I Don't Boil Lobsters...July in Review-7/31/09

Gourmet's July recipes are in the bag and aside from the two recipes I refused to do, I made every recipe for the month. I suppose I should explain... I eat meat but I cannot actually kill the animal before I eat it. I suppose I should amend this statement. The mussels I brought home from the store said "Live mussels" but they sure didn't move or give any other indication that they were alive. Lobsters do, they move, they squirm, and whether you believe it's simply air escaping from their shells or not, they make a high pitched screaming sound when first put into boiling water. I just can't do that. The very thought of it turns my stomach and makes something I find fun, cooking, fill me with dread. So I didn't make the Boiled Lobster Dinner with Sesame Mayonnaise on page 54 or the Lobster Rolls with Lemon Vinaigrette and Garlic Butter on page 28.

Everything else I made and here's my highs and lows from this month's issue. This month's best recipe was the Almond Praline Semifreddo with Grappa-Poached Apricots on page 103. The work to wow factor on this dessert was perfect. I admit, getting out the extension cord to use my hand mixer over the stove top was a little over the top but it actually worked out great and wasn't as cumbersome as you would think. What I loved about this dish was the fact that I did some different things while making it, like make and grind the praline and beat the semifreddo. Then the dish came together with flavor and presentation into an elegant and beautifully flavored dessert. I would be happy with this dessert at a high-end restaurant and to know I could make it at home and it look just as good was really cool.

My least favorite recipe of the month came from a surprising source. I've usually really liked the Cookbook Club selections and this recipe seemed to have it all together, simple with lots of flavor. I'm not really sure where the recipe for "Le Cake" aux Olives et au Reblochon on page 29 went wrong. Maybe just the rarity of good Reblochon cheese here in the U.S. made this dish vastly different from the creator's idea. I don't know but I felt like I was eating raw bread and that was not a good flavor. Either way, perhaps some day I'll get to travel to Le Manoir de Raynaudes in the foothills of the Pyrenees and try this bread as it is meant to be savored and know that my version was indeed very, very wrong.