Monday, March 5, 2012

The 80/10/10 Diet and Lobster Bisque


One week.  11 pounds, uhm, maybe 12, to go.  I’d settle for 2 pounds.


The Belly Fat Cure didn’t work.  True, I didn’t do anything.  Still. It didn’t work.


Meanwhile, I checked out “The 80/10/10 Diet” by Dr. Douglas Graham.  Did you know the 80 stand for minimum 80% of carb?  Awesome!  The other two 10s represented maximum 10% of protein and 10% of fat.  Hmm, so little fat?  Carb wouldn't taste any good without the fat!


Then, I learnt that the carb weren't my type of carb.  As in all-purpose flour, cake flour, or bread flour.  The 80% carb referred to wholesome, raw, UNCOOKED food.  Which are mostly fruits. Bummer!  Personally, this diet was just too ‘fruity’ for me.  Nix!


So all last week, I spent my team reading diet books while munching on cupcakes, macarons, mango mousse, Costco’s Tuxedo chocolate mousse cake (heaven!), cake pops, and cream puffs.  That didn't help my waistline, or the original 10 pounds I was aiming to get rid of.


Desperate time calls for desperate measure.  I need more than a diet, I need willpower as well.  Thus, “The Seven-Day Total Cleanse:  A Revolutionary New Juice Fast and Yoga Plan to Purify Your Body and Clarify the Mind” by Mary McGuire-Wien seems like the perfect solution for me.  


Talking about liquid diet, I made lobster bisque for the first time last weekend.  It was so good I made it twice!  Actually, I was only helping the first time.


This lobster bisque tasted so much better than the one I tried at Austin’s Eddie V.  The bisque was so salty that I quit after one spoon.  So they replaced with the crab and corn chowder.  Yet again, I couldn’t swallow than two spoons of the chowder either.  They ended up not charging me for the soup.  Maybe it was just my luck that the chef just had an off day.


LOBSTER BISQUE
2 medium onions, diced
2 medium carrots, diced
1 bulb of fennel, diced
2 tablespoons butter
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons full of tomato paste
2 shrimp bouillon cubes  + 8 cups of water (or 8 cups of lobster liquid)
3 tablespoons beurre manie (as needed)
2 cups heavy cream
½ cup sherry or cognac (or as needed)


I’m writing this recipe from estimation since we didn’t measure anything when we made the bisque.
I’m assuming that you already know how to boil the lobsters.  Something along the line of immersing them in boiling water for about 8 minutes if your lobster is about 1 – 1.5 lbs.  Depending on the size of your pot and the number of lobsters you are boiling, add or subtract a couple minutes.


Reduce the boiling water to about 10 cups.  Remove lobsters’ heads, smash it however you can and put the heads back into the boiling water to extract as much juice out of the lobster as possible.  Use this water for your bisque.  However, you could take the lazy route and use shrimp bouillons instead.  The flavor wouldn’t be as good.


Saute the diced onions, carrots and fennel with 2 tablespoons of butter.  Add 2 bay leaves and 1 teaspoon of paprika into the vegetable mixture.  Cook on medium heat until the vegetables are soft, and the onions turn translucent.  Add 2 tablespoons tomato paste, the 2 shrimp bouillon cubes and 8 cups of water.  (If you have the lobster liquid above, use that instead.)  I’m guessing that we put in about 8 cups of liquid, but it could be more or less, depending on how many people you have to serve.


Continue cooking until the vegetables are cooked really well.  Remove the bay leaves.  Puree the mixture.  Strain.  (I didn’t strain the first time, and it was still awesome, not as smooth as a bisque should be.  If you strive to impress, strain.)


Add the beurre manie slowly, one tablespoon at a time, until thicken.  I don’t remember how much I used really, about 2 tablespoons maybe, and you might like your soup thicker than mine, so adjust as needed.
Add the heavy cream.  Again, depending on how rich you want your bisque.  If you want it lighter, you might want to use half-and-half instead.  Mix well, simmer for a few minutes.  Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.  I didn’t need to add anything else as the lobster boiling water was salted already.


To serve, ladle soup into bowls. Pour about a teaspoon (or a tablespoon, or two, depending on whom you serve it to) of sherry or cognac on top.  If you are lucky enough to still have any lobster meat left at this point, put in the middle of the bowl.  Serve.