Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Hat Trick of Meals




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!


Crab cakes and mushroom tarts 

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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