Shoestring Gourmet |
A Little Trick with Nick
Nick Ligidakis is one of our town’s cultural institutions. A restaurateur of many years standing, he is known for mass-feeding the homeless from his own kitchens every Thanksgiving, and is also the author of at least three cookbooks. For our November Shoestring Gourmet, we will each bring a dish prepared from a recipe in Nick’s latest book. We will meet on Saturday, November 14 to dine at Syd Golston’s home in Tempe, then hop a short distance to Nick’s restaurant for dessert.
To pick a recipe to prepare and to get directions, call Syd at 345-2161. Please do not call before Sunday, 11/8 or after Thursday, 11/12. When you agree on a recipe, Syd will read it to you over the phone so you can start right away.
October’s Shoestring, hosted by Joice and Check Braden, was on the theme of power food. We explored the gustatory potential of dishes that are good for you, and we did indeed find food that went down with extraordinary power. Jim Morgan led off with a piquant little appetizer snack: Parmesan cheese micro-baked one minute, served with a fresh basil leaf. Pat Hull salved our souls with chicken soup and homemade noodles. For our first entrée, Ursula Gore served barbecued salmon with soy butter sauce, accompanied by bread. Chicken was also the theme of Jane Khatiblou’s offering, accompanied by rice and lentils. To clear out palates between courses, Chuck Braden served tender asparagus spears and pearl onions. Next, it was Japanese miso soup from Jim Morgan. Joice Braden dished out lean mock ham, in which turkey was the stand-in, with baby lima beans.
Marilyn McDonald prepared a tangy melon salsa, which Diana Toone followed with a Southwestern barley salad. Joice’s daughter Lisa Williams produced a Viennese cinnamon dessert coffee to ease us into the sweets. Ray Pisar drew inspiration from the toughest warrior race in the Star Trek galaxy in pouring Klingon Comfort flamb: Southern Comfort and prune juice, topped with sweet whipped cream. Joice’s mother Annette Stieber poured green apple and cider tea. Kebba Buckley topped off the evening with little dessert oat cakes of peach, walnuts and sweetened fruits.