September 19, 2014 Lunch Mariscos Altamar Dinner Spaghetti Primavera with Shrimp and Nobilo Sauvignon Blanc

I worked with Aaron this morning and at noon I decided on a seafood lunch but without the long delay of sushi, so I suggested Mariscos Altamar.  Aaron was up for it.  I ordered a Coctel Champechango ($14.95) and Aaron ordered (Mixed Seafood) fish, shrimp and octopus ceviche ($12.95). We each ordered a Modelo Negra on draft ($3.25).  I felt like I was back in Puerto Vallarta.  Heaven!.

Suzette and I had talked about going out for dinner before the Lewis Black comedy show, but instead we decided to eat at home since we had lots of fresh ingredients.  Since I had bought a pound of 30-40 count shrimp yesterday at TaLin ($8.29/lb.) and we still had ab out 6 oz. of fresh mozzarella slices, Suzette decided to make shrimp and spaghetti primavera with the lovely fresh heirloom grape tomatoes she had bought from Sterling Farms last Saturday ($4.00/pint).

While Suzette heated a pot of water to boil the spaghetti and sliced the tomatoes in halves, I went to the garden and picked four stalks of oregano, four or five stalks of garlic greens, and about a stalk of basil.  I sliced the garlic greens and about a dozen basil leaves into thin slices and de-stemmed the oregano leaves from their stalks.  I then de-seeded and diced two dehydrated sweet red peppers. While I was chopping, Suzette had minced several cloves of garlic into a skillet of hot butter and olive oil.

She then added the red peppers and sautéed for a minute or two and then added about a dozen shrimp with their shells and heads on to the skillet and sautéed them until they turned from gray to pink and then added the tomatoes and herbs and sautéed them with the shrimp, while I diced 3 oz. of fresh mozzarella slices into cubes.

Suzette put the mozzarella cubes into the bottom of pasta bowls while I grated about ½ cup of Parmesan cheese.

We decided to toast a piece of French sourdough bread.  When the spaghetti was soft, Suzette put some in each bowl and garnish the pasta with the shrimp, tomato and herb mixture and I opened a bottle of 2013 Nobilo Regional Collection Sauvignon Blanc from Marborough, New Zealand.  The wine slightly acidic with a hint of sweetness and lots of citrus fruit.  I liked it a lot, although the shrimp hid its flavor a bit, a better drinking wine than food wine.  The temperature was around 75 degrees and the sun was brilliantly bright and we enjoyed an evening warmed by the late afternoon sun by the pond n the garden. 

We then drove to Route 66 for the Lewis Black show in the large 2,500 seat theater.  Suzette played the $1.00 slots and won $29.00 dollars, which she used to buy us each a glass of Stella Artois for $8.00 each.

We loved Lewis Black, who is much more low-keyed on stage than on John Stewart, but still one of the best Jewish comics in America.

Bon Appétit