Warm Maine Lobster and Roasted Sweet Potato Salad

Chef Ken’s love of cooking began when his father moved his family from California to Yvoire, France. He achieved national recognition at age 21 at the famous Los Angeles restaurant La Guillotine and has continued that meteoric rise ever since. Today helming his critically acclaimed and heavily awarded Napa Valley institution, La Toque, Chef Ken continues to set the bar for excellence and change the way we experience the world around us through food.

There is no other time of year when more people can sit down on the same day at millions of different tables and, more than likely, be looking at the same dishes. It can be a uniting experience that offers us all the opportunity to stop and give thanks.

Something we rarely think about, though, is that turkey was not available in the time and place to which we attribute the beginning of this tradition. What was? Vegetables, venison, fish, and shellfish; that’s right – lobster!

In the spirit of giving thanks for what we have, rather than what we might think we want…some call this the very secret to happiness…Chef Ken shares his cherished and flavorful recipe for Warm Maine Lobster and Roasted Sweet Potato Salad.

Feel free to substitute in what you are blessed to have and indulge yourself in a moment of gratitude for it.

Wishing you a happy season filled with joy and wellbeing, because that’s what we do!

Warm Maine Lobster and Roasted Sweet Potato Salad

serves two

1 steamed Maine lobster, shelled, cut into small chunks

2/3 cup sweet potato, diced in ½ inch cubes

2/3 cup butternut or other hard squash, diced in ½ inch cubes

2 teaspoons canola or other neutral oil

Pinch cardamom

Pinch Vietnamese Long pepper or other black pepper

Cinnamon stick, grated on a microplane (or one pinch to taste)

Nutmeg, grated on a microplane (or one pinch to taste)

1 tsp plus 1 Tbsp brown sugar

1/2 cup white onion, diced to ½ inch

¼ cup crème fraiche

Sea salt as needed for seasoning to taste

Sherry wine vinegar, drizzled as needed to taste

Toasted pumpkin seeds

1 cup chilled, curly endive, large stems removed

Toss the diced sweet potato and butternut (or other hard) squash with a drizzle of canola oil and a little sea salt. Spread on a cookie sheet and roast at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, until just tender. Remove from oven, cool, and reserve.

Spiced Crème Fraiche

In a small bowl, season the crème fraiche with the cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, and pepper, the 1 tsp of brown sugar, a pinch of sea salt and a splash of sherry wine vinegar. Mix well, verify flavors to taste and reserve.

Onion Marmalade

Put the diced white onion in a small saucepan with the remaining 1 Tbsp brown sugar and a pinch of sea salt. Grate a little Vietnamese pepper and cinnamon stick into the pan with a microplane, or pinches to taste. Add just enough water to cover, and cook, barely simmering, uncovered, until the onions are translucent and almost of the liquid is cooked out. Remove from heat, cool and reserve.

Plate up!

Drizzle a ring of the reserved spiced crème fraiche around the rim of each plate. Heat the roasted sweet potato & squash mixture and the remaining spiced crème fraiche in a sauté pan. Remove from heat and fold in the steamed lobster and ½ of the onion marmalade. Cover and allow the vegetables to gently warm the lobster for a couple of minutes. Spoon the lobster and sweet potato & squash mixture into a ring mold in the center of each plate. Carefully lift the ring mold. Toss the curly endive with the remaining half of the onion marmalade and a splash of sherry wine vinegar and arrange some on top of each lobster salad. Sprinkle the plate with toasted pumpkin seeds and serve.

Enjoy!