Sunday, April 11 - A Master-ful Lobster Tail

Way to go Phil Mickelson. We were also rooting for LA kid Anthony Kim who almost had the best day of his life. As we were watching the final rounds of the Masters, Mike broiled a huge lobster tail he picked up at Costco this morning. Look at the size of that thing...only $12.99 for 3/4 pound tail! Yes, Costco actually has delicious meats and fishes. Laura has been obsessed with lobster tails for as long as she can remember.

We had never attempted to grill or broil a lobster tail at home but it's astoundingly simple.  After we set the oven to broil (525 degrees), we added 1 tablespoon of butter, a sprinkling of pepper, and a sprinkling of paprika. No salt. It should have taken about 12 minutes but our oven didn't quite feel hot enough. We took it out and it was still a little raw inside, so we put it back in for another 10 minutes. You don't want to overcook the tail because it can get rubbery.

So, slightly after 20 minutes, the tail was cooked to perfection....

All the tail needed was a squeeze of lemon. It was sweet and succulent, and not too tough!

Mike pulled out a 2007 Puligny Montrachet we had in the fridge. While we normally favor the California chardonnays, Mike snagged this bottle for under $30 at Costco (the largest wine seller in the US), which was a real steal. While the California chards can be oaky and buttery (which we like!), this French wine region makes their chards smooth and elegant but not too dry or fruity, which can be the case with a lot of the French whites.

No, we didn't drink the whole bottle. We had opened this a few nights ago :)


For tonight's dinner we marinated and grilled lamb chops.  We consistently find exquisite Australian lamb chops at Costco.  They are thick, tender and are one of the few things you can buy at Costco that is portioned perfectly for two people.

Here is the recipe for the marinade.  Simple, but effective and delicious.

Lamb chop marinade
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp chopped rosemary
½ cup white wine
Salt/pepper to taste
6 lamb chops

Mix ingredients and pour over lamb chops.  Marinate for two hours.

I grilled the chops on a gas grill with high heat for approximately 5 minutes per side.  This was long enough to give them a little char and some nice grill marks.  These chops ended up at a medium rare temperature, perhaps medium rare plus.  Sweet!  The meat was tender and flavorful and melted away in your mouth.  Laura prepared some asparagus by steaming it for a minute or two, then pan frying it with some lemon, butter and salt/pepper to taste.  (The lemon we had picked last weekend while house-hunting in Calabasas.)

We decided to pair this meal with a zinfandel from V Sattui.  The lamb deserves a hearty red wine, and this particular zinfandel (2007 Eaglepoint Ranch, Mendocino County) is pretty big.  It has dark fruit flavors and a nice black pepper spice to it; this helped to tie all the dishes together.  Perfecto!
 
By the way, we love V Sattui wines!