Lobster Dinner

My last blog told you all about our shopping for crab, and buying lobsters instead.  This posting is all about fixing the lobsters.  We have cooked enough meals this week that we are figuring out what kitchen equipment Richard and Luis have.  Remember to click on the pictures to enlarge them.

                                                                          

I thought we had a huge seafood pot. This one is taller and twice as heavy as ours.   Marty has water starting to boil.  There is a rack inside so the lobster will not sit in the water.

When we got home Marty put them in the refrigerator to sedate them.  And a few minutes before steaming them, they went into the freezer.

Out of the bag, and soon into the pot.

One and one half pounds of goodness into the pot.  Three others joined him.

                                                                      

Plated and ready to have the band cut off the claw.

Lobster dinner for 4:  Lobster, tossed salad, toasted baguettes, clarified butter, lemons, and wine.  Well, one beer.

This is a close up of one place setting.  It was a simple meal and fairly healthy. 

This was so yummy and satisfying.  The lobster were not too large, so no feeling of being stuffed.  Lovely meal.  And really, lobster for $5.99?  Thank you lobsters for being for prolific this year.  May the low prices last a long time.  We do love lobster.

Today was almost like real life.

Today I got up early (sometimes the bed hog is not worth fighting).  I drank my juice and took my pills.  Then into the swimsuit, hat, sunglasses, and tee shirt.  I did water exercises for 50 minutes. Then I cleaned up and dressed. 

Marty said we would go to 99 Ranch for crab later.  There were other errands to run.  After lunch we took off.  First stop the La Mesa Library.  What a gorgeous library.  We both got our cards and I checked out the first two books for my Northern California book group.  I will SKYPE them and join them every Tuesday night.

Then we were off to 99 Ranch.  We stopped at the buffet line and had a little snack.  Driving that 10 miles made us a little peckish.  While eating a couple next to us started talking to us.  He was Caucasian, she was Asian.  She told us she was surprised to see a Caucasian couple in the store.  We were the only one there.  She wanted to know how we found the store.  We told her we shop all the time in Oakland at 99 Ranch, so seemed normal to find one in San Diego.  We talked a while, got up to head to the live seafood and ran into them again.  We talked some more. 

I almost wish we had exchanged names and addresses.  They were fun to talk to.  Back to the crab,  too expensive.  It was $13.98 a pound, about $7 more than we are used to.  We had forgotten it has to be shipped from Northern California and Washington down south.  We then looked at the lobster, only $5.99 a pound.  Lobster it will be.

Then we went to a Mediterranean store for bread and butter.  I went to CVS to replace my dead curling iron.  Nothing there like my old one.  So tomorrow will be an adventure fixing my hair.

Now Marty is getting ready to cook the lobster.  I need to go fix a salad to go with it.  Salad, bread and butter, lobster and butter.  Doesn’t sound healthy, but does sound good.

More on my birthday

Marty, Friend Paul, and I spent most of the day together.  Paul and Marty shared making the special day happen. We loved The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel!  It is not the chick flick that someone told me.  This is good story telling and great acting.  After the movie we went to 99 Ranch and bought lobsters.  These were not just any lobsters, these were huge. 

99 Ranch, the best Asian Market ever.  Maybe one of the best groceries in the Bay Area.  Low prices, huge variety of food.  The produce is to die for.

Lobster pot, close to 2 feet tall. 

Look at these monsters against the size of Marty’s hand.    Marty is getting ready to throw them into the pot.

He is fighting Marty, see his feelers and claws gripping the outside of the pot. 

Paul took this for me.  I am too short to see into the pot. The lid went down as soon as the camera clicked.

15 minutes later, ready to eat.  Look at how they fill up the plates.  Regular readers have seen a lot of food on these plates.  Nothing has filled them up like this.

The camera focused on the front and the back is a little fuzzy.  But I wanted you all to see our lovely monsters all ready for butter and lemon.

Me, the Birthday Girl.  None of us were able to finish our lobster.  Tonight, lobster salad. 

A lovely birthday, lots of phone calls, cards, Facebook messages, emails sent me good wishes and love. 

Born on this day, June 3

June 3 is a day of births from Kings to ordinary people. George V in 1865 and me in 19 ?? . . . Birthdays are a big deal in my family.  You don't have to make the bed.  You can sleep in.  You are spoiled all day.  Yesterday was great. Phone calls started before I woke up, and are still coming in.  Friends in Texas woke us up this morning.  My wall on Facebook was full of good wishes. Snail mail brought lots of cards. Wonderful Marty brought me a Philly Cheese Steak sandwich for lunch.  And then he prepared an incredible dinner.

Lobster, corn on the cob,  (I cooked the next one) artichokes with curry mayonnaise, lemons from our tree, and gallons of clarified butter.  If you are a fan of PETA or you don't want to know where your protein comes from,  you might want to skip the rest of this blog. 

 The lobsters were huge.  One was 2 pounds, the other 2 1/2 pounds. The one Marty is about to grab was trying for an escape. 

 In the pot to be steamed.  You can see one is trying to get out.  Marty put the lid on and about 10 seconds later the lobster kicked it off.  The lid was held on for a few crucial seconds.

 The Birthday Girl watching dinner being prepared.  A nice show it was.

 The white on one claw is the lobster "blood" that has cooked and leaked out.  It looks like un lumpy cottage cheese.  Before it is cooked it looks like egg whites.  It is edible and high in vitamins and minerals.  I don't eat much of it, but Marty uses it like butter.

 Empty bowl for shells and artichoke leaves.  Almost ready to sit down and eat.  A couple of things are missing.                                                                  

Below is a picture of the completed meal.  The first bowl of melted butter,  and the wine.  Now we are ready to eat.    Grab your claw crackers and begin.                                                                                                  

 In case you didn't catch the wine label.  Flowers is one of our favorite wineries.  The artichoke is huge, bigger than a saucer.

After the meal. The bowl is full of shell, napkins, lemon rinds, and artichoke leaves.  I had just taken my last bite.  We had gone through about 4 napkins each. Lobster juice is everywhere. The place mats are toast.  My glasses are splattered with lobster juice, and I had dripped butter down my front. Marty had lobster on his cheek.  I love meals that make you work for the taste of goodness.

Thank you Marty for a luscious excellent meal.  What's for supper tonight???

SATURDAY NIGHT DINNER

Marty cooked tonight. That always means butter is involved.

Tonight: polenta with butter and cheese; lobster with clarified butter and lemon; grilled scallops cooked in butter, clarified butter, lemon, and aioli sauce; baby baguettes with Irish butter. And a wonderful Mondavi Flume Blanc.

No salad, no green vegetable. Nothing healthy. But boy did it taste wonderful!

And you wondered why I am a junior plenty.

Tomorrow we test a recipe. That will be my Valentine post. Yes, I will be marrying couples most of the day Sunday.

Stay tuned.

JULIE AND JULIA

We finally saw Julie & Julia today. For non movie people, it is the true story of a young woman, Julie, cooking her way through one of Julia Child's cookbook. Julie blogged each day about the recipes and cooking. If you don't know who Julia Child is, don't tell me.

The movie is very well done. The cooking is a huge part of it, but it is also two love stories. The acting is great and the photography of the food is incredible. We both really enjoyed it. And we were starving when we came out.

So much food, so much technique, I could smell the food. But one scene stands out for me: The lobster.

Julie and her husband buy lobsters and take them home. In the car you can hear the scratching of the lobsters in the bag. Then she has to cook them. Should she kill them and then cook them, should she throw them live into the pot? She puts them live in the pot, pushing legs and claws back in. The lid goes on, and she stands back proud of herself, she is cooking a live crustacean. AND then the lid goes flying off! People that was not poetic license.

Once upon a time we bought lobsters for Marty, me, son Erik and his then girlfriend now wife Jennifer. One of the lobsters had lost the band on his claw and took a hunk out of the fishmonger when it was pulled from the tank. When home, Marty put the lobsters in the sink while the water heated up. He then grabbed the bandless lobster and it grabbed back. Marty threw the lobster across the room, Marty is bleeding like a stuck pig.

The lobster starts chasing Jennifer, who is barefoot. She is yelling and jumps up on a chair. I am doing first aid on Marty. Erik puts on leather cooking gloves and grabs the lobster and puts him in the pot. Erik then put the other one in the pot and slammed the lid down. He let go of the lid AND the lid went flying off with the lobsters crawling out. Erik still in the gloves pushes the lobsters back in, puts the lid on, and leaned on the pot.

That lobster was delicious. Oh, and Marty did not need stitches.