Red Snapper. Wegmans Ocean. Paul Goldfinger photo.
Seafood is a wonderful source of omega-3 fatty acids which are a heart-healthy food. Wegmans has whole fish like these snappers, but they would filet it for you at no extra charge.
Our favorite restaurants for lobster are Mr. Shrimp (see photo) and Kleins in Belmar. This is Mr. Shrimp last week. It was terrific.
By Paul and Eileen Goldfinger.
I walked into Mr.Shrimp’s and asked if Mrs. Shrimp was there. The waitress said, “She’s not here tonight”. I would not like to be called “Mr. Shrimp”.
Mr. Shrimp is at 1608. Rt, 71 in Belmar. Take 35 south off Memorial Drive and turn left at 71 by the Windmill. (Belmar Marina). Mr. Shrimp is about a mile up the road on the left.
Lobster contains some cholesterol, but it is still heart healthy because of unsaturated fats and omega-3’s. If you are worried about cholesterol, don’t deep fry it and go easy on the melted butter. We have lobster on rare occasions, but we don’t worry about it—it is a real culinary treat.
We used to bring home live lobsters and steam them, but recently we had Wegmans steam them for us and then we took them right home. They are best served hot. The lobsters at southwest Florida are different from Maine….they have huge tails.
When we were considering heart health eating for our book, we discovered that my patients would mostly eat fish deep fried. They often had no idea how to prepare sea food at home other than fried. So Eileen came up with 36 heart healthy recipes for our book, and the emphasis was on sea foods, properly prepared. Her way to prepare seafood often involves sautéing, using small amounts of vegetable oil or olive oil.
Our book is now 14 years old, but it still available, and my discussions for patient about prevention are mostly still valid, and her recipes are also. “Prevention Does Work” is a good tool to keep in the kitchen to promote sea food dinners.
Wine, especially red, has been considered a heart healthy food, although there has been some skepticism lately due to alcohol toxicity causing cancer.
I believe in moderation, so 3-4 ounces of wine, once in a while, with a wonderful meal seems to be harmless. After my bypass surgery, we would have 4-6 ounces of mostly red wine every night, but lately we have a small amount sometimes; for a special meal.
For example we eat red meat on rare occasions, but for us, besides holiday meat such as pot roast for Jewish holidays, we would go to Wegman’s for a dry-aged ribeye–incredible! We get one with some marbling , but Eileen trims the excess. You need some fat for flavor. We try to find one that is about 1 pound, so we each get 1/2 pound. Then we wait at least 3-4 weeks before doing it again. And we have a salad with it and some roasted potatoes. We rarely eat fries, although Eileen sometimes does it with an air fryer.
She also sautées mushrooms and onions, and she cooks up some baby spinach and a baked potato. And yes, some red wine–pinot noir. We are patriotic so we go for Oregon pinots. (Willamette Valley). But California produces good pinots as well.
Click to enlarge and read the text on the cover.