Presidential Portions

Can you believe it has been a little over a month with our new president? I get all giddy when I hear about "Former President Bush" and they have to qualify which one! In case you missed it, here is my favorite of the recipes from the luncheon after the Inauguration ceremonies.

Seafood Stew (serves 10)

• 6 (1 Lb) Maine lobsters
• 20 medium size Sea scallops
• 36 Large shrimp, peel, cleaned and tail removed, approx. 2 lbs.
• 10 (1 oz) pieces of black cod
• ½ cup small dice carrots
• ½ cup small dice celery
• ½ cup small dice leek
• ½ cup small dice Idaho potato
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon ground white pepper or black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 quart heavy cream
• 1 cup dry vermouth (can be made without)
• 10 (5 inch) puff pastry rounds

Bring 1 gallon of water to a boil; poach lobsters, then shrimp, then black cod and last scallops. After seafood is cooked, remove from water; reserve water and bring to boil.

Cook all vegetables in liquid that was used for the seafood, remove vegetables when tender. Allow the liquid to continue to boil until only 1qt of liquid remains. This will be the base for the sauce.

Bring seafood liquid back to a boil and add the vermouth and heavy cream and reduce by half,
season with salt, white pepper and nutmeg to taste. You have reached your desired thickness when the sauce will cover the back of a wooden spoon. Set aside to cool.

Cut Maine lobster, shrimp and scallops into bite size pieces.

Pre-heat oven at 400 degrees.

Fold seafood and vegetables into cool sauce, being careful not to mix too much as this will break up the seafood. Scoop mixture into terrines or oven proof baking dish of your choice.

Cover terrines with puff pastry rounds, brush them with egg wash and bake them until golden
brown about 8-10 minutes, allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving. You can cook this 2-3 hours ahead of time and keep warm at 150 F degrees.