Text 15012, 151 rader
Skriven 2014-07-22 07:26:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: more picnic 695
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Breakfasts.

I don't pay much attention, as I have a decided preference
for real food as opposed to breakfast food. Not that I have
any objection to eggs (I love custard) or pork products,
but putting them together early in the morning, before noon
that is, just seems wrong to me. Not to mention that I am
left cold by the usual accompaniments of bread and jam and
the like.

The first meal of the day should be a nice steak or burger.

Doesn't matter if it's 2 am or 2 pm.

Okay, some pig product might do in a pinch.

Anyhow, that caveat mentioned, I did get up every morning
just in a social sort of way and ate the offerings, just in
a social sort of way. As I recall, these were normal
breakfasty foods - bacon and eggs the first day, sausage and
eggs the second, and omelets the third. The Shipps did the
sausages; otherwise Steve served as short-order cook. I
might have offered to help, but I like to distance myself
from this kind of activity, and besides he seemed to be
having a perfectly fine time doing it.

One notable "taste" was two kinds of honey brought by Ruth
and Steve - tupelo and sourwood, as I recall, both prized
for the characteristic of never going grainy like most
honeys do. I strongly preferred one, which had a floral
complexity, to the other, which was neutral sweetness and
might just as well have been clover. I believe the one I
liked was sourwood; maybe someone could correct me if I'm
wrong.

Oh, yes, Burt came up with some peach jam that Clean Dave
had made at the Flyfest picnic an amazing nine years ago.
It was darkened to the color of, oh, I don't know, dried
blood comes to mind, but tasted fine, with a slight
oxidation but still much fruit flavor.

=

Dinner at Dimitri's.

This seems to have become a tradition, and I have no
objection to it. The closest competitor among the
possibilities for our formal dine was Honey Pig, a Korean
BBQ that I rather liked when the Shipps took me there
last year, but Dimitri's is the sentimental favorite.
Further, it's run by a family whose kids went to school
with Bryan and Kathy. And the food is pretty good and
served in generous portions.

Nancy was the only first-timer, but the introductory
plate she got was enough for pretty much everyone to
get a taste - in fact, if she'd kept it to herself, the
samples of grape leaves, kebob meat, sour beef gravy,
avgolemono, and so on could have made nearly a full meal.
As it was, nothing went to waste.

An appetizer appeared at our end of the table: saganaki,
which is cooked kefalotiri cheese and something that is
pretty hostile to me. Nonetheless, I tasted it. It was
as expected.

Sour beef is a specialty here - essentially sauerbraten
and sort of out of place at a Greek-oriented restaurant
but typical fare in the Baltimore area, which for some
reason has a dearth of German restaurants (Haussner's
is gone, Blob's Park is gone for the second time) but
quite a representation of Germanic food. It's advertised
on the menu as "just like your mother used to make, only
better." I disagree. It's good enough but a little on
the sweet side (I think you should use onions only, but
here uses onions and sugar both), plus, crime of crimes,
it's made with beef round: my mother's, which I liked a
lot better, was made with chuck. The full portion was
pretty generous, though it didn't look it at first glance.
I believe a half portion would have been too little. Too
bad it wasn't Tuesday, when the dish is half price.

My moussaka was tasty and a big enough portion for half
of it to go home for snacks. Too much ground beef/lamb
in proportion to the eggplant, but I figure most people
prefer it this way. A thick coating of bessamelle/custard
that was a little loose and a little sweet, both in a
pleasant way. The only problem was shaved sheep cheese
on top, solvable by scraping it and some of the surplus
of white stuff off.

Nancy chose the so-called beef kebob, which is a generous
amount of gyro-like meat with the usual gyro accompaniments.
It reminded me more of a Turkish treatment than a Greek one,
but I'm not sure that authenticity is a major concern here.
The flavor was pretty good, but having had the like in
something like 5 countries, I must say that I prefer a
good old American hamburger.

Someone had pastitsio - Gail I think - that was/is partway
between lasagne and moussaka. Aside from the big carb hit
it was pretty good.

A sample of Aegean chicken found its way from the Haffly
end of the table. It was, well, chicken. Lemon and oregano,
pretty much it.
                
For some reason, suggested to be a new contract with a
different supplier, the wine list is being revamped, so
they were running specials to clear out the old. I'd noted
the Terrazas Cabernet on the old menu for $28 or so, no
bargain, but as it was the best thing on the list, I
considered getting it anyway. Sharp-eyed someone (Burt?)
discovered that it was on the specials sheet for 20% off.
So, as there were 6 of us partaking, I ordered two bottles.
One bottle came out, and the cute and accommodating
waitress had a really tough time getting the cork out -
she looked to be quite inexperienced at the wine opening
business. Eventually the bottle was opened and pronounced
good. I don't remember the vintage, but by the taste and
a slight hint of oxidation I think maybe 2010, but there
was still plenty of fruit, and I'm certain it was the
best available. Soon we called for the second bottle, and
the waitress said, sorry, you got the last one. I made a
wry face and must have threatened to hold my breath or
something, because she said that she'd go to the cellar
to see if there was another finale ultimo hiding in a
corner. There was. The bottle came already opened, as she
said she'd gotten help with it, a suspicious circumstance
but for her general air of innocence. I sniffed - it was
the real thing. 

The descriptions on the list engendered a bit of hilarity
among us conn-o-sewers, as some of them self-contradiced or
otherwise made no sense: calling something "semi-sweet and
slightly dry" doesn't help at all.

The waitress's inquiry about dessert brought forth a
series of cries of "are you kidding"; I like Greek sweets
despite their carbiferousness and milkiferousness, but I
passed I think.

After dinner we went on a field trip to H Mart, which
has taken over as the favored Asian grocery after the
health and sanitation woes of Lotte on US29. A few
tasty snacks were bought.


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