Recipe(tried): Some Comfort Food for Tonight - Lobster Soup (Asopao de Langosta), Tostones de Platano

SOME COMFORT FOOD FOR TONIGHT

Today I feel like eating my version of comfort food: Lobster Soup. I went very early to Costco & bought the necessary ingredients for this luscious soup. I will serve the soup with Green Plantain Tostones & I will drink an almost frozen Robert Mondavi's Chardonay. Life could not get any better. Buen Provecho!

Lobster Soup
(Asopao de Langosta)
Source: Cristino Alicea from Florida.
(Serves 4)

3 lb. of lobster meat (defrosted)
3 teaspoon annato seed oil (I am going to use an envelope of Saz n con Culantro y Achiote to give the golden color to the 3 tsps. of olive oil)
1 cup of onion (chopped)
3/4 cup green bell pepper (chopped)
2 garlic cloves (chopped)
1/2 cup of celery (chopped)
1/2 cup of carrot (sliced thin)
1 cup of calabaza (squash or pumpkin, the one native to the Caribbean)
1 cups of wine (white dry)
2 tomatoes (medium - peeled, seeded, and chopped)
1 1/2 cups uncooked white rice
3 cups of stock (lobster, fish or chicken) made from lobster shell (I will use the shells and 2 cubes for preparing fish stock)
1/4 cup of small pimiento stuffed olives (Sliced)
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon of ground dry oregano
1 tablespoon of capers (I use drained cocktail capers)
2 teaspoon of paprika (I use sweet Spanish paprika)
2 teapoon cumin
1 pinch saffron (optional)
2 bay leaves
3 leaves of culantro (I will use 3 tb of chopped cilantrillo)
salt to taste
3 sprigs green scallion slices

If you have Sofrito just add it to the kettle bring to heat and add the celery, carrots, tomatoes, calabaza, wine, stock, etc. To start from scratch you add the annato seed oil to the soup kettle, bring to heat, saut onion and green bell pepper until soft, then add the garlic, celery, carrots, calabaza, tomatoes, white wine, fish or lobster stock, add the 2 cups of rice. Also add the bay leaves, paprika, caper, olives, cumin salt pepper pinch of saffron, cilantro, oregano add the lobster meat. Cover and simmer for about 35 minutes. Serve in deep bowls garnished with scallion and cilantro for garnish.

TOSTONES DE PLATANO

3 green plantains (medium to large)
1 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of garlic powder
2 cups of water
1 cup of olive oil
2 tablespoons of ketchup or olive oil & chopped garlic sauce(optional)
1 tablespoon of mayonnaise (optional)

Peel and cut plantains in 1 inch pieces and place in a large bowl. Add 2 cups of water to the bowl and season with 1 teaspoon of salt and 2 teaspoons of powdered garlic. Soak plantain slices for approximately one hour. In a 10" skillet, heat 1 cup of olive oil then add drained plantain slices to fill the bottom of the pan. Lightly brown slices on one side for about 5 minutes then turn over and brown the other side (for approximately 3 minutes). Remove the plantain slices from pan and flatten each slice into circles, again, using the tostonera. After flattening the slices, place the circular pieces back into the frying pan and heat for another 3 minutes. Remove the tostones from the frying pan and place them on a plate lined with a paper towel (to soak up the excess oil).