Eating In


It is a beautiful, cold winter Sunday and Joe and I take our usual trip to Whole Foods. This is a tradition for us, one that we cherish every other weekend when we are kid-free.


We started the day at Tony's Donuts where we had a long, leisurely visit with my parents over coffee and, yes, donuts.  What a fun place.  Everyone in there is a regular.  The coffee is mediocre.  The donuts are terrific. My mother knew every other person who came in, and she had a smidgen of history attached to each one.  That person walking in is so-and-so's  brother.  That woman over there used to work at Porteous, back when they had a coat check, "can you believe a department store having a coat check?" my mother said.  My dad told us some interesting things, things that make me feel like I spent an extra semester at a really good school, in only an hour. The activity and murmur of voices at Tony's makes everything seem festive. And the faint smell of sugar and cinnamon makes it feel like home.


We went to the Home Show and then on to the Portland Museum of Art. What does all this have to do with food? Oh yes, after viewing the photographs at the museum, we went downstairs and had a late lunch at the cafe, where all the food is prepared by Aurora Provisions.  I had a delicious black bean and chicken soup (kinda spicy) and Joe had a sandwich with chicken and Gouda.  It was all very delicious and the atmosphere is so cheerful and lively in that cafe.  The chicken in my soup was shredded, complimenting the mild flavor of the beans and absorbing the spicy broth. Very satisfying. It also felt very clean and healthy and pure. Yum!


OK, back to Whole Foods, or, rather on to Whole Foods....


We regard Whole Foods as our playground. Our love-shack.  Our love-connection.  Our aphrodisiac. We love food (you don't say!) and not just the final product that we review when we eat out.  We also love the discussion, the hunt, the gathering, the selecting.  We love choosing the items and creating the meal as we go along, not quite knowing what we will end up with.                                             

No list.


We rarely have a list.  Sometimes we will get so enthused about an idea, that I will dig around in my purse en route to the store and find a scrap of something on which to write an idea, or an item we might otherwise forget.  Once inside, we wait for the inspiration to hit us which doesn't take long.  It all starts when we arrive at the entrance; those big huge doors opening with a swish.  I am not quite sure, but I do believe we have knelt down and kissed the ground at one time or another. We get a wagon, into which we shed our coats, and look at each other as if to say, "Honey, I'm home."  Starting in produce, we always buy berries no matter what.  That's usually our dessert and part of breakfast the next morning.  Then we look at the vast array of colors, shapes, textures and displays. How do they get that perfect triangle of tangerines, and how come it never comes toppling down?  The scents are magnificent and mild. You have to really breath in deeply to get the whiff of that earthy, sweet smell.  We decided at some point that we would base our dinner on shellfish.   I am not sure when that happened.  Joe isn't big on fish, so I rarely suggest it.  But he does love shellfish. Lobster meat is usually pricey, so we decided to get one lobster cooked, so I could take out all the meat at home. I don't mind.  In fact I kind of like it because it makes me feel like I had more of a hand in the final product. We also got 6 enormous scallops and a pound of shrimp (not peeled....a mistake you'll find out shortly).  We only had scallions and berries in our basket and nothing else at this point.  We moved ahead to do more shopping while our lobster cooked.


Sometimes we happen upon a wine tasting, and that is just frosting on the cake, as they say. No such luck today. But of course we found ourselves in the wine department, and I (as usual) told Joe I thought we probably had enough wine at home.  And Joe (as usual) said, "Ya but..."  And (as usual) we walked away with a couple of bottles in the basket.  I pretend to be annoyed, the eye-roll and all, but I'm really not.  Sssshhhh.


Onward to the cheeses. We bought, oh I don't know, ask Joe. Something Norwegian and stoic, another one English and smoked, something Greek and creamy one French and sexy (with an attitude).  We found one goat cheese that was so gorgeous with edible flowers embedded in it.  Good thing Joe gets his cholesterol checked next week.


Ah, we're home. I poured a glass of wine and began my adventure of picking apart the lobster.


Large Dutch oven or large, deep skillet
1 lb.Shrimp, 6 huge scallops halved, 1 lobster.  
Scallions (white ends chopped small, greens cut into thirds) chopped garlic
Blood orange (sliced, no rind, no seeds)
Blood orange infused olive oil.
Local honey (from the Honey Exchange, Stevens Ave., Portland).  

Units of measure: Drizzle, pour, shake, eyeball it.

Put on the water to boil for the pasta. Cook as you normally would.

Saute the scallion whites and garlic in the oil and salt until soft on med-high heat.  Push to the side of the pan when done and place the scallops in the center. Turn heat up to high.  Sear until brown on any two sides (since they’re halved, you will have 3 flat sides that can be seared.) Once they are browned, about 1-2 minutes later, remove them onto a plate and set aside. 

One good way to ruin a scallop is by over cooking it. After removing from the heat, they will continue to cook a little and will be returned to the heat later. So don’t worry about undercooking!

The scallops and lobster are all cooked at this point, so they won’t be added back in until the very end just to heat up and gather up the flavor of what else has been cooking.

Turn the heat down to medium.  Add all the shrimp.  If you bought shell-on, you will want to peel them before cooking which I did not do. You can also buy them already peeled of course. Add about a half cup of OJ, or more, to cover the shrimp, scallions and garlic. Drizzle on the honey, about two huge tablespoons full.  Add in the scallion greens and orange slices.  Cover. It will start to boil and then you can turn it down to low.  The shrimp will cook quickly and you don’t want to overcook them.  When they are pink, they are done.

Turn the heat off, but keep the pan on the burner.  Add in the cooked scallops and lobster and toss it all together. Add pepper. Cover one minute, heat off, but still on the burner.

Serve over pasta with plenty of the juices.

This is where I messed up with the shrimp.  Since there was so much sauce and other ingredients, it was a bit messy and annoying to have to peel the shrimp.  This, incidentally was where I learned something about Joe.  He peeled all the shrimp before eating where I peeled one and ate a bite, peeled another and ate a bit etc....He was patient and organized and I was just too eager to taste the meal even with the burden of peeling the shrimp in between bites.  What does that tell me about either one of us?  Actually nothing very important.

Sit down with your favorite wine (it does not have to be white just because it is seafood) and taste how brilliantly all these flavors come together.  Fruit, like orange, mango and pineapple, is a great way to cook fish and chicken. Cranberries, apples, and pears are my favorites to use with pork and beef.

Enjoy!