Hello, hello friends, neighbors and fellow astral travelers.

Who’s ready for some more motherfucking gravy?

I know! I really can’t believe it or explain it myself.

Eleven goddamn seasons of this thing.

How did this happen? Why do I keep going?

I have no fucking idea! It’s just one of those things. End of football season (fuck that last season thoroughly in it’s rotten asshole by-the-way) and here I go again.

This was never supposed to happen but it just keeps going!

Growing up, there wasn’t some little shit-ass kid who thought to himself “One of these days I’m going to write about different foods! And give recipes! And I’m gonna do it for at least 11 years. That’s the kind of freak I’m gonna be, man!”

That shit didn’t happen.

I was a fucked up little shit when it came to food. I didn’t like anything really.

Oh shit!

I didn’t like anything that didn’t have gravy!

It’s a goddamn epiphany!

Holy jesus and dancing Gladys I think I figured it out!

Got to tell you good folks, it was one hell of a Sunday Gravy offseason. Had a fucking legendary vacation, which you’re going to get some familiarity with real soon, only to come home and watch a large part of my city burn to ashes. 

Guess I should talk some about that even though it’s fucking heartbreaking.

The winds were blowing up to 100 MPH the night the real shit started and we had been having our driest year in history RIGHT after having our two wettest winters ever. The trees, brush and plants on the hillsides and in the canyons were basically kindling.

January 8th I left my home in Pedro and the sky looked like this.

I have a 14 mile or so northwest commute to where I work in El Segundo. When I reached work this was what the sun looked like.

Looking north towards LAX and in the direction of the fires looked like you were at the gates of Hell.

The health and safety team issued all of us KN95 masks while we were on site and the smell was indescribable. You were basically smelling entire neighborhoods and everything in them including homes and cars and plastic and entire streets reduced to smoke and vapor.

It was fucking heinous. Your lungs burned for days. My sinuses were utterly fucked for weeks afterwards.

These fires were different than previous years. In the past the wildfires burned near communities that were in canyons and hillsides that were covered in brush, trees and scrubgrass.

These hurricane force winds blew burning embers for MILES.

The next several days after were surreal. I was driving though my neighborhood looking at the trees and parks like they were the enemy. My whole mindset was “Fuck this, I want to be surrounded by as much concrete and pavement as possible.”

We live in a different reality out here now. NO neighborhood is safe. Every city, town and community can be wiped out and it’s too fucking late to do anything about it.

No jokes here, only tears, determination and resolve.

I love this fucking city. It’s my home.

At least for another 4 years anyway.

Enough of this. Let’s continue with the less depressing shit shall we?

Some other shit happened in politics which I have completely washed my hands of and will try to never mention again. In fact, let’s go ahead and call Sunday Gravy an escape pod from politics. That works for me just fine. 

Shit howdy enough with the goddamn preamble let’s make some more goddamn gravy! Or in today’s case a reasonable facsimile. 

Today we will be making lobster mac and cheese!

If you’ve encountered this dish in a restaurant you’ve no doubt had it served alongside a big ass hunk of seared animal flesh since this stuff is usually found in steak houses and the like.

No descriptors necessary if you just read the name of the dish. Briny, succulent lobster tail meat served in a kickass batch of macaroni and cheese with a couple of high-end sharp cheeses.

How the fuck can that be bad?

Spoiler alert: It doesn’t suck!

Full disclosure before we begin, Brother TAJ did the hard work for this dish while I sat back and conducted, took the photos, offered encouragement and such while basically being the bartender.

Not a hard gig if you can get it.

And here we go.

recipe inspired by Food Network via Ina Garten

“Kosher salt

Vegetable oil

1 minced shallot

1 pound cavatappi or elbow macaroni

1 cup whole milk

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

12 ounces Gruyere (or Comte) cheese, grated (4 cups)

8 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar, grated (2 cups)

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 1/2 pounds cooked lobster meat

1/2 cup of seasoned panko bread crumbs,”

(Optional) Old Bay Seasoning to taste

We begin conveniently enough with fresh – or previously frozen lobster tails.

Poor little fucker. Should have let him grow up a bit more.

Of course we’re going to need some top-shelf high-ass quality cheeses for this thing.

That’s a wedge of Comte and a sharp white cheddar. Knowledge drop time! Comte is basically gruyere but Comte comes from the Comte region of France while gruyere comes from Switzerland. They are both alpine cheeses made from raw cows milk and are very specific as to what type of cow is used for the milk.

Still educational up in this here motherfucker!

If fact, I was so impressed with the Comte cheese that I decided to visit the French Pyrenees Alps this coming year to investigate alpine cheeses further. Also doesn’t hurt that this area of the planet is known for black truffles.

/wipes off drool

Sorry, got a little sticky right there.

Next be sure to score your ass a shallot.

Go ahead and give the shallot a mince and then give those cheeses a proper grating.

Let’s make a quick seafood stock to cook the lobster tails in. Oh yeah, the stock will be used to cook the macaroni too. Flavor drops at every stop on the highway.

The stock is basically water, reserved shrimp shells, some onion and garlic and that’s about it. Make it yours. Freelance it and shit.

Yes I do indeed save shrimp shells for just such an occasion and next time I make a seafood stock I’ll have a couple of lobster shells to toss in there. It’s the circle of stock life!

Get that pot of stock on the stove.

And get your tails a’simmerin’.

Look again at that photo up there of the uncooked lobster tails…

Now check this out.

This only took about 5 minutes. Just cook at a minuter per ounce of lobster and that should work for you.

If you haven’t fucked around much with cooked lobster we can walk you through a quick tutorial.

After the lobster has cooled, get some kitchen snips and place them at the back of the carapace.

Snip all the way across and grab the shell.

And remove the lobster meat.

Chunk it up into bite sized pieces.

Reserve that stock right here.

Now we make our roux and then grab the milk.

You know this part. Cook the roux, add in the milk, the salt, pepper and nutmeg, stir, thicken then in goes the cheese.

Add the lobster and prepare the “goo.”

Cook your macaroni in the seafood stock.

Toss 2 tablespoons of melted butter and some Old Bay into your Panko,  if you don’t have some sort of anti Old Bay vendetta that is.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Lube up a baking dish then add the mac and lobster filling.

Top with the seasoned panko.

Bake until golden brown and delicious. That would be about 30-35 minutes.

Serve with a protein of choice.

Hey. I had some pork chops in the freezer. Salt, pepper and a hot charcoal grill were then applied.

Plate up. Get some of that lobster mac and cheese with your protein and a side of your choice and there you go.

Fucking delicious! Grilled smoky, fatty pork and that fuckin’ mac and cheese, man. Creamy, succulent, cheesy gooey briny awesomeness. Fucking hell this is a delightful pairing. Serve yourself a glass of chilled white wine along side?

You’re straight up living a life of motherfucking luxury right here!

You know you want this.

Now do something about it.

There you go folks! Episode 1 of Season goddamn 11 is in the books. I sure didn’t see this shit coming back in 2015 when we started up this site.

I’m working on a new salutation this year. I’ll give the one time backstory on it.

See this shit?

That’s the “Peace” wall in Belfast Ireland that divides the Catholic West Belfast district from the protestant Shankhill district.

Guess you know a little bit more about my vacation last year now.

And that statement was written by me, your humble narrator right on the Peace wall.

Oddly enough only the protestant side of the peace wall is “tagged.” It’s nice and clean on the catholic side. Our driver who was catholic provided the markers to allow us to write on the wall if we wanted.

Since I sign off each episode of Sunday Gravy with the standard “Peace!” I thought I might try this variation for this season.

Love you good folks.

Good to be back.

See you next week.