Bobby Flay's Throwdown! (4 page)
Read Bobby Flay's Throwdown! Online
Authors: Bobby Flay
Lobster and Green Chile Chowder with Roasted Corn Salsa
SERVES 6 TO 8
4 (1½-pound) lobsters, steamed
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium Spanish onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup dry white wine
6 ears fresh corn, roasted (see Notes), kernels removed from the cobs (2 cups), cobs halved
4 cups lobster stock (see
Sources
), low-sodium chicken broth, or vegetable broth, or more if needed
3 poblano chiles, roasted, peeled, seeded (see Notes), and diced
3 cups heavy cream
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves, plus whole leaves for garnish
Roasted Corn and Green Chile Relish (recipe follows)
1.
Remove the claws from the lobsters. Carefully crack the claws, and remove the meat in one piece if you can. Remove the tail meat and chop it into 1-inch chunks. Set the lobster aside in the refrigerator. Coarsely chop the shells and reserve.
2.
Melt the butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until soft, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Raise the heat to high, add the wine, lobster shells, and corncobs, and cook until the wine has completely reduced. Add the 4 cups lobster stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Strain the broth into a bowl, discard the shells and corncobs, and return the broth to the pot.
3.
Add 1 cup of the roasted corn kernels and cook until the corn is just tender, 15 minutes. Transfer the soup to a blender, in batches, and puree until smooth. Strain into a clean saucepan and bring to a simmer. Stir in the remaining 1 cup roasted corn kernels, and the chiles, and cook for 5 minutes.
4.
Meanwhile, put the heavy cream in a medium saucepan, bring it to a simmer over medium heat, and cook until reduced by half, about 10 minutes.
5.
Add the reduced cream to the chowder and simmer for 5 minutes. If the chowder appears too thick, add additional stock or water to thin it slightly.
6.
Add the reserved chopped lobster meat, season with salt and pepper, and stir in the chopped cilantro. Ladle the chowder into bowls and top each one with a few tablespoons of the relish, a lobster claw, and a few fresh cilantro leaves.
NOTES
To roast corn:
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Remove the silks from the corn, but leave the husks on. Soak in cold water for 10 minutes. Drain the corn, place on baking sheets, and roast in the oven until tender and slightly charred, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool slightly; then remove the husks and slice off the kernels, letting them fall into a bowl.
To roast chiles:
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Brush the chiles with canola oil and season them with salt and pepper. Place them on a rimmed baking sheet and roast in the oven, rotating them occasionally, until charred on all sides, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven. Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let sit for 15 minutes to allow the skin to loosen. Then peel, halve, and seed.
6 ears fresh corn, roasted (see Notes), kernels removed from the cobs (2 cups)
1 poblano chile, roasted, peeled, seeded (see Notes), and finely diced
½ small red onion, finely diced
Juice of 2 limes
2 teaspoons honey
2 tablespoons canola oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Combine the corn, poblano, onion, lime juice, honey, and oil in a medium bowl and season with salt and pepper. Let the relish sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavors to meld.
Bahamian Seafood Chowder
SERVES 10
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1½ pounds conch (see Note), pounded to ⅛-inch thickness and cut into ½-inch-wide strips
1 large Spanish onion, halved and thinly sliced Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 red bell peppers, diced
2 green bell peppers, diced
3 tablespoons Jamaican curry powder
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Pinch of sweet paprika
1 bay leaf
1 quart heavy cream
3 cups fish stock (see
Sources
), bottled clam juice, or vegetable stock
1 (28.5-ounce) can peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand, with juices
2 (13-ounce) cans coconut milk
¼ cup cream of coconut, such as Coco Lopez
3 pounds russet or other baking potatoes, peeled and diced
3 large carrots, peeled and diced
2 large green plantains, peeled, quartered lengthwise, and diced
2 yellow plantains, peeled, halved lengthwise, and diced
1 pound firm-fleshed white fish, such as mahimahi, cut into ½-inch pieces
¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
Hot sauce, for serving
1.
Melt the butter in a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the conch and onion, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the red and green bell peppers and cook until soft, about 8 minutes. Stir in the curry powder, cayenne, paprika, bay leaf, and salt to taste, and cook until fragrant, about 4 minutes.
2.
Stir in the heavy cream, fish stock, tomatoes and their juices, coconut milk, cream of coconut, potatoes, carrots, and green and yellow plantains. Bring to a brisk simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the conch and green plantains are tender, about 1 hour. Taste, and season with salt and pepper.
3.
Add the mahimahi and parsley, and simmer until the fish is just cooked through, about 5 minutes. Discard the bay leaf, and serve with hot sauce on the side.
NOTE
Conch is generally available frozen. It must be trimmed and then pounded. Use a paring knife to trim off any silver skin or yellow patches, which will remain tough no matter how long they are pounded or cooked. Then put the conch pieces between sheets of plastic wrap and pound with a meat mallet.
Name: Cindy Reed Wilkins
Hometown: Houston, Texas
Website:
www.cinchili.com
“Three years later, we are growing and expanding our business by leaps and bounds! Thanks, Bobby!”
—CINDY REED WILKINS
It was all about the official dish of Texas, red chili. I headed to Houston to challenge chili queen Cindy Reed Wilkins to a bowl o’ red competition…and perhaps a little Texas two-step.
The only back-to-back winner of the CASI International Chili Championship, Cindy Reed Wilkins won more than fifteen first-place awards before retiring from the competition circuit to develop her own line of chili seasonings called “Cin Chili.” Since deciding to share her award-winning recipe with the world at large, she has expanded her customer base and sells her products to more than 300 grocery and specialty food stores around the world.
