Tuesday, August 6, 2019

Dining "In" and "Out"



Which has special meaning for my friends in the Military (which I can never get straight anyway), I am much more mundane.. and apply the terms as I sees fits

"Out"

Not to harp on it, but these days my eating away from home is more governed by access than choice of food.  I have not compromised my standards however, which further narrows choices.  For instance, I would never eat at Olive Garden if they met me at the door with a velvet covered sedan chair.  So in no particular order, choices are limited (but not restricted) to:  either of the two Ruddy venues, CD CafĂ©, and Cow and Fish.   To be fair, MFO and I did a drive about on the Solomon’s and most of the places over there (Solomon’s Pier, St. Charles Brasserie, Striped Rock, Lighthouse, and the ilk) have access ramps but kind of fail the food side of things.  A possible exception might be the Island Hideaway, which does require a bit of an overland transit to their sidewalk plus they don’t accept reservations on Friday or Saturday.

Anyway we sort of gathered our little “dining group” last Friday (2nd) since key members were (for once!) in town and all met at the Cow and Fish.  The food there remains quite good, imaginative, well prepared and presented, with the only distraction of spotty service (sometimes reciting “specials” almost before you sit down,) the stemless “up glasses”, and the most egregious Mason Jars.
 

As I have mentioned before the wine list (which hasn’t changed forever, hint, hint) has interesting choices, and if a second glass is desired the bottle is brought to the table, a civilized touch.

Anyway one of the party ordered steak (which was described by server as “Blue Diamond Steak with Blue Diamond Sauce”).   A google search turns up something called “Bleu Diamond Dressing" which is apparently no more, as posts referring to Blue Diamond Dressing. seem to have been removed.

Anyway, the steak (always a challenge to get a good photo, hence none offered) was quite tasty according to the diner.  As for the Flutters, MFO indulged her jones for a burger

Although she differs from the Feeder in choices of cheese (MFO=Swiss; BF=Cheddar!) it was tasty, however in truthfulness, “rare” means almost raw in the middle (caveat emptor!).  The feeder stayed away from Beef (no protein imitations offered…..yet) and went with scallops (the kitchen continues to be enamored of flowers)


Which were excellent.
A hunk o’cake was shared for a sweet at the end of the meal.

All in all a good experience, although DFD is also spotty.  Shorts and Caps are often seen. 

In
One of the Feeder eating like a bird at home (no, NOT seed) is quantity.  For instance if we get a small pork loin, even cutting it in half (freezing half) leaves us with enough meat for a couple of servings left over, which gets boring ; In the case of the pork, I do make Pork Fried Rice.  So I set out to do that yesterday. The labor comes in the prep side of things, getting the Mise en Places set up.   Fried rice is one of those “clean out the ‘fridge” things.   Aside from the rice you can put almost anything into it, as I did yesterday:

Clockwise from “12 o’clock “ – lower sodium Soy sauce; (elderly) frozen peas and butter beans; cubed pork loin; diced shallots and red onion/Garlic; (diced) green and red bell pepper; Poached chicken breast (for variety); egg strips (two egg omelet); and of course the (cold) rice. 

Then fabrication ensues.  I prefer to cook the separate ingredients singularly, 

just warming the meat to avoid making it tough; sweat the peppers till soft; sauté the onions till a little brown on the edges, adding the garlic at almost the end to avoid burning it. Finally incorporating into the rice, adding the Soy Sauce sparingly, mostly for color and allowing the grains to separate.
Warm through and plate!

Traditionally, bean sprouts and mushrooms might be added, but hey! if they’re not in the dark recesses of the ice box, they’re out.  
I normally sprinkle a bit of ground red pepper or cumin on it to zip it up a bit. 
Quite Good!

 And no MJ to be seen, and truthfully, maybe not appropriately
DFD

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