Christmas Eve Feast of Two Fishes

Christmas Eve dinner was very indulgent.  Jim keeps telling me that I was a complete invalid, sleeping in a hospital bed in the dining room last year.  Looking back, this complete invalid made Christmas dinner.  But, following that train of thought, I decided that instead of my usual 7 fishes feast, we would just have 2, caviar and lobster.  I love caviar; fine quality caviar is just the best taste in the world.  I bought Pepperidge Farm sandwich white and cut off the crust.  I toasted it, buttered it and sliced diagonally.  I hardboiled and chopped an egg.  I did not have crème fresh and I don’t like onion with it.  Jim served a wonderful champagne called Henriot Blanc Souverain. 

A while back I walked into Costco and found 4# of cooked lobster pieces.  After researching lobster bisque recipes, I went back to Costco and bought their lobster bisque.  I thawed 2# of the lobster pieces.  After making the following Lobster Puffs to accompany the bisque, I put the remaining pieces of lobster in the bisque as it was warming.  With the dinner we had a Gainey Vineyard Chardonnay.  The recipe for the puffs comes from a cookbook by Jean Pierre Tardy who runs a party venue in Newtown, PA.    

Ingredients: 

1 puff pastry sheet

½ C flour

1 C lobster meat

1 roasted red pepper; deseeded and chopped (I bought mine in a jar, already seeded)

1 t tarragon

1 T chives

1 T sage

½ t cayenne pepper

1 egg

1 egg yolk

½ T water

Non-stick cooking spray or parchment paper

Directions:

1.       Place the puff pastry sheet on flat surface.  Sprinkle flour on puff pastry and, using a rolling pin, roll sheet to twice its original size.  Cut into 6 pieces.  I rolled the puff pastry between two floured sheets of parchment paper.  Sticking was not a problem. 

2.       Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

3.       Combine lobster meat, roasted red pepper, tarragon, chives, sage, and cayenne pepper in a bowl to make lobster salad.

4.       Divide the lobster salad onto the middle of the six puff pastry squares. 

5.       Combine, egg, egg yolk, and water in a small bowl to make a glaze.  Brush the edges of the piece of puff pastry.

6.       Bring corners of each piece of puff pastry to center and seal to make a package.  Turn each puff over and brush tops with more glaze. 

7.       Place the puffs on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Bake for 10 minutes. 

Lobster bisque to me is a little bland and these added zip to the meal.  This whole meal while opulent in ingredients was a breeze to make.  We had a delightful evening enjoying each other’s company and opening gifts.