It is a bright, clear and cold day and Moscow seems to have recovered from its shock at the events at the airport. Everything is running normally and I suppose denial keeps things together here. Of course there are always those who will seek profit from tragedy and the gypsy taxi drivers were the first to try and cash in on people’s panic.
I actually went for a long walk and didn’t fall, so this is a good day. My knees and arms were a bit achy from the fall yesterday but I seem to have worked all of that out during the walk and I very much enjoyed the sunshine.
With all that has been going on I forgot to mention that we went out to dinner on Monday night and tried the other Georgian restaurant that is close to our grocery store. Just walking in we knew it was going to be a much better culinary experience. The first thing that you see is a large tank with trout and carp swimming around unfazed by the fact that they might be dinner within the hour. There were two smiling - I’ll repeat that since it is worth repeating - SMILING hostesses. One took our coats and winter gear and the other showed us to a table in the spacious and smoke free restaurant. Like the other Georgian restaurant, this one has lots of exposed wood, but it is really done nicely with tables that are set with real tablecloths and real napkins. There were all manner of deer heads and horns adorning the walls and best of all was a great big open grill right in the center of the dining room so that we could watch what was being grilled.
The menu confirmed the fact that this was a bit more upscale. Everything was perhaps ten to fifteen percent more expensive, but as we would find out, it was well worth the extra rubles. The only downside was that the wine was twice as expensive for half the wine, but it was good wine and served very cold, so once again, we really didn’t care. To be fair in our comparison, we ordered mostly what we always order at the other restaurant. Cold grilled eggplant rolled around a knob of crushed walnuts and spices, a hot dish of local cheeses between layers of pasta, and the grilled quail. Everything was wonderful, but the quail was simply superb. It was cooked to perfection and was meaty and spiced just right. We also had a lavash, which is a Georgian loaf of bread that is tapered at both ends grilled just before serving. We shall surely return for the food and also for the fact that they have the cleanest, brightest and most delicately scented bathrooms in all of Moscow. They even have earth music: frogs chirping and water falling.
Dinner with the new director and his wife was lovely last night. They got here about forty minutes late due to the hectic schedule and the traffic, but I had anticipated that and the meal didn’t suffer. After cocktails we started with smoked salmon on hot crispy broccoli blinis with sour cream and dill. It was a big hit and it is so easy to make. I had made a very large vegetable lasagna the day before and just before heating it up I added slices of mozzarella that I sprinkled with herbs du Provence and let it all get bubbly hot and brown on top. I had decided to make this more of a Provençal dish as opposed to Italian so I alternated layers of pasta with layers of sliced roasted eggplant. I mixed cottage cheese, ricotta, Parmesan and pecorino with three eggs, spices, two cloves of minced garlic and a half pound of chopped raw spinach. I spread this on the various layers of pasta and eggplant, which had already been slathered with my rich tomato, garlic, carrot, red pepper and mushroom sauce. I baked it hot, 400°, for about forty minutes and it rose up like a soufflé. I let it cool completely - it of course fell - and then covered it and placed it in the fridge.
After it was reheated for dinner, I served it with a side of the thick sauce and some extra Parmesan and crusty fresh bread. I was all swelligent. The new director is a big fan of technology and will be a wonderful addition to the school and a strong ally as Cindy continues to move the school further along the path of innovative technology.
I would like to figure out how anyone who has lived in Moscow for one winter could design a structure with a flat roof. My walk today had lots and lots of little detours as workmen were on top of large building shoveling the flat roofs covered with snow. There were times when it was like a blizzard with all the snow coming down from the roof. If the icicles don’t get you than the big chucks of snow will. With the weather clear and crisp, there is a lot of snow removal going on all over the neighborhood. Large dump trucks filled with snow were processing across the main street like so many elephants in a circus parade. Someday I’ll have to follow one of these trucks and see where they dump all the snow. I’m guessing the river.
Best wishes to all, Cindy and Wm.
No comments:
Post a Comment