit taste in this wine leaned toward the more exotic fruits like pears and lemon? I like it better paired with the food rather than a standalone wine.

This red 2003 has a reddish brown colour to it and was pretty tannic. According to the owner this was a difficult vintage despite the good weather. To me it didn’t leave much of an impression to be honest, not my favorite and didn’t have much structure to it.

Beef that I couldn’t eat ;(

The red 2005 is also pretty tannic and smelt/tasted young and green. Still pretty closed at this point and full potential has yet to come out.

The Red 2006 on the other hand, while it also had the tannic astringency that I’m not too fond of, had a some mocha in the nose and spice in the palate with a medium finish.   Perhaps will have to try this again in a couple of years, it didn’t seem ready yet.

I liked the red 2001. It is thicker, smoother with some toast. A pretty masculine wine with some earth, smoke, plum and jam on the palate. It is very subtle but has structure to it. My favourite of the night would have to be this one, the white 2007 and the red 2009.

I enjoyed this dinner particularly as it was very educational to talk to the owner and learn about his wines and the effort that had gone into the making of the wine. I really hope I would get the opportunity to attend more wine functions such as this one in the near future!

Wine dinner at Raffles Hotel; Domaine Bouchard Pere and Fils

Tags

Beaune Greves Vigne de l'Enfant Jesus 2011 2010 2009 2003, Chapelle Chambertin 2009, Charmes Chambertin 2010, Chevalier Montrachet 2008, Chevalier Montrachet 2011, Chevalier Montrachet La Cabotte 2011, Corton Charlemagne 2003, Corton Charlemagne 2009, Corton Charlemagne 2010, Corton Charlemagne 2011, Le Corton 2009, Meursault Genevrieres 2011, Meursault Les Perrieres 2006, Nuits Saint Georges Close Saint Marc 2005, Pommard Les Rugiens 2011, raffles hotel, red wine, tasting notes, Volnay Caillerets Ancienne Cuvee Carnot 2011 2010 2009, white wine, wine dinner

I attended a wine tasting dinner the other day featuring one of the biggest Burgundy Domaines: Bouchard Père & Fils. Here’s the list of wines that we tried that night, though regrettably I couldn’t finish tasting all of them =(

Whites

• Chevalier-Montrachet 2011 & 2008 Grand Cru
• Chevalier-Montrachet « La Cabotte » 2011, Grand Cru
• Corton-Charlemagne 2011, 2010, 2009 & 2003, Grand Cru
• Meursault « Genevrières » 2011, Premier Cru
• Meursault « Les Perrières » 2006, Premier Cru

Reds

• Chapelle-Chambertin 2008, Grand Cru
• Charmes-Chambertin 2010, Grand Cru
• Le Corton 2009, Grand Cru
• Beaune-Grèves « Vigne de l’Enfant Jésus » 2011, 2010, 2009 & 2003, Premier Cru
• Nuits-Saint-Georges « Clos Saint-Marc » 2005, Premier Cru
• Pommard « Les Rugiens » 2011, Premier Cru
• Volnay « Caillerets » Ancienne Cuvée Carnot 2011, 2010 & 2009, Premier Cru

As you can see, there were vertical tastings for several of the wines, I couldn’t possibly finish tasting them all right? =p

So I went, for my own education and for the delicious wine. Whatever opinion I may put down on this blog, it is of my very very beginner level wine learner’s not-so-humble opinion. It is not a replacement for professional tasting notes whatsoever.

At the reception before the dinner, they lined up bottles of some of the reds and whites as listed above. The rest would be savoured with dinner.

I started off with a Mersault Genevrieres 2011. It came to be one of my favourites of the evening.

The wine colour is not so golden, more of a pale lemon colour and has a nice soft, floral nose. Smooth on the tongue and complex, it tastes light, fruity and fresh and has a nice long finish. Actually the ones I actually tried to time had a pretty long finish, all 6 seconds and above. I forgot which ones but the selection that night was really good so it doesn’t matter to me.

Please forgive my morbid looking nails, I’m quite ashamed of them =( fixing them soon!

And so, after pouring away (to my regret) the excess wine, I moved on to the second wine in line; the Corton Charlemagne 2009 and was slightly taken aback by the taste, coming from the floral Meursault.

I tasted the 2009 and 2010 bottles. Both wines are complex, and befuddled me at first. I can’t truly do justice to these, though I could have understood them better if I stayed a while longer to slowly figure out the different tastes. The 2009 had minerals, slight oak nose as well as in taste, not as much fruit as the Merseault but more of… stone? Lol if that made any sense at all. 2010 had a stronger smoky nose and it was apparent while drinking as well. Slightly heavier, minerals and not overly acidic but I don’t think its ready to drink yet.

Nice light straw colour to it.

Next up, the heavyweights: Chevalier Montrachet. Tried the 2011 bottle and I remember it was delicious. Had some floral and citrus notes to it and it was pleasing to drink. However I preferred the next bottle, the Chevalier Montrachet La Cabotte 2011.

It was outstanding!

It was richer, grander and had hints of butter and citrus flavours that last long after you’ve swallowed the lot. Good fruity perfume on the nose and a gorgeous full bodied mouthful. Very good indeed.

By this time I was already flushed and hot, even before dinner! And I couldn’t try the reds that were lined up there =( which was such a waste.

Judging by the number of glasses lined up at the dining table for each person, I think it was a good idea to have stopped myself from the red wines at the tasting table! There were 10 glasses for each of us! Not including the water glass.

Started off with a smoked salmon appetizer.

Here, they had already poured the Meursault Les Perrieres 2006, which tasted a little young but pretty balanced, clean and sharp. Also some fruit in the palate, but surprisingly after I went the whole round of whites and reds and back to this glass, it tasted a little like barley. Strange. Not bad though.

Maine lobster salad with avocado and chardonnay vinaigrette.

I don’t have a picture of it but I also tried the Corton Charlemagne 2003, which was a tad buttery and a hint of citrus/lemon. Again, similar to the other Cortons, there’s the inevitable toasted oak on nose and palate as well as minerals. Not too fond of these attributes in all the Cortons, although the toasted oak was much more subtle in this one than the other two. I’m just more of a fruity person XD

Another white wine that I tried with no picture: the Chevalier Montrachet 2008 had apparent toasty cedar oak notes and minerals to it. I mistook this for the Corton at first.

And then came the reds. We started with the Le Corton 2009 (Number 3). This seemed a little light, not as much concentration of fruit as I would have liked but it makes for a delicate wine. Slightly peppery, a little herbs and minerals with toasted oak aftertaste. The colour is also pretty transient.

Next was the Beaune Greves 2009 (Number 4) This was one of my favourites as well despite the light red of it. Red fruit and sweet but still balanced by the acidity. Smooth and even a little bit minty. It made for an easy drink.

Number 5, the Volnay Caillerets Ancienne Cuvée Carnot 2009, Premier Cru, was a nice dark red color. Rich, sweet and silky with cherry notes and long finish. It was served alongside the Number 4 Corton with the Welsh lamb shoulder that was cooked for 36 hours, which was also surprisingly good and tender. I love red wines that go well with red meats.

Here are the wines numbered 1-4. I can’t remember which is 1 and 2 as I’m confused between the Montrachet and the Corton. Have to check the names again.

Glass number 3 is La Corton 2009 and number 4 is the Beaune Greves 2009. Notice that number 4 has a deeper colour to it than number 3.

Wines numbered 5-8

No. 5 is the Volnay 2009

No. 6, Chapelle-Chambertin 2008; Of acid and tannins and slightly spicy with 6 seconds finish in the mouth. It seemed pretty structured with what I think was bouquet in the nose. I could be way off the mark 😉 That is the mark of an amateur.

No. 7, Charmes-Chambertin 2010; Had purity of fruit, as did the Chapelle Chambertin (according to the expert present, though I have absolutely no idea what that is supposed to taste like), and seemed delicate but yet complex with long finish as well. I guess most of these wines here are really good that most if not all have a nice long finish. Its probably good to wait a few years before it would make a good drink.

No. 8, Nuit Saint Georges Clos Saint Marc 2005, Acid and tannic with plum and spice. I’m not sure if I like the spiciness in a wine.

No. 9, Beaune Greves Vigne de l’Enfant Jesus 2003, had more depth, darker in color and was more full bodied than the 2009 vintage. Fruit and bouquet in the nose, a nice smooth drink that tasted of berries and again, the deep full bodied, meaty flavour to it that makes it perfect for pairing with meats. This can keep for many more years and is also one of my favourites of the night.

I love lining them up side by side so I can compare the differences in colour of the different wines.

My favourites for the night, Meursault Genevrieres 2011, Chevalier Montrachet La Cabotte 2011 and Beaune Greves Vigne de l-Enfant Jesus 2003 and 2009. 

Ended off the night with a raspberry tart (skipped the beef course that came after the lamb).

That night I went home with a raging headache, having tasted 17 different wines. So much more I have to learn =(.

Wine dinner at St Regis

Tags

corton, echezeaux, grands echezeaux, la tache, red wines, richebourg, romanee conti, romanee saint vivant, white wine, wine

 

One of my targets this new year is to learn more about red wines. I should go to more wine events if I want to do this as I can’t just read and understand what “layers of wood and fruity deep flavours” mean -___-“. I’ve got to taste it for myself and slowly figure out the differences between the different wines and pray I don’t get drunk in the process.

 

The menu and wine pairings at the DRC dinner organized by FICOFI.

I like how they lined up the wine glasses in order of consumption as the meal goes on into the night.

So firstly, the Vin de l’Abbaye Saint Vivant 2009, Hautes-Côtes de Nuits, bottled by Domaine de la Romanée-Conti.

I didn’t particularly like it. It seemed unfinished and smelled of gasoline to me. Perhaps its my infinitely amateur tastebuds.

The scallop and caviar that was paired with it however, was delicious. Perfectly cooked scallop on the outside, creamy insides and topped off with plump caviar.

 

The Corton, Grand Cru DRC 2009  (red wine on the left in the picture above) was good, and suitable for everyday drinking. I’m going to lift an opinion  from Christer Byklum in “the tastingbook” on this wine. Hope this is ok?

“Pale ruby, pinkish rim. Floral, pure strawberries and a whiff of herbs. Ever so slightly spicy. Minerals and some vanilla. Fresh acidity, ripe tannins, pure and racy, lacks the Corton roughness. Elegant but a slightly biting texture far back that needs some polishing in the cellar. Long finish.”

It was paired with the foie gras and black truffle dish as pictured below.

Next, the Echezeaux, Grand Cru DRC 1989 and Grands Echezeaux, Grand Cru DRC 1989 from Burgundy. I found the basic taste of the two wines is similar with the Grands being more pronounced, deep and concentrated in comparison with the former.I should think that it goes really well with red meat or heavy flavors as it smells and tastes fruity.  And a slight hint of spice while the texture is slippery if that makes any sense.

 

It was paired with an egg and black truffle dish. Pretty surprising and absolutely sublime, the egg yolk is a molten gold nestled in the frothy egg white, surrounded by a thick creamy wild mushroom-like soup, topped off with some croutons and a shaving of black truffle. 

Look at the baby run!

Next, another two red wines. I noticed just now that the wines got better and better as we followed the order of wines. There was a La Tache, Grand Cru, DRC 2000 and Romanee Saint Vivant, Grand Cru DRC 2006, both from Burgundy. The La Tache was one of the favorites of the table. I thought it was “spiky” in my mouth and had attitude to it, while the Romanee Saint Vivant was more fruity and mellow in comparison. Both to me were surprisingly good.

 

The wines were paired with scampi and a black truffle emulsion. Delicately fried thing at the side (I forgot what it was) and the tender scampi in the rich truffle sauce.

 

And finally came the crowning wines, the Richebourg, Grand Cru DRC 2000 from Burgundy and the Romanee Conti, Grand Cru DRC 2000. The Richebourg was deep, fruity, and rich. It felt firm and warm (yes by now I’m not making sense but it did feel warm, and I don’t mean that I was drunk). The Romanee Conti tasted pretty intense, and spicy with some hint of cherry. Also warming =D

Its a pity the servers spilled the Romanee Conti =(. You can see the wine staining the label. 

It was paired with what looked like boiled chicken and winter vegetables. I had anticipated the chicken to be bland, tasteless and tough but to my amazement, not only was it so tender, it was also creamy! Without addition of sauce whatsoever. And the generous shavings of truffle made it all the better.

We finished off dinner with Jeroboam of Chateau D’Yquem 1996, a sweet dessert white wine.

These are my favourites of the night!