London: Simpson's in the Strand

My last visit to Simpson's was thirty years ago, a blink of the eye in the life of this venerable institution. Simpson's has satisfied English appetites for nearly two hundred years. Their dining room speaks of both history and quality.

My meal started with delicious crusty bread.

I faced a difficult decision: the beef cart or the lamb cart? I decided that lamb was the proper English choice. A few minutes later, this beautiful cart rolled out and a member of the staff got to work carving my meal.

The result was this spread (although a moment later, a gracious person brought me a Yorkshire pudding). I ordered a side of creamed leeks, a very delicate variation on my steakhouse favorite creamed spinach. The cabbage was uncreamed but similarly delicate. The potatoes were wonderfully crunchy on the outside, creamy on the inside. My lamb came with two condiments. The berry jelly was good but the mint sauce was a revelation. This was not a mint jelly but a concentrated dollop of mint. The lack of distracting sugar gave for a much purer complement to the lamb.

I had come so far, why not dessert? A few minutes later, the dessert cart rolled out and a member of the staff flamed my exquisite jewel of a dessert. The aroma from the flaming was distinctly marsmallowy. The interior was a delicious ice cream on a bed of soft yellow cake. I savored every bite.

A pot of tea allowed me to digest my meal and enjoy the very Englishness of my delightful lunch.

Comments

Eating Around Georgia Tech: Ecco

Our Texas Instruments colleague Cathy Wicks was gracious enough to host several of us at Ecco tonight. This is one of those restaurants that has been on my list for a long time. Even though it is within easy walking distance of Georgia Tech, I hadn't made it there until tonight. The menu is a combination of Italian, Spanish, and French that make use of some local Georgia ingredients. The combination of those three countries is sometimes a little forced, although the georgia ingredients (fruit, cheese) were all great and perfectly appropriate. We started out with a meat and cheese board. This actually reverses the French tradition, where cheese usually follows the main course. Everything was excellent. The Georgia cheese was a big hit, as was the French cow/goat cheese. I thought the sauscisson was very subtle and very good. The waitress said that the roast pork pasta was their signature dish, so I had to try it. It had traditional broad pasta (fresh, of course) ...

DCA: Cava Mezze Grill

Cava is a DC area chain with light Mediterranean food. Saibal encouraged me to try lunch at their airport location and I was very happy with the experience. I ordered falafel on SuperSalad with assorted other toppings. The falafel was tasty. The SuperSalad was light, flavorful, and very easy to eat. Overall, a healthy and enjoyable lunch, something you can't always say about airport eating.

Pressure Cooker Candied Ginger

I made candied ginger a few years ago. It's not something I would do every day but I had a lot of fun doing it. I recently acquired a pressure cooker and it inspired an interesting idea to me: why not make candied ginger in the pressure cooker? It should be very soft and flavorful. Here is the result. I peeled two large ginger roots, cut them into small cubes, and put them in the pressure cooker with heavily sugared water. The traditional method first boils the ginger in plain water to soften it and then again in sugar water to candy it. The resulting candy was very tender but still with the characteristic ginger texture. It was also sweet without being overpowering. The traditional method leaves a lot of sugar crystallized around the ginger. The pressure cooker gives a much more subtle result. The ginger stays moist even after it cools but you can dry it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. That inspired me to dip it in chocolate. While I was in the b...

Atlanta etc.: Marilyn Wolf's Food Blog and Restaurant Blog

Search This Blog