Lobster Corn Dog

We had these at a Wine Tasting at Caviar and Bananas.Delicious and quite easy to make.

Lobster Corn Dog

This is a signature Michael Mina recipe, appearing as an amuse bouche at his signature San Francisco restaurant and as an appetizer at Seablue. A playful dish, this is a sophisticated take on a State Fair classic, with a crisp outer crust and a central sausage of sweet lobster meat. Considering the quality of the ingredients, the preparation is surprisingly simple.

Serves:	18	Vegetarian:	No
Preparation Time:	00:40	Cuisine:	Seafood
Difficulty:	Moderate	Meal Type:	Dinner
Main Ingredient:	lobster	Dish Type:	Appetizer
Main Cooking Method:	Deep Fry	Season/Occasion:	Any Occasion

Lobster Corn Dogs

Ingredients

• 1 recipe Lobster Sausage (recipe below)
• 1 recipe corn dog batter (recipe below)
• 1 recipe whole grain mustard sauce (recipe below)
• (as needed) peanut oil for deep frying

Directions

Cut the lobster sausage (see recipe) into 1-inch lengths. Remove plastic and insert a shortened popsicle stick into each piece. Holding onto the stick, dip each dog into batter (see recipe) and with a twist, evenly coat the sausage. Quickly submerge the dogs in a 350-degree vegetable oil fryer. With a slotted spoon, keep the dogs gently moving in the oil to obtain an even golden brown color. Remove when golden and serve with mustard sauce (see recipe).

Note

If you do not have a home fryer, a make-shift one can be made rather simply by using a pot of peanut oil, a burner, and a candy thermometer. Make sure to have enough oil in the pot to completely submerge the corndogs.

Lobster Sausage

Ingredients

• 2/3 lb. lobster meat, cooked
• 1/3 lb. raw shrimp, peeled and de-veined
• 1/2 C. heavy cream
• (to taste) salt and pepper
• 1 Tbsp. fennel, lightly sautéed (no color during cooking)
• 2 tsp. fresh tarragon, picked and chopped

Directions

In a food processor, puree the cooked lobster until smooth. Remove from processor into a mixing bowl. In the food processor, add the raw shrimp and puree, adding the cream slowly until the mixture is smooth. Scrape mixture from processor into the mixing bowl containing the lobster puree. Season mixture with salt and pepper. Add sautéed fennel and tarragon. Using a rubber spatula, fold ingredients together to make a homogenous mix.

To shape the sausage:

Transfer the sausage mixture from the mixing bowl to a piping bag. The piping bag does not need a tip. If you have a disposable bag, the tip will need to be cut. Cut the tip off so that you are left with a whole the diameter of a nickel.

On a clean work surface, lay out flat a piece of plastic wrap approximately 18 inches long (running away from you on the table). Working at the end closest to you, squeeze a long, sausage-like portion of mixture from the piping bag onto the plastic wrap from right to left. Begin one inch from the left side and end an inch before you reach the right side of the plastic in order to tie it off later.

Tightly roll up the sausage in the plastic, twisting the ends to make it tight. Tie off the ends to secure the wrap.

To cook the sausage:

In a large pot of boiling water, simmer the sausage (in the plastic) for 7 minutes. Remove from the water and plunge into iced water. Remove after 5 minutes.

Corn Dog Batter

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 C. yellow corn meal
• 3 C. all-purpose flour
• 2 1/4 C. sugar
• 3 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 4 C. milk
• 4 eggs

Directions

In a mixing bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients together. In a separate mixing bowl, combine all of the wet ingredients. Next, add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until smooth.

Whole Grain Mustard Sauce

Ingredients

• 7 oz. Crème fraiche
• 10 1/4 oz. whole grain mustard
• 3.5 oz. dijon mustard

Directions

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.

Thoughts from Within by Woody Harrelson

I sometimes feel like an alien creature
for which there is no earthly explanation
Sure I have human form
walking erect and opposing digits,
but my mind is upside down.
I feel like a run-on sentence
in a punctuation crazy world.
and I see the world around me
like a mad collective dream.

An endless stream of people
move like ants from the freeway
cell phones, pc's, and digital displays
"In Money We Trust,"
we'll find happiness
the prevailing attitude;
like a genetically modified irradiated Big Mac
is somehow symbolic of food.

Morality is legislated
prisons over-populated
religion is incorporated
the profit-motive has permeated all activity
we pay our government to let us park on the street
And war is the biggest money-maker of all
we all know missile envy only comes from being small.

Politicians and prostitutes
are comfortable together
I wonder if they talk about the strange change in the weather.
This government was founded by, of, and for the people
but everybody feels it
like a giant open sore
they don't represent us anymore
And blaming the President for the country's woes
is like yelling at a puppet
for the way it sings
Who's the man behind the curtain pulling the strings?

A billion people sitting watching their TV
in the room that they call living
but as for me
I see living as loving
and since there is no loving room
I sit on the grass under a tree
dreaming of the way things used to be
Pre-Industrial Revolution
which of course is before the rivers and oceans, and skies were polluted
before Parkinson's, and mad cows
and all the convoluted cacophony of bad ideas
like skyscrapers, and tree paper, and earth rapers
like Monsanto and Dupont had their way
as they continue to today.

This was Pre-us
back when the buffalo roamed
and the Indian's home
was the forest, and God was nature
and heaven was here and now
Can you imagine clean water, food, and air
living in community with animals and people who care?

Do you dare to feel responsible for every dollar you lay down
are you going to make the rich man richer
or are you going to stand your ground
You say you want a revolution
a communal evolution
to be a part of the solution
maybe I'll be seeing you around.

Mushroom Veggie Burger

Mushroom Veggie Burger Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3 green onions, diced
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 3/4 cup diced fresh mushrooms
• 1 15 ounce can pinto beans
• 1 tsp parsley
• salt and pepper to taste
• oil for frying

Preparation:

Sautee the onions and garlic in olive oil for 3 to 5 minutes, until onions are soft. Add the green onions, cumin and mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes, until mushrooms are cooked. Set aside.

Mash the beans with a fork or a potato masher, or process in a food processor until well mashed.

Add the mushrooms to the beans and add parsley, salt and pepper. Stir until well combined.

Shape the mixture into patties. Heat about two tablespoons of olive oil and cook each patty until the veggie burgers are done, about 3 minutes on each side.

RECIPE PROVIDED BY JUDITH

Floral Display with Magnolias

Five Minute Cocktails

Flamenco Guitar

Paco de Lucía

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Paco de Lucía
Paco de Lucía in 2007
Background information
Birth name	Francisco Sánchez Gómez
Born	December 21, 1947 (1947-12-21) (age 61)
Origin	Algeciras, Cádiz Spain
Genre(s)	Flamenco music, classical music
Occupation(s)	Composer, Guitarist
Instrument(s)	Guitar
Years active	1958 - present
Associated acts	Joaquín Rodrigo, John McLaughlin, Al Di Meola, Larry Coryell, Paco de Lucía Sextet, Ricardo Modrego
Website	Paco de Lucía

Paco de Lucía, born Francisco Sánchez Gómez (in Algeciras, Cádiz on December 21, 1947), is a Spanish composer and guitarist. Recognized as a virtuoso flamenco guitarist all over the world, he is a leading proponent of the Modern Flamenco style, and is one of the very few flamenco guitarists who have also successfully crossed over into other genres of music. He enjoys, and has been a successful musician in, many styles such as classical, jazz and world music. He is the winner of the 2004 Prince of Asturias Awards in Arts, and is the uncle of Spanish pop singer Malú.

Contents [hide] 1 Biography 2 Discography 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Biography

Paco de Lucia was born Francisco Sánchez Gómez in Algeciras, a city in the province of Cádiz, at the southernmost tip of Spain directly in front of the Rock of Gibraltar. The youngest of the five children of flamenco guitarist Antonio Sánchez, and brother of flamenco singer Pepe de Lucía and flamenco guitarist Ramón de Algeciras, he adopted the stage name Paco de Lucía in honor of his Portuguese mother, Lucía Gomes. In Algeciras, and generally in Andalusia, it is a custom to name boys (especially if they have the same first name) by adding the mother's name in order to properly identify them, such as "Paco de (la) Carmen," "Paco de (la) María," and so on.

In 1958, at age 11, he made his first public appearance on Radio Algeciras, and a year later was awarded a special prize in the Jerez flamenco competition. In 1961, he toured with the flamenco troupe of dancer José Greco. In 1964, he met Madrileño guitarist Ricardo Modrego with whom he recorded three albums: Dos guitarras flamencas, Dos guitarras flamencas en stereo, and Doce canciones de Federico García Lorca para guitarra. Between 1968 and 1977, he enjoyed a fruitful collaboration with fellow New Flamenco cantaor (singer) Camarón de la Isla. The two recorded 10 albums together.

In 1979, de Lucía, John McLaughlin, and Larry Coryell formed "The Guitar Trio" and together made a brief tour of Europe and released a video recorded at London's Royal Albert Hall entitled Meeting of Spirits. Coryell was later replaced by Al Di Meola, and since 1981, the trio has recorded three albums. De Lucía's own band, the Paco de Lucía Sextet (which includes his brothers Ramón and Pepe) released the first of its three albums that same year. He has released several albums encompassing both traditional and modern flamenco styles.

L to R: Al Di Meola,John McLaughlin, and Paco de Lucía

In 1995, he recorded with Bryan Adams the hit song and video "Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman" on the soundtrack for the movie Don Juan DeMarco. Through his wide discography he has advanced the technical and musical boundaries of his instrument. The University of Cadiz recognized de Lucía's musical and cultural contributions by conferring on him the title of Doctor Honoris Causa on March 23, 2007.

Until asked to perform and interpret Joaquín Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez in 1991, de Lucía was not proficient at reading musical notation. As a flamenco guitarist, he claimed in Paco de Lucía-Light and Shade: A Portrait that he gave greater emphasis to rhythmical accuracy in his interpretation of the Concierto at the expense of the perfect tone preferred by classical guitarists. Joaquín Rodrigo declared that no one had ever played his composition in such a brilliant manner.^[1] Since de Lucia was not able to read music, he worked on his interpretation of the concerto with Narciso Yepes.^{[citation needed]}

Chocolate Mousse

Tofu Chocolate Mousse with Fresh Raspberries

2 packages silken tofu (medium firm will work too)
3 8 ounce squares of bakers chocolate or equivalent
4 tablespoons of cocoa powder
4 tablespoons of sugar
2 tablespoon of maple syrup or agave nectar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1 cup fresh raspberries

Servings: 6

Place chocolate in a medium saucepan and heat up on very low heat just until melted.
Place packages of tofu in a blender.
Add melted chocolate, cocoa powder, sugar, syrup, vanilla, pinch of salt and puree, until smooth.
Place into your favorite bowl or 6 separate parfait cups. Refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours. Top with fresh raspberries. Serve.