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Odds n Ends

Nov 11

Last evening was a clean-up dinner, in that The Chef decided to make a meal from the odds ‘n ends leftover from previous meals.  We skipped a nibbles plate, and instead, The Chef made the Main out of the many little bits that were the remains from earlier dinners.  They were: a Greek Tadzeki used as a dip for celery and carrot sticks, a small dish holding Diane’s unique recipe, the remainder of the Greek beans from her BBQ the other evening and halves of Turkish bread rolls lightly oiled and heated under the broiler.

Avocado with prawns was the special add-on.

We continued drinking the odd-bod remains of wine from previous meals

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Linguine with Crab

Yesterday evening was our Friday, and therefore in maintaining the weekly pattern, we continued our Celebration Evening by Enjoying the Bartender’s always delightful and never inebriating cocktails.  Last evening The Bartender prepared for herself, as opposed to standard bars, our Bartender can pour a regular drink for themselves and enjoy it in the company of regular patrons, and I am indeed a regular patron.  Diane prepared for herself, a  Manhattan,  which is her favourite cocktail and, she prepared for me one of my favourites, two shots of  Rock an’ Rye.   With these marvellous starters for the evening,  Diane served the now, virtually mandatory- small dish of potato chips in memory of The Savoy Hotel in Florence.    And, has become deriguer with The Producer Diane, we enjoyed a series of entertaining video shots: very early Abba, Pentatonics and Fleet Foxes.

The dinner began with one of my favourites, a small antipasto plate.

 The Main was genuinely brilliant: Linguine with Crab.

The evening’s wine was the remainder of that marvellous Sicilian White bottle from the previous night with the salmon.  

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SALMON French Style

Nov. 4, ’21

This dish is one of my favourite First Courses, Grilled Asparagus Wrapped in Proscuitto.

The Chef used a Jacques Pepin’s recipe (the book was a gift from Anne some years ago) using salmon fillets sautéed in a Basil Sauce composed of fresh basil, tomatoes and butter.  Lidia’s Quick Cheesy Grilled Bread accompanied this delight.  The meal was completed with a small salad.

The wine for this superb meal was the remains of the Sicilian DOC bottle that accompanied yesterday’s dinner.

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Porterhouse

Nov. 3, ’21

As a First Course, the meal began with a favourite: fresh asparagus wrapped in Prosciutto.

The Chef purchased a Porterhouse Steak, grilled it to rare perfection and made a delicious French sauce to accompany it composed of anchovy, fresh Tarragon, cream and butter. Our wine for this delicious steak was a domestic Shiraz.

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SICILIAN LOVE

Nov. 2, ’21

The Chef, aka Diane, prepared my favourite meal tonight of Sauteed Prawns in a light cream sauce with a Side of Rice.  It is The Chef’s recipe, and I cannot provide more information.

The wine for this marvellous meal was a special buy, a Feudo Arancio Griila  DOC  Sicilia

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LIDIA IS THE ONE

Oct. 30 and Nov. 1, ’21

Last night and two nights ago, The Chef (aka-Diane) prepared a simple yet particularly delicious meal for her in-house resident; the meal was a recipe from Lidia’s Italy, from Rome.  The dish uses Sausage, Green Olives and Fennel, to which The Chef added a side of Polenta.    Lidia calls for Italian sausages,  I bought English Cumberland, and they tasted great, but I love sausage of any nationality. Lydia’s recipe calls for the sausages to be browned. Then one adds crushed garlic cloves, green olives, white wine, fennel pieces, and seasoning

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Yefsi Greek Lunch with Diane

Murray, who is Diane’s cousin and a former student at the Cordon Blu cooking school, has asked me to resurrect my old Dining Diary that died a quiet death some years ago. I will begin with a sunny day this week when Diane and I went to Perth’s Northbridge area and stopped at a restaurant called Yefsi, a Greek eating place that is a favourite of mine. We over-ate, but the meal, as always was superb.

We began with a series of hors-dóeuvres: breaded Calamari (small squid)-particularly good due to the second-best breading we’ve had, Saganaki ( fried Feta cheese), Dolmades (vine leaves) . For the main, we had a large Spanakopita (light cheese and spinach in a filo pastry shell.

Our dessert was equally as delicious as the other courses of the meal. We over-ordered and asked for Loukoumades, which were small pastry filled balls rolled in a coating and deep fried and served in a bath of diluted honey.  We also ordered, not knowing that they would serve us nine balls.  We then ordered a slice of Greek pastry cake called Ekmek served with Greek coffee of course.

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The Day After New Years Eve and I Am Out

I think this is my 500th Post and it is a good time to leave my posting.

Last night Diane made a perfect New Years Eve meal for us so ending with this wonderful meal could not be more appropriate. We went to Southlands yesterday arvo and bought some fresh fruit and vegies as well we stopped at the Monger who had some large Marron from our Southwest. For North American readers they are freshwater crayfish and they are only found in the southwest of Western Australia (not all fresh water crays but the ones that live here in WA.) Our monger sold us a dozen Tasmania oysters and two of these delicious Marron. I like Sydney Rock Oysters or S. Australian or Albany Oysters from here in Western Australia. The oysters that I don’t care for are the “plump” ones from Tassie; the other ones are less “plump” and a person can taste the difference immediately. Diane likes the plump ones and I prefer the “lean” ones. Usually our sources here in WA receive the lean ones so Diane and I trade back and forth between the two so that each one of us gets their favourite.

We ate the oysters “natural”; I just put a pass (a very small movement) of Louisiana Hot Sauce over mine; the Oysters disappear down my throat so they are a great beginning to our marine meal.

After the oysters the Chef brought out some fresh and tender Asparagus that she put a slice of prosciutto around that gave the vegetable a flavouring as it heated in a frying pan.

The monger gave Di directions for cooking the crays: “Bring a large pot of water to the boil; add the crays, after the water returns to the boil, boil for ten minutes before moving them into cold water.” They were cooked perfectly! While they were cooling Diane made a simple sauce of a small amount of fish stock boiled down to which is added cream and your choice of fresh herbs; this mixture is heated until it is a consistency to your liking and poured on the crays after they have been reheated but no more: they cannot be cooked any more.
With the crays Diane made a side of rice.

We drank three fourths of a bottle of Vernaccia di San Gimignano from the Fattoria Abbrazia Mote Oliveto foundata nel 1340. It is one of the many inexpensive yet delicious white wines from central and southern Italy and Sicily.

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The Day After Christmas: A BBQed Shoulder of Lamb Roast

Last night was a wonderful BBQ with the full meal being cooked and eaten outside in the first truly good evening we have had: it was not too hot nor was there a southerly wind shift bring cold wind in from Antarctica. Diane’s school friend Shelley (who studied Geology, trained as a teacher and now works as a prison guard: she says that being a guard is much easier) came by with her husband and two children.

Di cooked the Lamb in the Weber and it was enjoyed by everyone except the kids who dislike almost anything that doesn’t have sugar in it and they were very excited about Diane’s gifts. Di roasted small potatoes with the lamb and also had some pasta salad. I lost track of the few wines we had: they have a 45 minute drive to get back to their home on the edge of the Scarp so Peter had to watch his drinking with two kids in the car plus Shelley.