We were having lobsters. Aki wanted baked stuffed lobsters for her birthday, specifically stuffed with the potato chip and shrimp filling I made on the fly years ago. With baked stuffed lobsters comes the mess of shells and the process of picking and digging out the meat at the table. Given that we had both younger and older guests at the table, this did not seem like a practical approach. Instead, we took the potato chip stuffing in another direction. I removed the lobster and shrimp (key stuffing element) from their shells and then cooked them in salted butter right before serving.
I was inspired by Amaya’s love of polenta, and an alliteration presented itself. I decided to cook polenta in the pressure cooker (with a little water, of course) and fold in potato chips at the end. We have been exploring longer cooking times, so I cooked the polenta for 45 minutes. When it was done and the pressure had dissipated, we stirred in potato chips and a large amount of cheddar cheese. The polenta attained its signature creamy texture accented with the toasty, nutty flavor of the potato chips. The cheddar cheese added salt, creaminess, and acidity to cut through this rich porridge. Finally, we spooned buttery crustaceans and sauce over a bed of potato chip polenta and roasted asparagus. A delicious evolution for 2015… And look for pretzel polenta coming soon.
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