Day 274: Experimenting with Food ; cooking/baking and eating it

The other nite was the first time I made the No Bake Chocolate Blueberry Cream Pie. It was pretty good. This picture is after we had a slice. It isn't a perfect pie. I didn't follow the instructions completely. I messed up on a step. I improvised and continued the recipe. I could've also made the sides a bit cleaner. That's ok, I forgive myself because it was the first time making it. Practice makes perfect, right?


The other night we went to Bouzyos and I tried a new dish. Every time I go to a Greek restaurant I usually go for lamb; lamb roast, lamb chops or lamb soulavi. As in my Restaurant posting, I ordered the Mediterranean Prawns and Scallops. That was delicious. Tonight, my dad and I went to Sfinaki (thanks Entertainment Book). My dad told me tonight that he has never tried Greek food before. Because he hasn't been to a Greek restaurant before, it was up to me to decide on the dishes. I wanted to be experimental and try new dishes that I haven't tried before. I, luckily, had a good experience at Bouzyos and now I am hoping it will be a good experience at Sfinaki.

I ordered the following dishes:

Mousaka - classic casserole dish layered with spiced ground beef, eggplant, zucchini and topped with creamy bechamel, served with rice pilaf, roasted potato, greek salad and pita



Sfinaki deluxe - medley of lamb sausage, beef and chicken stir fryed with mushrooms and onions in a tangy tomato sauce, served with rice pilaf, roasted potato, greek salad and pita


Overall, I am glad I ordered these dishes. They were both great. My dad has bad teeth and some of the beef chunks he couldn't chew. But for me, it was fine. My dish has ground beef. My dad's dish has lamb sausage, beef and chicken. My dish was baked. My dad's dish was stir fryed. Greek food is more thanI about souvlaki and lamb. There are so many other dishes. Maybe souvlaki is the 'Westernized' version of Greek food? There are some 'Westernized' Chinese food; sweet and sour pork or chicken, etc. But there is so much more to Chinese food than the 'Western' dishes. There are some Vietnamese dishes that are on every Vietnamese menu; spring rolls, salad rolls, etc. What my parents make at home is totally different than what they sell at the restaurants. Maybe those types of food don't sell? I don't like fusion Chinese and Vietnamese food. I have to pay more to eat that type of food with a Western flair and usuallythey are smaller portions. I like the authentic dishes. Growing up, my parents always got me to try the different dishes. You know the ones with tripe, chicken feet, brains, liver or intestine. Sounds great, huh?

I got a great idea. When my parents cook, I should write down the recipes and learn to make the dishes. I can experiment with traditional dishes.