The Best Thing I Ate This Week: Lobster Tacos

Fact: I’m 27 years old and today I ate lobster for the first time in my life.

Wowowowowowowowwweeeee.

My first lobster has prompted me to start a new series on my blog called The Best Thing I Ate This Week.  It’s pretty self-explanatory.  At least I hope it is.  If you’re confused, we need to talk.

So, a friend invited me to eat at The Ravenous Pig, a gastropub here in Orlando.  The Ravenous Pig is a pretty popular place with the bourgeois elite in Winter Park and Thornton Park and it always gets great reviews.  I’d been to the Pig (as the bougie folks call it) twice, but both times I only had drinks and dessert because, as the name implies, The Ravenous Pig is NOT vegetarian friendly.

Of course, now that I’m eating meat again, I happily agreed to check out the food at the Pig and I looked at the menu several times trying to decide what I’d get.  There were a lot of choices, including the Pub Burger, which I have on good authority is the best burger in town.  I was undecided right up until the waitress came back a second time to take our order and I went with the lobster tacos, even though I’d never had lobster in my life.

I made the right choice.

I was expecting strips of lobster sauteed in some kind of butter or wine sauce, served with traditional taco toppings in crunchy shells, but what I got were tender chunks of lobster lightly fried in a tempura batter with a crunchy seasoned coleslaw and avocado cream in soft corn tortillas.  I took my first bite and I was sold on lobster.

Photo Source

Full disclosure—-I did not take this photo. I didn’t have my camera on me at lunch, or I would have taken a much shittier version of this photo because my photography skills leave something to be desired, as you probably know if you read the blog.

These lobster tacos melted in my mouth.  The best thing about them is that, though they were fried, I could really taste the lobster–the fry batter didn’t overtake the whole thing.  I ignored the pickled jalapenos on the side, but really enjoyed the crunchy coleslaw and the avocado cream that complemented the lobster.  The only bad thing about these lobster tacos is now I will have to live the rest of my days knowing how delicious lobster is and not being able to afford it on a regular basis.

FML

Come back for next week’s edition of The Best Thing I Ate This Week, which unfortunately will probably not include lobster.

I Took A Little Trip To The Oldest City In the USA And It Was DELICIOUS!

This past weekend I visited St. Augustine, the oldest city in the United States.  I’ve lived in Florida my whole life, and somehow I’d never been, so I made a plan with some friends and we headed out on Sunday for a much needed girls’ weekend.  As could be expected, we ate a lot, drank a lot, and luckily, we walked a lot.

I love walkable beach towns.  I need one for my very own.

We stayed in at The Pirate Haus, a pirate-themed hostel (my first time!), in The Jungle Room, which is exactly what you think it is.  Check it out:

Stairway to Pirate Heaven

They weren't kidding when they said it was The Jungle Room

Chi Chi in the jungle

Yes, bunk beds. Hostels are fun.

In addition to being the oldest and most historical town in Florida, St. Augustine has some bang-up food.  Get ready to get hungry.  Here’s a sampling of the delicious eats we enjoyed:

Voodoo Shrimp at Harry's, a haunted Cajun-style restaurant. Yesplz.

I made sure to get some vegetables. And some tequila.

Shrimp and Scallops over grit cakes with red beans and rice

Gourmet Popsicles! YESSSSS!

Marisa had Pineapple Cilantro, I had Coconut (yummm!), Chiara had Mango Habenero, and Stephanie had some Diablo Strawberry

I'll never be able to eat a shitty non-gourmet popsicle again.

Pirate pancakes at the hostel!

My Dirty Girl Scout martini at the Tini Martini Bar on our St. Augustine Ghost Pub Crawl. It was one of many adult beverages I enjoyed on the trip.

A traditional Cuban sandwich washed down with sangria at Colombia Restaurant

Chocolate Hazelnut Coconut Gelato--yesplz!

As you can see, we certainly enjoyed the tastings that St. Augustine had to offer, as I’m wont to do on vacations.  I love eating what I want on vacations without feeling the least bit guilty.  It reminds me of how far I’ve come in my thinking about weight and body issues.  We walked a lot, ate a lot, and enjoyed every minute.  It’s just too bad I don’t have pictures of the pepperoni, mushroom, and onion pizza and buffalo wings we inhaled at 2 am on Sunday night because everything closes at 9 pm on Sundays in St. Augustine and we were on a ghost tour with plans to eat dinner afterward and no one told us we wouldn’t be able to get food anywhere.  That was not a pretty sight.

Best quote of the trip: “Isn’t it great to eat in a way you’d never eat in front of a guy!”-Marisa, while sucking a chicken wing clean.

As an added bonus, Chiara managed to take a photo of me in a bathing suit that I don’t hate.  Proof that working out (and someone with decent camera skills) does make a difference.

If you’re looking for a good eating-drinking-window shopping-ghost touring-beaching weekend, check out old St. Augustine.  It was a good time.

Eat It Up: Spicy Orange Garlic Shrimp

Upon becoming an omnivore a few weeks ago, I discovered a few things:

1.  Salami is delicious

2. Salami is delicious

3.  Salami is delicious

Oh yeah. Give it to me.

However, it’s been suggested by some presumably very inept doctors, dietitians, and nutrition experts that salami isn’t the healthiest possible protein out there, so I’ve also been trying other allegedly healthier proteins and I’ve discovered that I really really like shrimp.

Best good friends

I didn’t eat shrimp, or any seafood really, when I was a kid.  I think my parents were just too cheap to feed us seafood, so they got it for themselves and we got chicken nuggets.  I welcomed salami back into my life with open and loving arms, but shrimp is really something new and exciting for me and I’m totally into it. The first time I tried shrimp I was turned off by the texture, but I think that was just a mental block, because now I like it more and more every time I have it.

I found this recipe for Spicy Orange Garlic Shrimp from the Pioneer Woman’s guest-blogger, Pastor Ryan, and praaaaaaaaaise Jesus, I was in love.

"And later we can have some salami, if you know what I mean."

Since shrimp cooks so quickly, it’s really an ideal weeknight dinner.  This Spicy Orange Garlic Shrimp is amazing and super easy to make.

Just add shrimp (and a little butter and garlic--whoops) and you've got a meal!

For 30-40 shrimp, combine 3/4 cup of orange juice, 1 tsp of Old Bay (delicious!), 1/2 tsp of ground red pepper or cayenne pepper, a few dashes of crushed red pepper if you want extra heat, and 3 cloves of thinly sliced garlic.  Melt 1-1 1/2 tbsps of butter in a pan and cook the shrimp thoroughly, about 2-3 minutes on each side.  Remove the shrimp from the heat and pour the orange juice mixture into the buttery shrimpy pan.  Let the flavors mingle and bubble around and after a few minutes, add another tbsp of butter (don’t worry, it’s cool) and then stir occasionally until the sauce thickens, then add the shrimp back in and toss them around in the incredible sauce.  Serve with a side of vegetables and die of happiness.

Your dinner tonight. You're welcome.

Enjoy!