what, summer is over?

I can’t believe summer 2019 is over. We had a little more company than in past summers and we thoroughly enjoyed them. I was quite busy cooking this summer, be it for visiting out of town guests, our daughter and her family or our son and his wife. I enjoyed this season’s tomato crop, especially with Duke’s Mayonnaise courtesy of @karenmc824 and @salexander3575, it was a game changer. We especially enjoyed fresh sliced tomatoes on lightly toasted Delicious Orchards English muffin bread with a smear of Duke’s.

​The NJ sweet corn too, was especially delicious this summer. Pierre Franey’s Sautéed Chicken Breasts with Fresh Corn, Shallots and Cream, combined two of husband and mine’s favorite, chicken and corn. This was another quick and delicious recipe, good for those September suppers while Jersey corn still tastes delicious. 

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Shop-Rite had on special several times this summer, lobster tails. I prepared lobster rolls using a recipe by the restaurant Luke’s Lobster. By the way, they are on sale this week for $6.99/lb.
The previous time they were on sale, I couldn’t resist purchasing them. However, I didn’t know how I would use them. I searched through New York Times Cooking App and found a recipe for a Corn and Lobster Tart by Florence Fabricant, writer for the Times. The recipe takes 1-1/2 hours to prepare, but well worth the time. You’ll need a 9” pie crust for the tart, butter, onion, 1-1/2 cups of fresh corn kernels (about 2 ears of corn), fresh tarragon, cayenne pepper, whole milk, 2 eggs, 1/4 cup heavy cream, one steamed or broiled 1-1/4 lb. lobster (meat removed and diced), zest of 1 lemon, salt and pepper.

The recipe starts by blind baking the pie tart shell for 10 minutes. While that’s in the oven, you can start the filling. It’s basically rich custard filling flavored with sautéed onions, aromatic tarragon, eggs and cream with diced lobster. The lemon zest gives brightness to the tart. Since I was serving this a main dish for supper one evening, I made a side salad to round out the meal.
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The tart was scrumptious! You had a bit of sweetness from the corn and a hint of anise from the tarragon. Blind baking the crust ensured that the bottom of the tart wasn’t undercooked or soggy. I had homemade pastry dough in the freezer which came in handy for this recipe. This recipe was wonderful. This summer was the first time I’ve used whole lobsters in cooking. I was fortunate that when I did purchase them at Shop-Rite, that I was able to purchase them already cooked, otherwise they steam them for free, it takes approximately 15 minutes to do so. 
By the way, Duke’s Mayonnaise can be purchased through Amazon. Apparently, there are some Family Dollar Stores and Wal-Marts that carry it. I’ll have to do a road trip to see if the Duke’s website is current on these stores actually having it stock.