Root Down, Denver

So my last travel meal and first back in the US
was spurred by my seatmate Ernie, who, when I
asked him about where to eat during a moderate
layover in Denver, suggested Elway's and then,
looking me up and down, this place, which he
represented as serving small plates, by which I
think he meant sissy food.

I took the tram to the Southwest terminal and found
the restaurant in a jiffy - you could tell it by the
long line. I went up to the hostess and asked how
long a wait, and she said if I wanted to sit in the
bar area, I could just plunk myself down. I found a
place at the rail facing out into the terminal, and
in a few minutes a waitress came by for my order. I
got the house burger medium-rare (I was not 100%
trusting of the kitchen), which comes with arugula,
Cheddar, and I think it was 4 strips of bacon. It
was $20. The bun was sturdy and "artisanal," and
I ate half of that. The burger was of good meat,
done medium-well, too finely ground. The other stuff
was pretty decent. With all that I got the Ska
Buster nut brown ale, sweetish, malty, sort of
toffeeish, uncomplicated but pleasant. A child's
introduction to beer except for the 5.2% alcohol.

The meal filled me up nicely for $30, a crummy
price for such a dinner if it weren't in an
airport. Afterward I toddled to the club for
dessert and discovered that they were serving
cream of crab soup, so I had to have some. It was
actually okay, and I got some more, but I ate
dessert (M&Ms) anyway. I cut a few calories by
not having my usual glass of bourbon with.

--

I had this yen for some yummy pate I'd made a while
back and discovered that someone had delved into it
and had not properly resealed it (you melt fat or
paraffin and pour it over to form an airtight seal).
There went a couple pounds of ex-deliciousness to
enrich the septic system. So mining for more
embarrassments at the back of the fridge I found
a cup and half of leftover Betty Crocker au gratin
potatoes, something I've not tasted in going on 60
years, and so I figured why not. I recooked it with
part of a leftover onion and some fine cubed
leftover ham just as my mother used to do, and
guess what. Aside from that it was wow salty, it
actually was better than what I remembered - less
cardboardy or off-flavored or off-textured. The
potatoes did have a bit of that same reconstituted
taste, but the sauce, much improved probably by
advances in cheese dehydration technology, covered
over any defects better. The 1950s stuff I'd not
feel guilty about throwing away. This I might.

--

Back in Boston, I found some wildly overaged potatoes
so, having had my appetite whetted by my previous
sort of wanting experience, made the following:

Au gratin potatoes
categories: salvage, starch, main
servings: 4

1 oz butter
1 md onion, sliced 1/8"
2 lg potatoes, peeled, sliced 1/4"
1 c beef broth
1 c cream or to cover
pepper, nutmeg
1 c Cheddar, chopped or grated

Melt butter in a large heavy cast-iron
skillet and wilt the onion until lightly
browned. Remove with a slotted spoon.

Dip the potato slices on both sides In the
same fat, then arrange them in a rosette
pattern in the skillet. Strew the onion
and the cheese over, then pour the liquids
on top. Season generously with pepper and
lightly with nutmeg. Bake at 250F for an
arbitrarily long time. After an hour, taste
the liquid to see if salt is needed; probably
it won't be, but if it is, add some or maybe
some bacon or ham mince. If too much liquid
remains near dinnertime, crank the heat a bit.
Serve hot by itself with a salad or alongside
a roasted main dish.

Source: moi
--- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
* Origin: Fido Since 1991 | QWK by Web | BBS.FIDOSYSOP.ORG (1:123/140)