Mix 'n' Match

You were expecting chili, weren't you? Frankly, so was I.

I had made a big pot of chili, cooking it low and slow in my crock pot for two days straight, attracting all the neighborhood dogs with the wonderful smells wafting out my front door. Just when it was ready to serve, My Beloved called from the road to suggest I put it on hold, as he was bringing home dinner.

I have learned over years with him that it's best to go with the flow. Man, was I ever rewarded for my flexibility this time! He brought naked lobster rolls from the Old Port Lobster Shack. Be still my heart!

The reason they are called "naked" is that there is no dressing on the lobster - it's just fresh cold chunks of lobster overstuffed in all its deliciosity into the rolls. They do provide some drawn butter to pour over, just in case you need a little added richness, but it is not at all necessary.

We reheated the rolls, which were already toasted on their grill, in a warm oven and I made a green salad to go alongside, then served up their crinkled chips and creamy cole slaw with the brimming buns. A sort of mix 'n' match of Old Port's efforts and my own.

Needless to say, the chili will keep.

Bonus

As we were leaving the Lobster Shack, I had a brilliant idea. Do they sell lobster meat for use at home? And do they sell the excess shells?

Yes to the first question; no to the second - they use their shells to make their bisque. They do sell the picked meat, however, so I snagged half a pound of this luscious stuff and brought it home for another killer lobster meal. I like to think of it as saving energy since it means we don't have to drive back down there so soon. Yeah, right.

Anyway, we were in the mood for a salad rather than a pasta dish (wishing for spring, I think), so I set about to recreate a version of a salad that Chief Banks used to make for us back when we lived in the admiral's quarters in Pearl Harbor. When Dad retired from there, we seriously considered staging a coup and refusing to leave - the quarters were the best we'd ever had and we had loved our time in that duty station.

Chief Banks' salad was a cold curried rice salad with chunks of lobster, fresh pineapple, celery and black olives, which he served in the shell of a quartered pineapple with the spray of leaves still attached. Glorious. In Hawaii, where it's always warm, it was simply perfect, both beautiful and addictively delicious.

I actually had a fresh pineapple on hand - while I try to eat locally, every now and then something from far away calls to me, and it's often something from Hawaii. I lived there too long not to love the occasional reminder of those halcyon days. I wasn't in the mood for rice - just wanted to use the Boston lettuce in the fridge - and I was a little concerned that those flavors might overwhelm our delicate lobster, so I mixed up the confetti of ingredients in a separate bowl and called My Beloved from his football game to try it before dousing the lobster with the rest of the salad makings. He loved the mixture of tastes but agreed that it might be too much to mix in with the lobster, so I strained out the sauce that resulted from all those ingredients and mixed the lobster with that, sprinkling the chunky leftovers around the outside of the lettuce leaves to enjoy separately from the meat.

If I do say so myself, it was killer. The light, lemony curry sauce enhanced the rich meat and the hint of heat from the hot sauce we added was a piquant reminder that spicy can be good. Chief Banks would be proud.

Lobster Salad

Four butter lettuce leaves, rinsed and dried
1/2 pound fresh lobster meat
1 Tbs mayonnaise (da kine blue lid)
2 Tbs kefir
juice of 1/2 tart lemon
5 drops of jalapeño hot sauce, or to taste (Chilebrown, you listening?)
1 tsp curry powder
1/4 cup minced fresh pineapple
3 Tbs minced or sliced ripe olives (not the Euro kind for this - they are too strong)
3 Tbs minced celery
2 Tbs finely sliced green onion
1 Tbs minced red onion

Mix everything but the lettuce and the lobster together in a bowl, thinning the mayo and kefir with the lemon juice and adding the hot sauce drop by drop until it reaches the desired firepower, then adding the rest. When all are mixed, strain off the resulting "dressing" and mix that with the lobster. Distribute the dressed lobster over the lettuce leaves and sprinkle the leftover "foodfetti" around the mound of lobster meat. Dive in.

Returning To Port

We don't really need an excuse to drive down to Redwood City, where our gustatorial Mecca is located. Behind a defunct Baker's Square and sandwiched in next to a nail salon, the Old Port Lobster Shack exists in humble surroundings for such a rich eating experience.

We've eaten there before and it is always wonderful. This time, we met new friends Laura and Doug there to laugh and chat our way through lobster rolls and my latest addiction from there, lobster bisque.

We love the ambiance of the Lobster Shack, very casual and homey. Picnic tables are covered with red checked cloths and supplied with galvanized buckets containing plenty of Westminster oyster crackers (the best!). The specials are chalked on a blackboard and you order at the counter before taking a seat. We sat next to the lobster tank this time and I suppose I should have felt sorry for the captive denizens, but all I could think about was how good the poor dears were going to taste.

Served in a huge mug (this is the Lobster Shack's idea of a "cup" of soup), the lobster bisque was simply Out Of This World. The soup base was as tasty and full of lobster flavor as the nice chunks of lobster held suspended in its creamy, pale orange depths. All four of us tasted it and all four rolled our eyes in appreciation. From the first sip to the last scraping of the bottom of the cup, it sang of the sea.

One of my life's greatest pleasures is finding other couples with whom we have lots in common and with whom we have a marvelous time. This lunch was one of those. We laughed a lot, we recounted fun stories, we shared pictures of our obviously spoiled dogs - kindred spirits! We don't need any reason other than the food to sail back to the Old Port but these new buddies add to the incentive.