Barilla Italian Cooking Weekend Recipes: Lobster Bread Salad

Be ready, as we have a hot series of recipes from the Chicago Botanic Garden Chef Show to share with you this week.

Let’s welcome Chef Mark Grimes, Executive Chef at Pinstripes, an intriguing venue located in Northbrook, IL. Basically Pinstripes is an indoor bocce ball destination with bowling lanes and a top gourmet restaurant. Check out their website at www.pinstripes.com and also this restaurant review we found online.

Chef Mark Grimes is a celebrity Chef, with 25 years of culinary pedigree and Corporate Chef positions at RDGChicago/Restaurants America, Fox Sports Grill, ESPN Zone/Disney, and previous experience at The Windsor Court Hotel and The American Club resorts, among others. Here below Chef Grimes is pictured during his Barilla Italian Cooking Weekend cooking demo.

Today we will share with you a gourmet recipe by Chef Mark Grimes, Lobster Bread Salad, a dish he prepared at the Botanic Garden Chef show (sorry we don’t have a good picture of the final dish, but we got you a nice picture of lobsters!).

LOBSTER BREAD SALAD
A recipe by Chef Mark Grimes
(serves 4)

INGREDIENTS FOR WHITE BALSAMIC DRESSING

- 1 oz shallots, chopped
- 1 cup white balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
- 3 cups Academia Barilla Riviera Ligure extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard
- Salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

BALSAMIC DRESSING PREPARATION

Mix with hand blender the vinegar, mustard, shallots and honey, add an ice cube and slowly drizzle olive oil in to create an emulsion. Season with salt and pepper.

INGREDIENTS FOR BREAD SALAD MIXTURE

- 1 loaf of your favorite bread (brioche, sesame semolina), cut into 1 inch cubes
- 4 cups heirloom tomatoes, chopped
- 2 cups fresh corn
- 1 cup of homemade pickles, chopped
- 1 pound of cooked lobster or shrimp, chopped
- 2 cups of white balsamic dressing
- 1 oz roasted garlic, chopped
- 2 oz caper berries, chopped
- Academia Barilla Riviera Ligure extra virgin olive oil, to taste
- Academia Barilla Balsamic Must, to taste
- Salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

BREAD SALAD MIXTURE PREPARATION

Mix all ingredients well and serve immediately as a salad or place on plastic wrap and mold into a roulade and let it sit 24 hours for Hor D’Oeuvres and then slice into rounds.

FINAL PREPARATION: ASSEMBLE

Take bread salad rounds and place on small plate or platter and garnish with crispy Academia Barilla Riviera Ligure extra virgin olive, Academia Barilla Balsamic Must and micro arugula.

Thank you Chef Mark Grimes and Pinstripes for sharing with us this recipe - you Italian foodies stay tuned, more gourmet recipes to come in the next days!