Lobster, Cucumber, French Tomato and Mango Salad with Passion Fruit Vinaigrette

When Alexander Powell was chef of 701, he offered this recipe for accomplished cooks that stretches a lobster to feed a dinner party and marries it with unusual tropical fruits and flavors.

Serves 12.

For French tomato:
4 tomatoes, roughly chopped
3 tablespoons sherry vinegar
3 shallots, peeled
3 cloves garlic, peeled
6 Thai or regular basil leaves
1/2 cup olive oil

Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth.

For the vinaigrette:
12 fresh passion fruits
2 cups passion fruit juice (available at Whole Foods, large branches of Giant and Safeway, and Middle Eastern markets)
1/4 cup sherry vinegar
1 Thai or regular small red chili pepper

Put the chili pepper in a pot with the assion fruit juice. Cook over medium-low eat until reduced by two-thirds, then cool, removing chili pepper. Cut passion fruit in half, scoop out interior pulp with a teaspoon and put it in the reduced passion fruit juice. Add vinegar. Season to taste and whisk well to ncorporate.

For the lobster:
1 1-1/2- to 2-pound lobster
2 pints vegetable stock or water to over

Cook lobster in boiling stock or water or four to five minutes, then shock in ice water to stop cooking. Withdraw the lobster from its shell and claws and cut edible meat into half-inch slices. Refrigerate until ready for use.

For the mango chip:
1 pound mango puree
Scant 1/4 pound sugar
1 tablespoon cumin seed
4 large egg whites

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat a small frying pan over a high heat without oil, throw in the cumin seeds and toast them, shaking the pan continuously, until they begin to pop. Remove from heat. Combine the seeds with the remaining ingredients and beat everything together to incorporate. Smear 12 spoonfuls of the mixture onto a baking sheet and bake until crispy, eight to 10 minutes.

To serve:
3 cucumbers
Lobster meat
French tomato recipe
3 mangoes, peeled and diced
1/4 cup chopped basil
Salt and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Mango chip

Julienne the cucumbers. Sprinkle with salt and cayenne pepper, set in a sieve over a bowl and let drain for 15 minutes. Make a layer of cucumber on the bottom of each plate. Toss lobster meat with the French tomato and chopped basil. Put ring mold in center of each plate and fill with this mixture. Top with diced mango, then garnish with mango chip. Drizzle passion fruit vinaigrette around plate and serve.

This recipe first appeared in the NorthWest Current. Photo Bill Petros/The Current.

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