Cooking & Baking

The Landlady(!) and I are alone for Easter Sunday and we took the Q Train to NYC's Brighton Beach today. After a nice long walk next to the Atlantic Ocean, we went shopping at a local Russian supermarket called Gourmandoff. (The neighborhood is predominantly populated by Russian emigres and their families.)

It was amazing! The entire store was filled with specialty items. The produce section was just gorgeous to look at and had many varieties of every fruit and vegetable. The bakery had all kinds of lovely freshly made products. The seafood department was incredible and we had to resist our desire to buy one or two of each. The butchery was filled with beef, pork, fowl, sausages and some game meats, both fresh and pre-packaged. They had every kind of bologna ever conceived. Every other section of the store was equally remarkable. We felt like we were pre-teens in the toy store.

Anyway, here's the meal we selected from the beautiful offerings:

Seafood Appetizer
Herring in Olive Oil with Mediterranean Spices
Green Olives Wrapped in Anchovy Filets
Beluga Caviar on Slices of Cucumber with Lemon and Dill

Roasted Rack of Lamb
8 Ribs of Frenched Lamb Ribs Marinated in Indian Spices
Aloo Paratha (Indian Bread Stuffed with Mashed Potatoes and Peas)
Basmati Rice
Shitake Mushrooms and Fennel Sautéed in Red Onion and Garlic

Dinner Wine
Rioja (2016, although I have no idea if that means a damn thing)

Dessert
Mango and Apple Slices

Two things that make me chuckle. First, the supermarket is in an old movie theater and the ticket office is still in front of the entrance. They still have relics from that building's heritage and there's a stage on which I think they occasionally have performances. Second, we bought the food at a Russian store but we're making an Indian dinner. Weird.

Happy Easter and a blessed Passover to all of our foodie friends!