August 1, 2013 A Bad Fish Day Lunch – Standard Diner Dinner- Grilled Frozen Halibut, Boiled Corn and Broccoli

August 1, 2013  A Bad Fish Day  Lunch – Standard Diner   Dinner- Grilled Frozen Halibut, Boiled Corn and Broccoli 

                Mike Runnels invited me to join him and Bob McNeil, Gary King and his assistant Chris for lunch at Standard Diner.

I enjoyed our conversation but I ordered the Crab Cake appetizer and it was terrible.  The Crab and filler must have been old, because it made the area below my lower lip discolor and the small bed of lettuce it was served on had wilted, as if they had made the salad ahead of time and then just popped it into the microwave to heat the whole dish.  Thankfully I did not notice the problem until after the lunch due to the engaging conversation and due to the auspicious company I could not get as dramatic as I would have liked with the wait staff.  

Last Wednesday I had bought a 1 lb. filet of halibut at Sprouts Market.  It was advertised as fresh but, as it turned out, it had been frozen; bummer.  We decided to sauté the remaining fingerling potatoes and some onion slices, so I sliced and Suzette sautéed them.

We were all hungry and decided to heat the kibbehs that Rosemary had brought me the day before with two small bowls of her lovely pickled onions.   We spread a mystery sauce on them, which think was a scape pesto sauce Suzette made in the spring.  The kibbehs were terrific, filled with pork and almonds, garnished with the thick scape sauce and drenched with Rosemary's pickled onions.  If you have not eaten at Rosemary's Table in Mesa del Sol, it is well worth trying, especially if you like the food of the Yucatán, where Rosemary is from.  

Kibbeh or kibbe (also kubbeh, kebbah or kubbi) (Arabic: كبة‎) is an Levantine dish^[1] made of bulghur, minced onions and ground red meat, usually beef, lamb, goat or camel. The best-known variety is a torpedo-shaped fried croquette stuffed with minced beef or lamb. Other types of kibbeh may be shaped into balls or patties, and baked or cooked in broth.^[2] Kibbeh is considered to be the national dish of Lebanon. ^[3]
Kibbeh is a popular dish in Levantine cuisine. It is widespread in Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Israel, Iraq, Iran, Egypt (where it is called kebbah or koubeiba), Cyprus (where it is called koupes),^[4] the Arabian Peninsula, Turkey (where it is called içli köfte), and several Latin American nations which received part of the Lebanese and Syrian diaspora during the early 20th century, such as Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Honduras and Mexico.
 

As Suzette grilled the halibut, I deflowered one head of broccoli and Suzette shucked three ears of beautiful white corn (4 ears for $1.00 at Sprouts).  We heated a pot of water and put the broccoli and corn into the simmering water to cook.  Soon we had a lovely meal.   We put a smear of Bearnaise Sauce on the broccoli and butter on the corn and had a good meal, even if the fish was dried out due to the fact that the moisture had been frozen and leached out of the halibut when it was reheated.

We drank a bottle of Geyser Peak Sauvignon Blanc ($7.79 at Costco) that was pleasant but not memorable.

I guess one day of bad fish out of hundreds is not bad, especially if you have fresh delicious kibbehs to get you through it.

Bon Appétit