I know I should have walked away from it.
Maybe it was the hot sun that burned only half my face. Maybe it was the joy of a Mariners win (and not just any win, a Yankee whooping with a seventh-inning five-run salvo). Or maybe it was the beer we had during the game.
But by the time we hit the Pike Place Market to grab some goods before the ferry ride home, I was feeling pretty giddy and indulgent.
As I walked past the stalls, I grabbed a $1 bag of basil, two ears of sweet corn for $1.75, and a $5 bouquet.
And then I saw the seafood. And there, curled into crushed ice was a giant lobster tail as big as my forearm (minus the hand). The prices had been erased from the board, but I figured it at $30 or $40 (knowing nothing about the price of lobster, of course). I’ve never actually purchased fresh lobster, live or in the store. My only real experience with it is cooked and in a restaurant so, I really have no idea why I thought I could expect it would cost less than $40.
And even that is pretty steep. I mean, my husband and I are journalists, and while we do OK financially, our life runs a little less “champagne wishes and caviar dreams” than it does to “y’all come back now, y’hear.”
I gave a nod of approval as a fishmonger picked up a tail and passed it to the back for wrapping. When they brought it back up to the counter, a man reached out his hand and announced that it would be $57.
Like I said, I knew I should have just walked away, $57 richer. But pride kicked its way into the fight and won, sending me digging in my wallet for more cash.
Yeah, I’m gonna go with blaming the beer on this one. Never mind that I only had one.
New lesson: always ask “how much” before your buy and that as lobster gets bigger, the price apparently goes up exponentially.
But with Golden Lobster in hand as we headed home, I vowed that not a shred of it would go to waste.
To start it, I cut off the large chunk of meat hanging from the tail for use later. I basted the tail meat itself in butter and parsley and grilled it.
We each ate about a quarter of the tail (it was that big and pretty filling) and saved the shells.
With the shells, I made a lobster broth with a recipe I found on The Splendid Table’s website. That recipe also could probably work with shrimp if you aren’t quite as inclined to buy your own Golden Lobster.
And I decided to use the remaining meat for a pasta. In my search, I learned that August is Maine Lobster month and hit the Maine Lobster Promotional Council for the following lobster linguine. Continue reading
