Delicious & Budget Friendly Valentine's (or any) Day Feast: Lobster & Steak, Oh My!

Fancy dinner! 

Ok, so maybe Lobster isn't always budget friendly, but I was super lucky and found a package of two small wild-caught lobster at the clearance seafood counter at Kroger last week. Now, I know what you're thinking "um, clearance seafood?" But really that just means the grocer can't store it any longer and it needs to be eaten or frozen immediately. They were like $6, not kidding. That's how much you'd pay for like a (small) bite of lobster meat at a restaurant. And even normally buying raw food yourself is cheaper, but lobster is still expensive. So anyway, I found this package of two and I was like um how do I justify buying these? Duh, Valentine's Day! (I also found two pretty big salmon steaks for cheap...for a different day) We hadn't talked about it or anything, but since it was a Friday this year I thought it was probably much easier (and cheaper) to just have a nice dinner and movie at home instead of fighting the crowds out.

Now there probably isn't enough meat on these lobster to satisfy us, so I decided to splurge (kinda) on some filets wrapped in bacon. These aren't nice steaks, rather they are prepackaged somewhere probably scary that I don't want to think about, but they're cheap and we've had them a few times, if you prepare them properly they taste pretty damn good. They're $3.99 each, so affordable for a special occasion. Throw in a veggie, a potato, some wine, and a dessert, BAM: fancy dinner.

Following is a step-by-step guide to making this: Steamed whole lobster, medium-rare filets wrapped in bacon, the best canned green beans you've ever had, loaded twice-baked potatoes, and classic creme brulee.

Notes:
1. Creme Brulee is a two day process AND it requires a kitchen torch. It has to chill for several hours, so it is just easiest to do it the night before. I also bought my torch from Bed, Bath & Beyond. They have torches alone or entire creme brulee sets (with ramekins) for $20-40.
2. I went ahead and prepared the potatoes the day before, also, so they were ready to pop in the oven for 15 minutes.
3. This meal requires a lot of simultaneous timers. So you will probably need your oven timer, microwave timer, phone timer, and perhaps another one. Sorry.

I'm going to go through the order of things how I did them, but then below I'll list out step-by-step instructions for each individual dish separately in case you don't want all of the food together. Although, I'm not sure why you wouldn't...

Here we go.

Ingredients:
Lobster -
2 small/medium lobster (mine were frozen, pre-cooked)
6 TBSP butter

Steak -
2 steaks (the thicker the better)
1 stick of butter
1 TBSP olive oil
Salt & Pepper

Green Beans -
2 cans French cut green beans
1/4 onion, diced small
3 pieces of bacon, cooked & crumbled
Chicken or beef broth

Loaded Twice-Baked Potatoes -
6 potatoes
olive oil
6 TBSP Butter
1/2 cup milk (or half & half or heavy cream or some combo)
1/4 cup sour cream
Salt & Pepper
1 Cup shredded cheddar cheese + more for sprinkling
4 pieces of bacon, cooked & crumbled
1/4-1/3 cup green onion, diced small

Creme Brulee -
2 cups heavy cream
2 TSP vanilla
1/2 cup sugar, divided
2 large egg yolks

First, about a day before you want to serve it, make the creme brulee. Also, move your lobsters and steaks to the refrigerator to thaw (if they're frozen).

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
In a medium sauce pan, combine the heavy cream and vanilla over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until it starts to bubble/simmer, about 7-8 minutes. Do not let it boil, curdled cream is gross. Remove from heat, cover, and let sit for 15 minutes.

Doesn't quite look like much, yet...

In a bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup of the sugar and 3 egg yolks until well blneded. Add the cream slowly, a little at a time, stirring until it is all well combined.

I love my pink whisks.

Slowly incorporate. 

Pour into 4 ramekins (7-8 oz each). Place ramekins in a deep pan and pour enough hot water into the pan to come up half up the sides of the ramekins. Be careful when moving, don't spill water into the ramekins. Bake for 40-45 minutes. Let cool, refrigerate.

Cooling.

Alright, get your potatoes out. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Wash your potatoes well, dry, pierce a few times with a fork, brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Lay on a foil-lined baking pan. Bake for 1 hour. Let cool.

Cut potatoes in half and scoop out insides (leave enough to keep the skin standing up).

I think you probably know what a
potato with salt & olive oil on it looks
like. 

In a bowl, mix together the scooped out potato insides, 6 TBSP butter, the milk/cream/half&half, sour cream, cheddar cheese, bacon bits, green onions, and about 1/2 teaspoon of salt & pepper.

Yum. 

Refill the potatoes with the mixture and top with a little more cheese. There's never enough cheese. At this point, I covered mine with saran wrap and put them in the fridge.

I just wrapped them in saran wrap
right there on the pan. 

DAY TWOOOOO:
Now you're ready to prepare for the big meal!
Put your steaks on the counter on a plate (unwrapped from whatever they were in). Dab off the excess blood, etc. with a paper towel and let come to room temperature, about an hour.

Green beans: easy, peasy. Lightly saute your onions just until they're soft. I do this just in the small saucepan I do the green beans in. Add your bacon (crumbled, I made mine before with the bacon for the potatoes) and DRAINED green beans. Next, add enough chicken or beef broth to cover the beans. I actually add water and bring it to a boil and then add 2-3 teaspoons of Better than Bouillion, but you can just use a can or carton (or, gasp, homemade) broth. Add salt and pepper to your taste.

Onions & bacon. 

It is important to use French cut...I mean,
they just taste better, right? 

Bring to a boil quickly, then turn down to a simmer and forget. Well, don't start a fire or anything, but just let them simmer until dinner is ready, maybe stirring or adding liquid if it evaporates.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Set your lobsters out on the counter to warm up a little (they should be thawed out!). Set out the potatoes, too, so just in case you have them on the baking pan you don't put that in the oven straight out of the refrigerator. And while you're at it, get the creme brulee out, too. Haha.

"Hello!" - Lobsters

Season steaks with salt & pepper on both sides.

I've also been known to add a little bit of minced garlic.

Alright, get out a heavy-bottomed, oven-safe pan. Heat up to medium-high temperature, think really hot. You want to be able to sear your steaks, so lots of heat at one time, not cooking the inside of the steak too much. When pan is hot add 1/2 stick of butter and olive oil. Don't add too soon and burn the butter. Add your steaks.

Don't move them once you lay them in the pan, this is how you form a nice sear. Cook on each side 2-3 minutes, depending on how thick your steak is. When they are cooking, continually scoop butter from the pan onto the top of the steaks with a spoon, being careful not to get burned.

Make sure you have your fan on, these will smoke
quite a bit. 

Presumably your oven is heated by now. Quickly take a break from spooning butter and put your potatoes in the oven on the bottom rack. Set timer for 15 minutes. Resume spooning.

When steaks have seared 2-3 minutes on both sides, put pan and all in the middle of the top rack of the oven. Set timer for 5 minutes.

Head over to your lobster. Lay on a foil-lined baking pan, belly-up. Slice straight down the middle of the tail and stuff each with butter, 1-3 TBSP, depending on how large your lobster are.

When the steak timer goes off, add the remaining butter (1/4 stick each) to the tops of the steaks. Set timer for 1 1/2 minutes. Remove steaks from oven AND from pan - put on cutting board or plate. Let rest 5-10 minutes.

The butter fell off the front one, I put it back on
after I took the photo. 

And we are resting. 

Put lobsters in the oven for 5 minutes. Remember, mine are precooked so I am just heating them up, but I don't want to overcook them and make them rubbery. If you have raw (or live, oooooh) lobster you'll have to manage that one on your own...

Remove lobsters (and probably potatoes, if you haven't already) from the oven.

Serve dinner!! Remember to melt some butter in a small bowl to dip your lobster meat in...god this meal used a lot of butter, Paula Dean would be proud. Oh well.

I need to work on my plating...Gordon would not be pleased. 

Alright, chow down and then refer back to me for the dessert.

The creme brulee should have been out of the refrigerator for about 30 minutes by now. Sprinkle tops of custard with sugar, split about 1/4 cup between them. Use a torch to brown the sugar, being careful not to burn.

Wouldn't this be lovely with some fresh berries? 

Allow to rest for 5 minutes, serve.

And there you have it, a full fancy feast (not to be confused with the cat food...) for date night! And it wasn't expensive (I think total it cost about $25 in total and most of the things I had on hand, anyway!

Below are the instructions for each individual dish, save for the lobster because that was literally just heating up precooked stuff. Ha.

A perfect, medium-rare steak:
1. Thaw steaks, if frozen.
2. Leave on counter for about an hour to bring to room temperature.
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
4. Season steaks with salt & pepper, maybe some garlic or other seasonings if you're feeling brave.
5. Melt half a stick of butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil in oven-safe skillet at a medium-high temperature. (Heat pan BEFORE adding butter, then let butter melt & olive oil heat up)
6. Sear steaks 2-3 minutes on each side, continually scooping residual melted butter onto the top of the steaks.
7. Once they're seared, place pan and all in the center of the oven and bake for 6-8 minutes, adding 1/4 stick of butter to the top of each steak with about a minute or so left to cook.
8. Remove from oven AND pan, allow to rest 5-10 minutes on plate or cutting board.

The best canned green beans, ever:
1. Cook and crumble 2-3 pieces of bacon.
2. Cook 1/4 of a diced onion until soft, I usually do it in the bacon grease or a little olive oil.
3. Drain FRENCH CUT green beans and add to small sauce pan with onions and bacon.
4. Add enough chicken or beef broth (I vote beef) to cover beans, bring to a boil.
5. Turn heat down to a simmer.
6. Salt & pepper to taste.

Loaded, twice-baked potatoes:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Rinse potatoes well, dry.
3. Pierce with fork and brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
4. Bake potatoes for 1 hour. Let cool.
5. Cook and crumble about 4 pieces of bacon.
6. Cut potatoes in half and scoop out insides (leave enough to keep the skin standing up).
7. Mash potatoes in bowl and mix with butter, milk (or half&half/cream), sour cream, bacon, cheddar cheese, green onion, and about 1/2 teaspoon salt & pepper.
8. Refill potatoes with mixture, sprinkle with extra cheese.
9. Bake for 15 minutes.

Classic Creme Brulee -
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. In medium saucepan over low-med heat, combine 2 cups heavy cream and 1 teaspoon vanilla, stirring constantly until bubbly, about 7-8 minutes.
3. Remove from heat, cover, and let sit for 15 minutes.
4. In a bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup sugar and 3 large egg yolks until well blended.
5. Add cream a little at a time, stirring until well combined.
6. Pour into ramekins.
7. Place ramekins in a deep pan. Pour enough hot water into the pan to come up halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
8. Bake for 40-45 minutes.
9. Let cool, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours but up to 3 days.
10. Remove from refrigerator at least 30 minutes prior to browning.
11. Divide 1/4 cup sugar between ramekins and sprinkle on top of custard.
12. Use a torch to evenly brown the tops, being careful not to scorch.
13. Allow to rest 5 minutes before serving.

ENJOY!