A "Sweet" Question!

Welcome to the Red Lobster Chefs Blog, Chef Michael LaDuke here. Recently a guest (Larry) wrote and asked if the Maple Cherry Glaze recipe from our website was a suitable glaze for pork. Larry and his wife frequent their local Red Lobster and are always trying new things and then trying them at home, so he wondered what other uses there might be for this glaze.

There are really two parts to my answer. One, is that this glaze is great on a number of different seafood items. Obviously a great match for fresh salmon, as well as shrimp, but this also works well on items like seared scallops, or a great piece of oven-roasted grouper or halibut.

If you are able to grill, this sauce works great on some great grilled mahi or snapper. Any fish that has a nice hearty flavor and holds up well to the oven or grill will work great. I would stay away from thin fillets or fish like tilapia, as the sauce could overpower the great flavor of the fresh seafood.

The second part of the answer, is yes the sauce works great on a number of different proteins, pork loin and ham would be my personal choices, and during this time of the year if you are not eating seafood (and I don't know why you aren't!!) this is a great glaze for roasted meats.

I'll also let you in on a secret from our Red Lobster Culinary Center. As you know we have a great team of chefs here working daily to develop all the great new items you see at Red Lobster, and Maple Cherry Glaze was one of those items. So, during the development of the glaze in our kitchens, what was our favorite use? It was an ice cream topping! This glaze has such a well balanced sweet flavor that it is a perfect compliment to your dessert table. Either on ice cream or on a great piece of cheesecake.

Speaking of desserts, last week we introduced three new items to our dessert menu, N.Y. Style Cheesecake, Warm Apple Crumble with Ice Cream, and my favorite, the Chocolate Chip Lava Cookie, a warm center chocolate chip cake topped with vanilla ice cream, it is quickly becoming the favorite dessert of everyone!

Thanks for visiting the Chefs blog, and during this busy holiday season, take some time to stop by, relax, enjoy some great seafood, and see what's fresh today at Red Lobster.