Surf n Turf _Tonight's dinner party theme!

What a wonderful night!  Sue & Grant coming to dinner; with K’s mum & dad whom they adore… Keith always wants to serve steak and our company never disagrees; and yes, even I have to admit that he cooks it so well, always on the bbq... My dad, now his dad, will say that he cooks a steak like no other… to perfection.  But really, how can you go wrong with a superb cut of meat?  Really, needs no other seasoning other than salt & pepper and you are good to go... It will be the star of the show!

So I can I change it up a bit?  What can I serve along side?  Lobster tails on sale; so tonight it was surf & turf!

Have never bought or cooked lobster tails so this was a new experience for me and thankfully a very good one!  Truthfully, I never know if friends and family are just being nice when they say thank you, that was a great meal, but tonight Grant, when leaving, asked me how I cooked the lobster; well that was the greatest compliment to me!

Appetizers:

• Smoked salmon & cream cheese ring (purchased)
• Bacon wrapped scallops (purchased)

Salad: 

Arugula Salad with Goat Cheese, Bacon and Balsamic-Fig Dressing

This was a good prelude for the main

Arugula always goes well with steak sandwiches

And I have simply fallen in love with figs

And you cannot go wrong with bacon or goat cheese

When served, salad leaves a little wilted but it served its purpose…

A prelude for the main!

Courtesy of Cooking light.

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/arugula-salad-with-goat-cheese-bacon-balsamic-fig-dressing

Main:  Surf & Turf

Steaks not a problem; K got the best that the butcher could provide; but what do you do with frozen lobster; don’t want to thaw them out too soon and meat go bad; the last thing you want is your company to get sick; so we call our fisherman friend for advice; put in fridge night before and at 12 noon today I put them on the counter; still frozen but by 5pm thawed enough that I could cut belly side of the claw with scissor and crack the back and de-shell like you would a shrimp per se. 

K cooked on bbq 6 huge/bacon sized thick beef tenderloins on bbq

Meanwhile:

Heat Broiler to high

Cook  16 oz lobster tail, thawed, cleaned and chopped

In ½ cup of butter & 1 t Old Bay seasoning in a sauce pan over med high heat until cooked through (2-3 mins); remove from heat

When steak is done; put on baking sheet and top with lobster

Place in broiler until lobster starts to brown (3 – 5 mins)

Serve on top of Garlic Mashed potatoes

Boil 7 potatoes

In a pan, over low heat, combine:

•    2 garlic bulbs (1/2 cup) peeled garlic clove
•  1/3 cup whipping cream
•  2 T butter

Cover and stir occasionally for 10 mins.

In a blender; puree mixture and add to drained, cooked potatoes.

Mash potatoes with blender.  

Assembly; place a spoonful or too on plate, top with steak and lobster