Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Mo's Birthday Feast" "Surf & Turf"


Mami Eggroll's Baked Stuffed Lobsters
The Mo didn't want to have a big extravagant bash for his 30th birthday party but I still wanted to do something nice for him.

Instead of spending tons of money on a fancy dinner in town, I attempted to whip up a Surf and Turf meal on a budget.  I was inspired by this idea by Market Basket since they were running a special this week on lobster at $4.99 a pound.

Tonight we feasted on baked stuffed lobsters, Delmonico steak, homemade crabcakes, seared scallops drizzled in lobster bisque, and Cesar salad with fresh parmesan cheese.

I also was going to bake fresh rolls, but I forgot to with all the other dishes I had to prepare. I finally realized I forgot the rolls as we were sitting down for dinner.

The cost of this meal was about $60.00 including a cheap bottle of wine.  I still could have save some money if I substituted some of the ingredients but I didn't want to trade off quality and flavor.  I looked up the prices of lower end seafood restaurants for comparison purposes and our meal at a decent restaurant would have set us back $120.00 minimum.

Of course you don't get the ambiance and waiter service of a restaurant, but I thought the savings was worth it.  We can use the $60.00 towards my birthday meal or our anniversary meal.


Baked Stuffed Lobsters
Canned Crab Meat (Found in the seafood department) roughly $13.99 for 1 lb

2 Sleeves of Ritz Crackers
Crushed Crackers for Seafood Stuffing
Combine Crabmeat, crumbled crackers and seasoning
Steam lobsters and split in the middle (without going through)
Stuff lobsters and place on broiler pan and bake for 15 minutes at 375 degrees
Garnish with lemon and fresh parsley and serve with drawn butter
Mami's Crabcakes
Same base as seafood stuffing but add onions, egg and mayonnaise
Pan fry lightly on each side for 4 minutes, serve with horseradish sauce 
Easy Caesar Salad
Romaine Heats, Cherry Tomatoes, Garlic Croutons and Fresh Shaved Parmasean 
Seared Scallops 

Blanched Baby Spinach
Legal Sea Foods Lobster Bisque
(Can be found in the seafood department)
Sear scallops in butter for 2 minutes on each side then serve on a bed of spinach.
Drizzle with lobster bisque
Delmonico Steak
Marinated with Montreal Steak seasoning, soy sauce and olive oil
I forgot to take a picture of the after product, but pretty much I seared the steak for 2 minutes on high heat on each side then placed it under the broiler for 6 minutes.  If the weather was warmer, I would have grilled it outside.

I also cheated and bought the single baked potato from Wendy's for a little over $1.00.  With so many dishes to prep, I didn't have the time to spend on baking a single potato.

I had the steak and the lobsters both in the oven at once.. gotta love the double oven.. one was on broil and the other was on convection bake.