Anticipation

You spend the time waiting, excited and nervous. It's untried and new; you're in uncharted territory. You can hardly contain yourself as things slowly simmer towards readiness. The smell intoxicating you, and the brief tastes excite your palette in anticipation of a full on assault against your tongue. Maddeningly, you restrain yourself from doing more than sampling because things aren't ready yet, and nothing will make it so before the proper time. Finally!, the interminable anticipation over, an eternity passes in an instant. Blessedly, you no longer have to be satisfied with quick, stolen samples in the kitchen.

That pretty much describes dinner last night. The Singer invited me back for an encore performance. On the menu was Kiy's Carmelized Onion and Chicken, Serddad's Greek Pasta Salad, with steamed fresh green beans. You can see it pictured on the left, on the Singer's kickass dinner wear (ed. of which I'm jealous). If you haven't guessed by now... oh it was good.

Now, my dad is one of the King's of pasta salad, his recipes varied, very tasty and quick. I remember his Six Cent Salad. No, that's not some fusilli with big teeth that's gonna pop a cap in yo ass, yo. Instead, it was one of his creations which after coupons were handed in, discount items were used and time taken factored it, cost 6 cents to make. You did know my dad is part Scottish, eh?

Anyways, this pasta salad is his Greek variant. And let's face it, Greek anything is just better. The pasta is actually called scoobi doo, and it seems to be a cross between fusilli and elbow macaroni. It was an excellent choice as it resisted overcooking and held the dressing well. In a nutshell, the recipe was as follows and the veggies should be finely chopped. If you decide to use celery, be sure to peel it first.

Serdad's Greek Pasta Salad
2 cups uncooked pasta
1 half bell pepper
1 quarter red onion
some green onion
2 large pinches parmesan cheese
feta to taste
1/8 cup Golden Italian dressing
1 tbsp balasamic vinegrette (or straight balsamic vinegar, which I think I'll use next time)

1) Chop veggies
2) Boil pasta to al-dente, and rinse under cold water once it's been drained.
3) Mix everything together, chill and serve.

There's one thing I'd like to note, which is I'd chosen a different feta than usual yesterday. Typically, I go for the block of feta in brine, but instead I went for precrumbled feta. For me, that choice really made the salad, as the precrumbled was smoother, creamier and not at all as salty as the brine packed version. This meant that the salad didn't overpower the main dish, but accompanied it nicely. Also, as you can see it was wonderfully colourful and I have to admit, that was in my mind when I was plotting the menu. Oui, c'est vrai. Je suis l'homme.

Dinner complete and somewhat sated, the wonderful anticipation of the next feast begins.