US Marines and Me

Tags

Cheese, diplomatic, Marine Corps, parmesan, Poland, USA, Warsaw

Years ago we were invited to the USA Embassy in Warsaw for the US Marines Ball. This is a big affair and is organized by the US Marine Corps stationed at USA Embassies each year. Each USA Embassy has a number of Marines present to ensure security inside the building. In Poland the diplomatic corps would be invited to this ball and dinner and it was lavish in terms of the food and the evening itself, I wore black tie but all the Military Attachés wore ceremonial dress.

I forget where this event was held, probably at the Marriott Hotel. The food was spectacular and truly 5 stars. At the reception before the dinner young marines, I think they were 18 served guests and they were very formal and polite in a rather sharp Marine way. There was this huge wheel of Parmesan Cheese, the wheel had a diameter of 4 feet and was 17 inches thick. It had been imported for the evening from Italy. There was quite a lot of canapés served before dinner and you had to pace yourself simply to be able to get through the meal. Everything was paired wine and food. We could take a good piece of parmesan which had been roughly cut to have with your glass of wine. It was very good and since I do enjoy eating good Parmesan that way.

The evening is hosted each year by the Marine Corps on the date of their creation as a military unit. So there are lots of speeches etc about the USA and the glory of the Corps. One element which I cannot forget and appeared very strange to me, all marines had to have a girlfriend as an escort. No such thing as a single marine and she had to be American. We were in Poland so it is not customary for Marines to bring girlfriends on assignments. It transpired when speaking with their commanding officer that the girlfriends were brought over from the USA for this evening. It was very artificial and strange, it was obvious that these young ladies were there for the purpose of presenting a heterosexual image of the Corps. Now I was told that the US taxpayer does not cover the expense of this Dinner/Ball but the Marines do. It was a fun evening if a bit stiff but then a lot of diplomatic functions are.

Meals

Tags

Atlantic, Canada., Cheese, cream, cuisine, Food, parmesan, pasta, PEI, penne, Recipe, shrimp

Recently a fellow blogger commented that we eat like Royalty. I don’t think we do but every morning as I rise early at the crack of Noon, my first question to Monsieur W is what will we have for dinner and his answer is always, what do we have in the garde manger? We always try to plan meals ahead so that it is all organized before meal time. These days with all the restrictions it is unlikely we will get a dinner invitation or go to a restaurant, they are ALL closed!

I also watch Sheryl on What’s for tea on YouTube and she plans her meals for the week, now I would not do that, but she does because she lives South of Glasgow Scotland and goes to Tesco to shop for specials. She is also very chatty on her channel. I do watch two other cuisine channels who will have some interesting recipes. Bonita in Newfoundland of Bonita’s Kitchen on YouTube specializes in NFLD cooking and specialty and I did find a couple of recipe she presented. One of them is the following recipe for a Cheddar Shrimp and Penne bake. Simple and easy to make, no fuss. She also presented the other day a Lobster Salad and again easy to make and so good looking. I am going to try that in the coming weeks when I can get some Lobster claws, I need 3 cup full. It’s the sort of thing you can prepare for a luncheon and everyone will think it was so fab!

So here is a sample of what was on the menu this past few days at Maison B&H.

Roast chicken with sage and roasted vegetables in a rich white wine sauce. We have been roasting radishes and they are quite good with other root vegetables.

Filet of steak with a baked potato

Osso Buco (veal) with a white rice and vegetables celery, carrots and onions in white wine sauce.

Wild Pacific Salmon and home made scallop potatoes in a cream sauce.

Tonight is the following recipe which only take 20 minute to prepare and 35 to cook.

Cheddar Shrimp and Penne

Ingredients

• 2 cups uncooked penne pasta
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 2 cups 2% milk
• 1-1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided.
• 1/2 cup of Parmesan
• 1 pound peeled and deveined cooked medium shrimp

Directions

• Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, cook the garlic in butter over medium heat for 1 minute. Stir in the flour, salt and pepper until blended. Gradually add milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Reduce heat; stir in 1 cup of cheese until melted. Remove from the heat.
• Drain pasta; add the pasta, shrimp to cheese sauce, mix well. Transfer to a greased 2-qt. baking dish.
• Cover and bake at 350° for 25 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with cheddar cheese remaining and add Parmesan. Bake 10-15 minutes longer or until bubbly.