No, this is not a post about avant garde desserts. This is a post about having lobster tail for dinner and maple pudding for dessert. I'm not that weird.
Our local fishmonger had Maine lobster tails on sale for $5.99 each. It doesn't really match the $4.99 a pound whole lobster price that I found this summer on Cape Cod, but it's not bad for down here. I bought three tails and grilled them. I made a basting sauce with melted butter, fresh garlic that I put through a press and fresh lemon juice. I cut the tails down the middle, smothered them in the baste and grilled them flesh side down for five minutes and flipped to the shell side for three minutes. I also made local grassfed sirloin steak from the same fishmonger. I salted the sirloin with smoked sea salt and let it sit at room temperature for about an hour, then put olive oil on it for grilling. I rounded off the meal with boring old steamed broccoli. (I also had steamed cauliflower, but I'm the only one who eats it, so I didn't put it in the picture.)
Craig and I each had three halves of the lobster, plus steak. Craig said the whole dinner I made was perfect. This is high praise as he is brutally honest and will tell me from time to time, with no sugarcoating, that the dinner I made was just fair or contained too much ginger. The boys ate steak and broccoli. I got to use "You can't have your pudding if you don't eat your meat!" And it made sense in this case! Sometimes I use it, complete with fake accent, to get them to eat their dinner. It felt great to use it with actual pudding and meat involved. And yes, I know that pudding in British sense doesn't really mean pudding, but hey, who cares?
My boys (husband included) wax and wane on how much milk they drink. I buy two gallons every two weeks of Wainwright Dairy's pasteurized, non-homogenized grass-fed milk. This seems to be a slow milk using week. I still have a gallon and a half left and we're at the halfway mark! Usually we're cracking open the second gallon. I decided pudding was a great way to use up a bunch of milk.
I love pudding and homemade pudding is super easy to make. I also love the taste of maple syrup, so instead of using sugar, I decided to sweeten it with 100% pure maple syrup instead of sugar.
Maple Pudding
2 cups whole milk (I haven't tried it but you can substitute whole coconut milk)
2 T butter
1 T vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup maple syrup
3 T tapioca flour (You can also use arrowroot starch or cornstarch)
Place double boiler in a pot with water in it. (You can jury rig a double boiler by putting a smaller pot into a larger pot, but I have a dedicated stainless steel double boiler. My younger son uses it as a helmet sometimes.) Turn on high so that the water boils. Make sure it does not boil over the side; pour some out if you need.
Heat milk and butter until butter is melted. Add vanilla and salt to milk and butter mixture. Whisk together beaten eggs, maple syrup and tapioca flour. Add it to milk mixture and whisk together until it thickens. You may need to use a Cuisanart Quick-prep or similar to really mix the lumps away.
Pour into either a large bowl or multiple smaller bowls and put in refrigerator until cool and a skin forma. I happen to love the skin, so I let it cool that way. My supertaster said it was just okay, but my younger son with more expansive taste buds is eating seconds. So is Craig! Victory all around tonight!
Our local fishmonger had Maine lobster tails on sale for $5.99 each. It doesn't really match the $4.99 a pound whole lobster price that I found this summer on Cape Cod, but it's not bad for down here. I bought three tails and grilled them. I made a basting sauce with melted butter, fresh garlic that I put through a press and fresh lemon juice. I cut the tails down the middle, smothered them in the baste and grilled them flesh side down for five minutes and flipped to the shell side for three minutes. I also made local grassfed sirloin steak from the same fishmonger. I salted the sirloin with smoked sea salt and let it sit at room temperature for about an hour, then put olive oil on it for grilling. I rounded off the meal with boring old steamed broccoli. (I also had steamed cauliflower, but I'm the only one who eats it, so I didn't put it in the picture.)
Craig and I each had three halves of the lobster, plus steak. Craig said the whole dinner I made was perfect. This is high praise as he is brutally honest and will tell me from time to time, with no sugarcoating, that the dinner I made was just fair or contained too much ginger. The boys ate steak and broccoli. I got to use "You can't have your pudding if you don't eat your meat!" And it made sense in this case! Sometimes I use it, complete with fake accent, to get them to eat their dinner. It felt great to use it with actual pudding and meat involved. And yes, I know that pudding in British sense doesn't really mean pudding, but hey, who cares?
My boys (husband included) wax and wane on how much milk they drink. I buy two gallons every two weeks of Wainwright Dairy's pasteurized, non-homogenized grass-fed milk. This seems to be a slow milk using week. I still have a gallon and a half left and we're at the halfway mark! Usually we're cracking open the second gallon. I decided pudding was a great way to use up a bunch of milk.
I love pudding and homemade pudding is super easy to make. I also love the taste of maple syrup, so instead of using sugar, I decided to sweeten it with 100% pure maple syrup instead of sugar.
Maple Pudding
2 cups whole milk (I haven't tried it but you can substitute whole coconut milk)
2 T butter
1 T vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup maple syrup
3 T tapioca flour (You can also use arrowroot starch or cornstarch)
Place double boiler in a pot with water in it. (You can jury rig a double boiler by putting a smaller pot into a larger pot, but I have a dedicated stainless steel double boiler. My younger son uses it as a helmet sometimes.) Turn on high so that the water boils. Make sure it does not boil over the side; pour some out if you need.
Heat milk and butter until butter is melted. Add vanilla and salt to milk and butter mixture. Whisk together beaten eggs, maple syrup and tapioca flour. Add it to milk mixture and whisk together until it thickens. You may need to use a Cuisanart Quick-prep or similar to really mix the lumps away.
Pour into either a large bowl or multiple smaller bowls and put in refrigerator until cool and a skin forma. I happen to love the skin, so I let it cool that way. My supertaster said it was just okay, but my younger son with more expansive taste buds is eating seconds. So is Craig! Victory all around tonight!
