the freezers are full

it has been a pretty productive week around here thus far. so much so, that i can barely shut the freezer doors.

last week i had several requests for lobster mac & cheese to return to the blackboard. my brother also changed the tires on my car and requested one as payment - not a bad deal - so i figured it was time to whip some up. this dish is quite an undertaking and i procrastinate as long as possible in between batches. cracking 16lbs of lobster isn't something i want to do everyday... not anymore at least, i used to do 20lbs two or three times a week when i worked at the whalesbone in ottawa - yarf!

so the lobsters are from my neighbour joe. he brought them round to the kitchen door yesterday afternoon - pretty handy.

then i made a leek bechamel sauce with lots of roasted garlic & parmesan cheese. i mixed in the pasta, oven roasted cherry tomatoes, a touch of lemon zest, loads of mozzarella cheese & 10 bags of foxhill cheese curds. here's the finished product:

i made a few of them...

small $12 large $24

for the lobster-averse among us, i've also packaged up some plain mac & cheese. there's the leek bechamel, roasted garlic & all the cheeses, just no roasted tomatoes, lemon & lobster.

small $9 large $18

the other main course i made is braised beef brisket. this will probably be the last braised brisket for quite awhile as i transition things to the bbq for the summer. the beef is from getaway farm and i braised it for 12 hours in red wine with root vegetables & herbs. then when it was almost finished, i added diced pears and tomatoes. it smelled & tasted amazing!

i made a batch of blue cheese gnocchi for the side. i started out with a leek bechamel again, but added sauteed creminis, finely diced celery, basil, parsley & creamy blue cheese. it's served with wilted kale & spinach as well. i'm pretty pleased with this one.

small $10 large $20

ok no time to talk about salads and sweets as i have to go & make them all. just rest assured that there will be lots of both at the market this weekend.

hope to see you there!