I'm going to try something new here -- instead of just posting restaurant reviews, I'll share my own cooking adventures. I'll let you know how everything turned out and how you can make it yourself, if you're so inclined.
To start us off, I have Monday night's dinner -- grilled lamb sausages with an assortment of Greek condiments. The picture doesn't really do the meal justice, and it actually didn't occur to me to do this until I way half way through eating, so I had to go back and try to make everything look like it hadn't already been mutilated. Oops.
Clockwise from top: Lamb and oregano sausage from Eastern Market; crumbled feta; Sabra brand 'Supremely Spicy' hummos; mint leaf chiffonade; cucumber tzatziki (Harris Teeter brand); Thomas' whole wheat pita.
Since it was already late by the time I started cooking Monday night, I tried to speed up the process by slicing the sausages lengthwise and grilling over high heat on my grill pan. It did work, but my sausages got a bit blackened in the process (though surprisingly not dry on the inside.) I had no idea how long to cook them for, so I relied on a meat thermometer to tell me when they were done. In the meantime, I popped the pita in the toaster set very low so they would just heat up but not get too crispy, washed and sliced the mint leaves, and dished out the hummos and tzatziki. That was pretty much it -- really quick and easy to prepare. I made them into little sandwiches, stuffing a little bit of everything* into the pita pocket, and ate up. *I didn't exactly put everything -- I realized that the hummos would overpower all of the other flavors if I added it to the mix, so I ate that separately.
I'd definitely recommend trying lamb sausages if you ever have the opportunity and can get them from a reputable market where you know they are good quality and fresh. The one complaint I have about the ones I bought is that they were a bit too salty. The flavor was really good -- I ended up eating much more than I thought I would -- but combined with the salty feta and hummos, it started to be too much. Next time, I'd have to cut out the feta and add some more neutral flavors (like lettuce, tomatoes, other veggies, or more tzatziki) to combat the saltiness. I probably should have added more veggies in the first place to make the meal more balanced, but I was honestly too tired to wash and cut them up. Oh well... I tried.
So, let me know if you try this and how it comes out, and feel free to share any other recipes you think I should try.
Toula: Aunt Voula, Ian is a vegetarian. He doesn't eat meat.
Aunt Voula: He don't eat no meat. What do you mean he don't eat no meat?!
(The entire room stops, in shock.)
Aunt Voula: Oh, that's okay. I make lamb.
-My Big Fat Greek Wedding
View from my hotel window
Gate to Chinatown
Cable car, b/w
Coit Tower and street scene
Me, down by the piers
Boats and Bay Bridge
Alcatraz (my fave SF sight)
Golden Gate Bridge
Me, with Alcatraz in background (shaded in pink courtesy my broken camera)
Sea Lions @ Pier 39
Sea Lions and sunset
Fisherman's Wharf
Seafood eateries @ Fisherman's Wharf
"Nick's" seafood
Boats at sunset
Ghirardelli Square
Golden Gate Bridge @ sunset
Delicious Italian dinner in North Beach
@RosalindWiseman presenting at AASA National Conference on Education
