Well, when the world has shut down for Toby, what do you
do? Well, you drink coffee and look out
at the precipitation while you catch up on the blogging
And, at least in my back yard, wonder how we’re going to get
anything much (not that I’m complaining, mind you) like was predicted. Fine with me. And after you watch that a bit, you can
always think about food. Over the past
couple of weeks, we’ve had a chance to get fed via three different
sources. A recap:
Source One: a Gala
setting
Got out the duds to DFD:
Struggled into them (can anybody ever get those studs to work?) and went over to the Hollywood Fire and Res….excuse me, Social Hall for the annual St. Mary’s
Ryken dinner. It was catered by Ken
Upton of Ken’s Creative Kitchen, and over the
years of helping with the Hospital Gala, I got to know him fairly
well. He’s really an interesting
guy. Anyway, I sent him a note telling
him about my “reduced sodium” diet, and he said he would take care of me. He wasn’t going to attend, but would tell his
staff.
So I donned the duds, strapped on my little oxygen generator
and got to our table, and no sooner had I sat down than the room captain came
over and asked what I would like to drink, went to the bar and brought me a
Jamieson (it was St. Patrick’s day). I
did have a couple of the passed jumbo shrimp (pretty low on sodium) and in a
few minutes she reappeared with a plate of apps that she said the kitchen made
for me.
Pretty!
there was a salad of wild springs greens and then the main course for dinner consisted of a steak, (sans the burgundy shallot
reduction), Dauphinoise Potato Medallion, Roasted Tomato Persillade, and my personal favorite, leek ribboned bundle of spring asparagus (which stayed on the plate)
which they do quite well (er, rare), and I was kept well supplied supplied
with wine and drink. Kudos to the catering team
A fun evening.. we left when dancing began…
Source Two: a restaurant setting
A smaller venue is the Ruddy Duck Seafood and Ale House on
St. George Island, where we met a friend for dinner. We started out with appetizers (well, we
actually started out with cocktails), and i got my usual choice there for a starter
MFO got some fresh Rockfish bites with house-made chips, which she greatly enjoyed.
For main courses our friend had a warm mushroom salad with
Feta (as I remember) which was characterized as very good
For her choice of main dish MFO selected seared scallops over pasta
Very pretty and well executed.
As for The Feeder, with some reluctance I ordered a pan seared Cod dish as a
potential lower sodium option than some of the other choices (sigh). Now those who know me are aware I am NOT a
Codfish fan. I find/think it is kind of a no flavor, nothing fish, with kind of a mealy texture, usually in a thick cut, and one of those
dishes that require the flavors to come from other ingredients. Well, it turned out to be probably the best
cod dish I’ve ever had. Chef Nelson pan
roasted it and served it with a white bean sauce, and a couple of clams. Note the sear on the fish, which gave it a
very nice crunch, helping with soggy texture of Cod. Still not a lot of inherent flavor, but with
the beans complimenting the sweetness of the fish, it was a very enjoyable
dish. We are going to get some Cod with
our next “Sea to Table” delivery so I may try to replicate it (unfortunately probably
sans the beans)
Anyway, it was a good dinner, especially with the company of
a good friend.
Source Three: A home
cookin’ setting
While it’s nice go out, it’s also nice to stay home. With my dietary restrictions, it somewhat
limits our choices (I will try to NOT keep harping on this, but is a
reality). MFO has done exceptional work
coming up with things that not only taste pretty good, but also stay within the
limits. One of the things she uses is pork
which is inherently low in the evil chemical.
Plus now days, it is also low in fat.
So last night she got a little pork loin and perched it on a bed of
potatoes, red peppers, garlic cloves, and onions, and capped the little guy
with sliced Beurré d'Anjou pears.
Where’s waldo? Under the
pears
Popped in the oven with convection setting at 450°
for a bit and voila!
Quite tasty.
So, there’s three different venues for food, all unique in
their own way. I won’t play around with
the “B” word.
Since I’ve rambled on as usual, I will only tease you with an upcoming
post involving:
Meanwhile the snow continues to fall in varying intensity,
with barely any accumulation at the digs.
And, looking at the clock, I see that it is almost cocktail time, and
tonight no need to
DFD
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