Guest Post from Joseph -- Lobster Mac & Cheese

Hi everyone!  I'm posting right now from our *luxurious* hotel room in Front Royal, VA.  I've had about 3 hours of sleep and we are getting ready to head out on a 6 hour drive.  Wooohooo!  Tour life.  SO rough.  I'll post some pictures and updates soon (and if you can't wait go visit www.mypoliticmusic.blogspot.com for pictures and updates, they are on top of it!) but for now I'm giving you the first guest post!  It comes from my dear friend Joseph.  But...he'll tell you more about that...
 
Hi.  This is not Emilie.  I’m Joseph.   Emilie and I met way back in 5^th grade and became the best of friends.  We now go to college in the same city (Boston) and get to share in some great culinary adventures.  She is out on tour with My Politic making sure Nick and Kaston show up on time to play their shows and asked me to do a little cooking while she was away.  I was more than happy to oblige.

My parents came out to Boston for the marathon and were kind enough to take Emilie and me out to dinner.  Luck would have it that we ended up at the Capital Grille.  I know it is a chain, but they know how to prepare a damn good steak and their side dishes are just as delectable.  Apparently my parents agree with that because when I came home to visit, my dad told me he picked up some lobster and wanted to try to make the Lobster Mac ‘n Cheese we had at Capital Grille. 

P.S.- Don’t compare the pictures or writing of this to Emilie’s work.  Please.

• 8 ounces elbow macaroni 
• 16 ounces heavy cream
• 8 ounces shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 4 ounces cream cheese
• 6 ounces fresh grated parmesan cheese
• 4 ounces shredded gruyere cheese
• 1 lb lobster meat, chopped
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 dash salt
• 1 dash pepper

*This recipe assumes the lobster meat being used is already cooked.  I used fresh lobster tails so I boiled the lobster tails and chopped the meat before doing anything.  If you use fresh lobster too, go ahead and boil your noodles in the same water you boiled the lobster for a little added flavor.

1.  Bring salted water to boil and add noodles. Cook 8 - 10 minutes (do not overcook). In a double boiler, combine cheddar cheese, 4 oz. parmesan cheese, cream cheese and Gruyere cheeses. Heat until blended.

It looks like a lot of cheese.  It is.  A whole lot.

2.  Gradually add cream, stirring until smooth.

Make sure you taste this mixture frequently.  It is what heaven tastes like (I hope).

3.  In a large pan, heat olive oil, add shallots and garlic. Saute. Add lobster meat and cook until opaque. Remove from heat.

4.  Drain pasta. Add to lobster mix, then add cheese sauce, salt and pepper. Mix well.

5.  Place in casserole dish, sprinkle with remaining parmesan cheese and top with breadcrumbs.

6.  Bake at 350°F for 6-8 minutes until breadcrumbs are golden brown.

While I was preparing this my dad threw a couple of thick sirloins on the grill and we had a Caesar salad to start.  Turns out he makes a damn good steak, too.

** YUM.  Thank you Joseph!

Meal Plan Monday - Traveling Style

You probably could have guessed this was going to happen.

No true Meal Plan Monday this week.  And probably not another one for the next three weeks...

I'm just testing your patience.

Uh...remember when I'm leaving tomorrow!?  The apartment is somewhat destroyed...the packing not exactly started...and the laundry is begging to be washed...Don't worry though.  It will all get done.  Just as soon as I tell you about a few of the places I plan on eating this week.

We've been over this before.  I like to do a ridiculous amount of research before trips to plan out where we will be chowing down.  And even though we are going to try and limit our meals eaten out on this trip, I've still done some significant research.

Ready to see a few?

monday

Last night I made this Southwestern Soy Chorizo (that I'll be sharing with you soon) to take with us on the road...but seeing as though we have absolutely no food in our apartment, this will probably become dinner tonight.  There may be a few olives in the refrigerator as well.  Maybe even a bottle of dijon mustard.  Sounds like the perfect combination.  Right?

tuesday: Philadelphia, PA

 

The first show will be in Philadelphia on Tuesday!  They are playing at this place and apparently it has some pretty delicious sushi.  Yes please.  I was also given a few suggestions from a reader for places to dine in Philly so we will probably have to hit those during the second show in Philly!  Yum.

wednesday: Johnson City, TN

Wednesday is in Johnson City, Tennessee and these are the three that repeatedly came up as must eats in Johnson City.  Cafe Lola looks like a cozy little French/American bistro, Cootie Brown's seems like an area staple with "Real Food", and I've heard the Mellow Mushroom has some ridiculous pizza (and I'm in love with their website).  Unfortunately we probably won't be visiting all three.  But at least we have options!

 thursday: Chattanooga, TN

Have I told you how much I love a good breakfast place?  Places like The Friendly Toast make my heart go wild.  And apparently Chattanooga has one of their own called the Bluegrass Grill which will be a definite stop on our trip.  Also in Chattanooga we've got a Tex-Mex favorite, Mojo Burrito with local produce, meat, and art.  Perfect.  As well as Niedlov's Breadworks, a bakery that prides itself on not taking shortcuts to create great breads.  Something that we all know I'm a huge fan of.

 friday: Asheville, NC

After numerous trips to Asheville, these two places have become staples for us.  In my opinion Luella's is everything that a barbeque joint should be.  Laid back, fun, well decorated, and some darn good food.  And remember when I mentioned that thing earlier about breakfast joints?  Well, Early Girl Eatery is possibly one of the best I've ever been to.  I refuse to be within a three hour vicinity of Asheville without coming to these two places.  And that's what we call loyalty my friends.

And finally a few more things...

1) Guest posts are going to start popping up in the next few days!  Woohoo!  So, keep an eye out for them!
2) I'm going to try and post updates regularly so keep an eye out for those too!  If you don't see one every couple of days send me a scolding comment and I promise I'll get on it.
3) If you have any food/attraction suggestions for the following cities or anywhere near them please let me know!

• Philadelphia, PA
• Johnson City, TN
• Chattanooga, TN
• Asheville, NC
• Atlanta, GA
• Knoxville, TN
• Nashville, TN
• Syracuse, NY
• Fairfax, VA
• Burlington, VT

4) I'm going to miss you.

Caprese Bruschetta

We'll get to that yummy stuff above in just a minute but first...I would like to say a big THANK YOU to everyone that participated in the giveaway!  You guys are truly awesome.  I loved reading about all of your summer plans and your sweet words about this blog were almost worthy of a few tears.  I hope I continue to hear from all of you because I love new bloggy friends!

Are you ready to hear who the winners are?  Of course you are!

The winner of the S'mores kit from Matchbox Kitchen, the Campfire Cuisine Cookbook, and a My Politic album is...

Courtney from The Fig Tree!  Your summer plans sound amazing!  Hopefully you'll get to do some outdoor cooking and take advantage of your new S'mores kit and cookbook while listening to My Politic of course!

{P.S.-her blog is amazing.  Go look.  NOW.}

And the winners of the new My Politic album American Will are...

Sue Roweton from Life Moves Pretty Fast, Andrea, Monica from MonMon Makes, and Richard Forrist!

If you guys can leave me a comment with your email, I'll get your address and mail out your goodies!

Once again, thank you all for participating!  I wish all of you could have won!  Maybe I'll just have to keep doing giveaways...what do you think?

Now for something to balance out the sugar rush from the S'mores cake...

Caprese Bruschetta...

Makes: 4 servings   Prep Time: 10 minutes   Cook Time: None!   Total Time: 10 minutes

{Printable Recipe}

Ingredients:

fresh ciabatta (mine was homemade! yummm!)

2 tomatoes

4 ounces fresh mozzarella

several sprigs of basil

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

 Gather the goods.

 Dice up your tomatoes.

 And do the same to the mozzarella.

 Next the basil.

 And then toss it all into a big bowl.

 Add the olive oil...

 Balsamic vinegar...

 Oregano and garlic powder.

 Give it a couple shakes of salt and pepper to your liking.

 Then stir it all up and it's ready to go!  Easy peasy right?

Now put it on top of some bread.  That stuff there on the right is homemade ciabatta bread.  And it was yuuuummy.  I'll share the recipe with you as soon as I make it again.

 Yum.....

Luckily I had these two jokers hanging around to help...or maybe they were just waiting to be fed?

I was right...just waiting to be fed.