At our holiday feast, we throw in the towel a couple of fish short of mark

TODAY'S FIRST FISH: Lobster Bisque from Costco Wholesale in Teterboro with a pinch of Aleppo red pepper.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

After I gave up meat and poultry, the Italian-American Feast of the Seven Fishes has always been my idea of a great celebratory meal.

OK. So I took a little liberty, serving the feast on Christmas Day instead of Christmas Eve.

And both me and my son just didn't have room for the Sixth and Seventh Fish -- organic whole-wheat pasta with sardines and anchovies.

And if purists insist that I shouldn't have had lobster twice, I offer up the egg-white omelet I had for breakfast today -- stuffed with wild Alaskan smoked sockeye salmon and reduced-fat Swiss cheese.

SECOND AND THIRD FISH: Salads of fresh-cooked live lobster and canned wild Alaskan pink salmon, both dressed with fresh lime juice, Dijon mustard and seasonings. 

$8.99 A POUND AT SHOPRITE IN PARAMUS: I boiled three live lobsters weighing a total of 3.95 pounds for 12 minutes, and used the tender claw, knuckle and tail meat to make the lobster salads.

FOURTH FISH: A Maryland-style jumbo lump crab cake, with a spoonful of basil pesto, both from Costco.

TRADER JOE'S STUFFED LOBSTER HALF: We had only one frozen crab cake left so I served my son a frozen item from Trader Joe's in Paramus, a shell stuffed with lobster, crab and langostino.

FIFTH FISH: Live Prince Edward Island Mussels, also from the Paramus ShopRite, cooked quickly in a covered pot with chicken broth, sesame oil, sake, fresh tomatoes, and chopped garlic, sweet pepper, celery and scallion.

SIXTH AND SEVENTH FISH: Our final course in today's Feast of the Seven Fishes was supposed to be leftover organic whole wheat pasta spirals (ShopRite) with Moroccan sardines (Fattal's in Paterson) and fresh spinach, dressed in Trader Joe's Puttanesca Sauce, which is made with anchovy paste. This is a portion I had on Friday night.