As the lobster turns ....

I am still mulling over what to do with Lobster Lou and his sidekick Lucy. Found a multitudinous arsenal of concoctions at the amazing and wonderful blog, Tastespotting. Eight pages worth of choices!

Some of the standouts to me were ...

Hot Chicken Salad — Roman chicken on China Romaine

Our romaine lettuce, as it happens, is a vegetable of ancient Rome. It was eaten cooked as well as raw, and believed to have medicinal properties. There's no doubt in my mind that Romaine does have medicinal properties! It's packed with vitamin A, for one thing, which is needed for good eyesight, and it has many antioxidants.

As it would happen, Romaine is also very close to a Chinese vegetable, Ei-A vegetable. More about that is explained at this delightful blog http://asiabyfrida.com/2011/10/26/easiest-chinese-stir-fry-recipe-–-romaine-lettuce/ which served as the inspiration for this little cooking experiment. That and the package of Romaine lettuce past its prime in my recently cleaned out fridge.

So having that neglected package of Romaine lettuce and a craving for some chicken diavolo ... a fusion of tastes came together in my mind ...

The Gift of Dinner

Friday night: Time to go out on the town. I landed at my favorite Chinese restaurant, First Wok, with a book about ancient Rome and an appetite for some cashew chicken.

First Wok is owned by a friend who has been helping me learn Mandarin. He was, as it turned out, having some sort of family get together late in the evening. I had long since eaten by the time it transpired, but I somehow ended up leaving with the gift of a lovely orange crab to go with my leftover cashew chicken, as well as some crisp yellow Asian pears.

Now I have never had any Asian pears but this was one of the most delightful fruits I've ever eaten. Crisp like an apple, taste like a juicy pear ... If you've never had one, you simply must try it! You won't be disappointed, they are fit for a king.

And so too the crab …

Saturday afternoon: Gifted as it were, with the makings of a truly fine meal, and getting quite hungry. All I lacked was some little side dish to round things out. Made a little Sangria and went to perusing recipes, looking for something special to accompany such fine gifts ...