Squid Ink Spaghetti, Norwegian King Crab, Pacific Uni Cream, Maine Lobster Foam, Italian Osetra Caviar, and Chef’s Garden Micro Herbs
Recipe courtesy of Justin Schreiber, Executive Chef, The Windsor Club (Vero Beach, Fla.)
Ingredients
- Ingredients for Uni Cream Sauce:
- uni - 20 gms. or 2 pieces
- cream - 1 cup
- white anchovy - 2 pieces
- lemon juice - 1/2 ea.
- lemon zest - 1/4 tsp.
- butter - 1 Tbsp.
- Ingredients for Squid Ink Pasta Dough:
- semolina flour - 1k
- water - 300 gms.
- squid ink - 60 gms.
- Ingredients for Lobster Foam:
- lobster - 2 ea., cleaned, split in half
- carrot - 1 ea., medium, medium dice
- leek - 1 ea., medium, half-moons, rinsed
- celery - 2 ribs, crosscuts
- tarragon - 4 sprigs
- sherry wine - 1 cup
- tomato paste - 2 Tbsps.
- fennel seeds - 1 tbsp., toasted and cracked
- water - to cover
- cream - 1/4 cup
- soy lecithin - 7 gms.
- Ingredients for Plating:
- king crab - 1 bar, out of the shell, the largest and nicest piece closest to the knuckle
- blue borage flowers - 2 ea.
- petite tarragon - 2 pieces
- basil leaf - 1 ea., small
- Osetra caviar - 1/4 oz.
Instructions
Procedure for the Uni Cream Sauce:
- Reduce the cream by half.
- Add uni, anchovy, lemon juice, zest, and butter to blender.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Procedure for the Squid Ink Pasta Dough:
- Place flour into the hopper of your pasta extruder.
- Add the water and squid ink together and mix very well.
- Add water mixture to the hopper and mix.
- Extrude though the hopper and spaghetti die. Portion to 50 grams.
Procedure for the Lobster Foam:
- Sear the lobster bodies in a hot Dutch oven on the split-side down.
- Once they caramelize and you have a good fond going, add the mirepoix, tarragon, fennel seeds and sweat. Be careful to turn the heat down so as not to burn the fond.
- Once translucent and fragrant, pince with tomato paste and caramelize then deglaze with the sherry wine.
- Reduce by half to cook off the alcohol. Add the fennel seeds and cover the shells with just enough water to cover.
- Simmer this for 1.5 hours and strain. Don’t forget to crush all juices from your shells and mirepoix through the strainer.
- Place back in the appropriate-sized saucepan and reduce until it has a great lobster taste, about ½. Take a pint of stock from this and add the cream.
- Bring back to a simmer and shear in the soy lecithin either by blender or a small hand blender. It should be foamy at this point.
To Plate:
- Bring a small sauce pot of water to boil. Cook pasta for 3 minutes.
- While the pasta is cooking, add 2 oz. ladle of the uni cream to a sautee pan and make just hot.
- Strain pasta and save some pasta water, and the hot pasta to the cream.
- Heat the king crab in a gentle steamer oven until just hot.
- While the crab is heating, adjust your pasta with the water if needed to nape consistency.
- Using a long carving fork, roll the pasta around creating a cylinder. Place the cylinder on the plate just off-center.
- Place your king crab “bar” next to it with a 1-inch gap in between.
- Top the crab with caviar and garnish with flowers and petite tarragon.
- Next, foam your lobster foam with hand blender and place a spoonful into the gap between the pasta and the crab.
