Lobster Breakdown

Butternut squash puree

~30 minutes

1. Halve squash lengthwise, gut the seeds and stringy shit & peel (skin is thicc af make sure you peel through it all, we want ONLY flesh NO skin)
2. Dice squash into ~1” cubes
3. Saute over med-hi heat with 2-3 tbsp butter
4. Cover pan partially with foil (allows steam to escape as opposed to covering entirely with a lid, no soggy squash up in here)
5. Cook until tender… can insert fork with very little resistance ~20-25 mins
6. Transfer squash and any liquid into blender ASAP (blend while hot for smooth consistency)
7. Add milk & salt and blend to desired consistency (should be light, fluffy consistency, but should also be able to pour - does that even make sense? idk)

Risotto

~30-35 minutes

Prep

1. Finely dice shallots
2. Finely grate parmesan
3. Chop chives
4. Bring chicken stock to light simmer in large stock pot

Go time

1. Add rice to medium/large pan… amount = thin layer that covers the entire surface of the pan (Sorry for the lack of precise measurement here)
2. Toast rice over med/hi heat (should be able to smell the rice toasting, make sure you keep it moving and don’t burn it, looking for grains to be slightly translucent on edges) ~3-4 minutes
3. Add shallots, stir in with the rice & sweat em (should be able to hear the shallots begin to sweat, if not the pan is not hot enough, crank that puppy up)
4. Sweat shallots until they become fragrant and look transparent… continue moving the rice and shallots around ~2-3 minutes
5. Deglaze the pan with white wine, should be SIZZLIN when it hits the pan... cook off the alcohol (amount = enough to thinly cover the surface area of the pan) ~1-2 minutes
6. Start feeding the rice chicken stock & stir consistently (~2oz per minute for ~20 minutes or until the rice is cooked, taste periodically, you are the risotto’s bitch for the next ~20 mins) ~20 minutes
7. When nearly cooked, add another dose of chicken stock before we flavor (I like to have more liquid when going into flavor time, puree and parmesan bind it and make it thicker and having that last bit of liquid allows for more control… its easier to make thicker than to thin it out)
8. Time to flavor that sucka...
   1. Add butternut squash puree & stir until well blended
   2. Add parmesan
   3. Add salt (we got this far, do not under season this bad boy, this is not the time to worry about your sodium intake)
   4. **Add butter, if you think it needs it
   5. Add chives
9. Plate immediately (get that off the pan as soon as its done)