Sherried Lobster with Penne

It's not often that I get a gift of lobster, but last Chanukah that's what my sister gave me--specifically two well-wrapped frozen lobster tails. I put them in my freezer and, I'm embarrassed to say, kind of forgot about them. Whenever I had to move the package to get something else I would make a mental note to take them out soon and figure out a way to enjoy them, but days turned into weeks, then months.

But then, finally, I did just that. I let them defrost in the refrigerator overnight, then unwrapped them. To say there were well preserved is an understatement. It must have taken an engineering degree to get them this well protected and I wish I'd had that same degree to extricate them. Finally, I got the wrapping removed and there were these two gorgeous red-and-black lobster tails. I'm going to guess that each was about half a pound.

I already had some ideas of what to do with them. The weather was hot so I wasn't keen on turning on the broiler. Boiling? Nah. So, I thought I'd remove the meat from the shell, chop it into large chunks, then saute it all in olive oil, minced garlic, sherry, and a knob of butter for flavor at the end. Then I'd toss the meat with this sauce with whole wheat penne.

I found, though, that the lobster meat had ideas of its own. Namely that it didn't want to separate from the shell. While I was searching around for some kind of tip to accomplish this, the lobster sat on the counter for perhaps five minutes. I couldn't find anything useful so went back to the tails to try again. And, surprisingly, this time they easily yielded. So, my guess is that when you try this in your kitchen let the lobster rest at room temperature for about five minutes before removing the meat from the shell. And, don't toss the shells. Put them in a freezer bag and add other shells like those from shrimp and store in the freezer to make a seafood broth later.

After that, it was all pretty easy. First, put the water for the pasta to boil and when ready, add the pasta. Then turn to cooking the lobster. Saute the garlic in oil until it's fragrant. Then add the lobster pieces. After a couple of minutes add enough sherry to make a sauce. Let the lobster cook in the liquid until it's just cooked through. Add the butter and stir well. You can also add red pepper flakes and/or herbs and spices to make it your own--but not so much that you overpower the lobster. By this time the pasta should be cooked through. Drain and add it to the lobster and sauce. Mix well, then divide into a couple of bowls.

I also added some chopped cherry peppers to the dish. You could add chopped sugar snap peas or other vegetables. The big chunks of lobster were sweet and decadent, elevated by the luxuriousness of butter and sherry and the fragrant garlic. The penne sopped up the rich sauce. Be sure to have a hank of sourdough bread so you don't leave a drop.

Sherried Lobster with Penne
(printable recipe)
Serves 2

2 meaty lobster tails (about 8 ounces each), removed from the shell and chopped into bite-size pieces
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 large cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1/3 to 1/2 cup sherry
1 tablespoon butter
salt to taste
red pepper flakes (optional)
4 ounces whole wheat penne

Fill a large pot with cold water and bring to a boil. Add the penne and a tablespoon or so of salt. Cook per directions.

While the penne is cooking, heat oil in a saute pan. Add garlic and saute until fragrant--about a minute. Add the lobster and after a couple of minutes add the sherry and red pepper flakes and any vegetables. Reduce the temperature to low, add the butter and stir well. Add salt to taste.

When the penne is finished cooking, drain and add the pasta to the lobster and sauce. Stir well and plate.

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Riding the Waves with Catalina Offshore Products

File this under adventures in food shopping -- because at Catalina Offshore Products you won't find beautiful counter displays of seafood; aisles of seafood-compatible condiments, crackers and seasonings; or bottles of wine to complement your planned meal. It's a 16,000-square-foot warehouse on a small street alongside railroad tracks near Morena Blvd. and the 8 freeway.


What will you find, once you go through the doors leading from the business's busy office into the large chilly warehouse? A practical, price-conscious seafood lover's idea of nirvana. Catalina Offshore Products is a wholesaler to restaurants, caterers and other businesses around the country, even around the world. They've been around for more than 25 years, beginning when founder Dave Rudie, a professional sea urchin (uni) diver, and his wife Kathy started processing the uni and seaweed he caught. The business has since expanded to include fresh seafood caught in the waters of San Diego and Baja California, as well as frozen seafood (primarily for sushi restaurants) from Japan and elsewhere around the world. The emphasis is on sustainable fishing and providing the highest possible quality and freshness.

When I visited this week, I was met by Tommy Gomes, who handles sales, buying and public relations for the company. He's been there for ages and is a member of a family that came to San Diego from Portugal in 1892 and has been fishing in San Diego since that time. He lives, of course, in Pt. Loma (a Pt. Loma High School grad). Tommy's a wealth of information and a great guy who welcomes individual walk-in customers so long as they understand that:

• there may be a wait before he can help you
• there may be forklifts traveling around the warehouse floor that you need to keep away from
• there may be lot of activity in terms of trimming fish, cleaning sea urchin, cleaning the premises, packing boxes
• it's a working processing plant so there may be blood and other goopy things
• most of what is sold is fresh catch so you have to be flexible with your order and willing to take what's in stock at the moment (get to know Tommy and you can call in with your order and just pick it up)
  
• and that Tommy prefers to work with folks who are nice, courteous and patient

The benefit to being that perfect customer? You'll get ridiculously fresh, delicious seafood at even more ridiculously low prices compared to places like Whole Foods (whom they sell to) and Pt. Loma Seafood. And, you'll be in good company. Local police and firefighters are big shoppers here. Active military in uniform are positively drooled over. And regular folks are embraced as treasured customers.

Two weeks or so away from the commencement of lobster season, the warehouse was prepping for the arrival of the crustaceans, with men busily organizing styrofoam boxes and hay-like packing material. It was relatively calm so Tommy gave me the tour, showing me enormous refrigeration rooms behind stainless steel barn-size doors. In one, were several whole yellowtail from Mexico, a shark and a salmon from Nova Scotia.




There was a magnificent bluefin tuna as well and that was claimed within moments by Russell Hawkins, chef at the Escondido restaurant Tango. The fish was taken to a large cutting table and quickly trimmed to its essence for the young chef.


Another refrigeration room was filled with 20,000 salmon heads -- soon to total 140,00 -- for lobster fisherman in anticipation of the season opening.

Just outside the refrigeration rooms were deep chest freezers. These were primarily holding imported specialty seafood from Japan for sushi restaurants -- sushi-grade salmon, monkfish liver, masago, farm-raised hamashi. Another chest held frozen Croatian toro, a bluefin tuna from the Atlantic prized for its combination of color and high fat content (usually you get only one or the other).

In a nearby room were large long tanks, one filled with colorful abalone.


One of the most fascinating areas in the warehouse was where the uni was being processed. I had missed the early morning cleaning of the sea urchin, but Tommy showed me white pails filled with what he calls "uni goop." Once a source of irritation because it clogged the drains as it was being thrown out, Tommy decided to start selling it as chum for sport fishermen.


The area was now spotless so Tommy took me into a little room where mostly women were seated at several tables for two. In front of them were piles of uni of various shapes, colors and sizes. The women were weighing and sorting the uni into more uniform piles, the best of which -- the largest and most deeply colored and with the best texture and firmness -- would go to sushi restaurant customers. They were packed in delicate little wooden trays for shipping.


Of course, I was looking for seafood for myself, specifically ingredients for an easy cioppino I was planning. Tommy brought over several cooked and frozen crab claws.

Next, he pulled together a bag of hand-picked diver scallops from Mexico and a handful of magnificently plump wild Mexican white shrimp.


Finally, he brought me a grouper fillet.

The cioppino was marvelous. A few weeks ago I had needed to use up various vegetables before traveling to San Francisco, so I roasted heirloom tomatoes, summer squash, garlic and onions with lots of olive oil until they were cooked through and caramelized. I put all that in a saucepan in which I had sauteed more onion and garlic and then added a can of plum tomatoes, salt, pepper, hot pepper flakes and, at the very end, chopped herbs from my garden. Then I took a stick blender to the mixture and pulsed it until it was just slightly chunky. I had a helping that night with pasta and stored the rest in two small containers that went into the freezer. That's what I pulled out for dinner, heating the sauce up in a large Le Creuset pot, adding another chopped tomato and a couple of slices of lemon. That's it. Once that heated, I started adding the seafood, beginning with the crab claws and one-inch pieces of grouper. After a few minutes of letting it simmer, covered, I then added the shrimp and scallops, also toasting a sour dough roll (for dunking, of course). It took very little time and actually was one of the best versions of it I've made.


If cioppino's not your thing and you're curious about the grouper, a firm, white-meat fish, I have a recipe for you from Catalina Offshore Products. Tommy pulls together a lot of recipes for seafood that you can find on a wall in the main office.

Baked Grouper with Wild Mushrooms

8 tbl. extra virgin olive oil, divided in half
1/2 lb. chanterelle mushrooms cut in 1/4" slices
1/2 lb. Portobello mushrooms, cut in 1/4" slices
1/2 lb. oyster mushrooms, cut in 1/4" slices
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 tbl. tomato paste
1 tbl. thyme leaves
4 grouper fillets (5 oz. each)
Salt & pepper to taste
1 1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup coarsely chopped Italian parsley

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.

In a 12- to 14-inch oven proof saucepan heat 4 tablespoons of the oil until smoking. Add the mushrooms and garlic and saute 3 minutes. Add the tomato paste and thyme and continue to cook for 5 minutes. Remove the mixture to a bowl and set aside.

Season the fish well with salt and pepper. Heat the remaining oil in the same pan and add the fish. Saute until deep golden brown on the first side. Carefully turn the fish, add the wine and return the mushroom mixture to the pan. Put the pan into the oven and cook for 4 minutes until the fish is cooked through. Remove from oven, sprinkle with parsley and serve. Serves 4.

Catalina Offshore Products is located at 5202 Lovelock St.

Hours for walk-ins are Monday through Friday from 9 to 2 and Saturday from 9 to 11:30. Make Tommy happy and bring in a cooler or ice chest with ice packs or bags of ice to fill with your purchases.

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