Vicki and I spent New Year’s Eve with our good friends Tom and Joyce. We wanted to do something simple, so Joyce suggested lobsters―Raley’s was having a sale on the Maine imports ($9.99 lb.) and they had purchased a couple on Friday afternoon. I stopped at Raley’s that evening but they were all sold out, or at least couldn’t be found. I called the next morning and was told that they were gone from all Reno Raley’s stores because there had been some question regarding the origin of the lobsters―only a small number had been ordered. Mr. Thrifty was disappointed, but went to Albertson’s and found them for $12.99 lb. These were BIG BOYS, almost three lbs. each! I swallowed hard and ordered two, watching as they were fished out of the tank by an apprehensive clerk; sure he was going to be shredded by these denizens of the deep.
I decided to prepare the briny boys using a recipe my friend Dan had found in the food/wine section of the SF Chronicle. It consists of par-boiling the lobsters for a few minutes, cooling them to room temperature, then coating them with seasoned butter and finishing them in a 400 degree oven. No problem, right? I dumped the lobsters in my sink and discovered I didn’t have a pot nearly big enough to accommodate even one of them. Out to the car, race to Marshall’s to find a big pot− no luck− so I dash across Plumb Lane to Gottschalk’s where an 11 qt. stockpot is found for $40 bucks. No problem for Mr. Moneybags. It rings up as a sale item for $16.00, I coulda kissed the young sales clerk, but resisted, fearing she’d have me arrested.
Back home, the lobsters are thrashing around in the sink. I quickly dismissed the idea of clubbing them to death, so boiled water, added salt and plopped one in. Fifteen minutes later I had two red boys in post-mortem, cooling down.
The remainder of the cooking went quite well. The lobsters were fabulous, accompanied by Vicki's wonderful Caesar salad and an outstanding bottle of Chateau Woltner Russian River Chardonnay. We finished up with a croissant bread pudding, a recipe I got from the Barefoot Contessa, Ina Gartin; well, not from her personally, but her tv show. This dessert is not for dieters, as it contains three whole eggs, eight yolks, 1 1/2 cups of sugar and six buttery croissants. But it was loved by all and Vicki had some for her New Year’s Day breakfast as we watched the Rose Parade.
Here are links to the recipes I used:
Roast Lobster – SF Chronicle
Croissant Bread Pudding – Ina Garten
I decided to prepare the briny boys using a recipe my friend Dan had found in the food/wine section of the SF Chronicle. It consists of par-boiling the lobsters for a few minutes, cooling them to room temperature, then coating them with seasoned butter and finishing them in a 400 degree oven. No problem, right? I dumped the lobsters in my sink and discovered I didn’t have a pot nearly big enough to accommodate even one of them. Out to the car, race to Marshall’s to find a big pot− no luck− so I dash across Plumb Lane to Gottschalk’s where an 11 qt. stockpot is found for $40 bucks. No problem for Mr. Moneybags. It rings up as a sale item for $16.00, I coulda kissed the young sales clerk, but resisted, fearing she’d have me arrested.
Back home, the lobsters are thrashing around in the sink. I quickly dismissed the idea of clubbing them to death, so boiled water, added salt and plopped one in. Fifteen minutes later I had two red boys in post-mortem, cooling down.
The remainder of the cooking went quite well. The lobsters were fabulous, accompanied by Vicki's wonderful Caesar salad and an outstanding bottle of Chateau Woltner Russian River Chardonnay. We finished up with a croissant bread pudding, a recipe I got from the Barefoot Contessa, Ina Gartin; well, not from her personally, but her tv show. This dessert is not for dieters, as it contains three whole eggs, eight yolks, 1 1/2 cups of sugar and six buttery croissants. But it was loved by all and Vicki had some for her New Year’s Day breakfast as we watched the Rose Parade.
Here are links to the recipes I used:
Roast Lobster – SF Chronicle
Croissant Bread Pudding – Ina Garten
1 comment:
I received a very apologetic phone call yesterday from the manager of the Raley's food story on Keystone. He said that more than a third of the Maine lobsters the Reno stores had ordered died on their way here from the Bay Area. No reasons why, perhaps they didn't like the altitude in the Sierra.
It's great to get this kind of follow-up. Makes the consumer feel like he/she has a voice. I should add that they are sending me a $20 gift card for my trouble -- I think I'll start sending them a complaint once a week.
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