Got to spend some quality time with mom today. Between my schedule, my BF’s, and hers, I haven’t seen much of either of them the last few weeks.
The day began with a small brunch: Trader Joe’s “Everything but the Bagel” seasoned smoked salmon, deliciously sweet heirloom tomato, red onion, and cream cheese on a sesame bagel.
We then went for a walk on the beach, which we got in just in time before sunny and 65 became cloudy, rainy, and 50. Her request for dinner was pizza. That seems to be the special occasion request in this house lately. So we got takeout from our favorite pizzeria, about 90 minutes round-trip with the traffic today. No pics. I still wanted to cook something though, and so I made Scungili Marinara, which is one of her favorites. I last made it on her birthday in January.
To drink, I tried something new that I spotted in the liquor store: canned Tanqueray gin and tonic. It was actually very good. Bitter and refreshing. There was actually no hint of sweetness at all, like most tonics are. The small amount of calories and carbs and no added sugar made this seem more like a gin and soda (with quinine) and I enjoyed it very much for that reason. This is going to be a real game-changer in the summer when at gatherings. I’m not a beer guy at all, and the various hard seltzers are just “okay” by me. This was quality. Only downside was the price of $12.99 for a 4-pack . Highly recommended (I ended up pouring it in a glass of ice with lime). Bombay Sapphire recently came out with one as well which I will have to try and compare.
Next up is asparagus risotto with a nasturtium flower garnish for a delicate yet peppery bite. The asparagus and the edible nasturtiums—new to me—were part of our spring CSA share.
DH and the kiddo also pulled together a beautiful brunch and took me out for wine and small plates. It was a super thoughtful day and I feel very lucky! After the hell of quarantine it was nice to be spoiled a bit.
We also brought dinner to my newly separated friend whose kids wouldn’t be home til late - ricotta rigatoni from the freezer with toasted almonds and butter for browning, herbed seared ribeye, green salad with fig-cider vinaigrette, some of those pastries with fruit salad for dessert, and a mini bottle of pink bubbly.
I prepared the lobster pasta in the simplest way possible. Yes, shortcuts.
I spotted a package of cooked lobster at my supermarket the previous day. Good excuse to break out a special package of egg tagliatelle (Marco Giacosa) I’d been saving for a nice dinner sometime.
I had the remainder of a packet of saffron threads that was past peak, so while the pasta water heated I steeped the saffron in about 1/3 cup of white wine to release flavor and aroma. Alcohol is more effective at extraction than hot water, I find.
Pan sauce started with olive oil and butter. Once the butter melted, I briefly sautéed halved cherry tomatoes. The next addition was the saffron in wine, which was handy to deglaze the pan. In went the cooked pasta and 1 cup of the reserved pasta cooking water. Reduced the liquid until the pasta was saucy to my liking.
Lobster torn into chunks (which had been warming to room temperature-ish on the counter) went in last so its meat wouldn’t toughen up from being on the heat.
Off heat, fresh snipped chives and more butter went into the pan to finish.
I went light on butter and oil because the pasta and the lobster were rich enough. But a more generous amount of butter and/or a splash of cream wouldn’t have hurt either.
Poor thing! Similar happened to me a couple of years ago on vacation. I think it was sunscreen - I’d applied it to my face, then done a little snorkeling. Got out, sat on the beach a bit with sunglasses, reading. But then I felt my face swelling and my eyes were getting slantier. Finally, I asked my H to look at me w/o the shades, and he was like - oh - your face is all swelled up. It got progressively worse before better. About 3 days worth of not wanting to go out in public because I was so self conscious. Also no pain, other than the discomfort of having all that swelling in your face and shutting your eyes etc. I don’t recall what we did for it, other than phone the hotel’s on call doctor. She may’ve said advil or something equally innocuous.
First day back in the office post-vaccine. UUUUUUUUUGH doesn’t even begin to describe it. Anyway, I wanted something quick and simple for dinner so stirfry to the rescue. Crispy tofu chunks, chicken thighs, lots of garlic and ginger, broccoli and peanuts, tossed with a bit of Sriracha, sambarl oelek, soy sauce and hoisin.
BF & I collaborated on dinner - he made Korean pancake with slivered chive buds i got from the Asian grocery store, and rice with a stir-fry of chinese sausage,shrooms and other veggies. I made crispy fried tofu, dressed with soy, maggi, sesame oil, and topped with chive buds, chili crisp, and furikake.
. Highly recommended (I ended up pouring it in a glass of ice with lime). Bombay Sapphire recently came out with one as well which I will have to try and compare.
