Hank and Holly recently held a Big Fat Greek Party. How Big, Fat, and Greek was it?Well, let me give some back story first.... I dragged Rob and my two friends, Jill and Alan, with me to the bacchanalian event with promises of delicious food and good company. Acquiescing to my argument (I promised food to students, it wasn't pulling teeth) they agreed.
Upon arriving we were greeted by Hank, adorned in his grilling attire, and Holly, a.k.a. Hera. We were poured each an Octopini and gestured to the table.Now Hank pretty much prepared, grew, of killed every single speck of food at this event. He grilled the octopus (and pickled them for the Octopinis), made all the salads, cured all the olives, seasoned and grilled the quail, killed the antelope for the sausages (plural, as in many kinds of salami and sausages), butchered the lamb - of which there were chops, flanks, sausages, and two legs that had smoked and cured for two days. (You can find many of the recipes on Hank's site.)
My god, it was an event. I can honestly say I have not eaten that well in a long time.
I did have a small contribution, I brought my famous baklava. It seemed to go over quite well, though it was a bit soggy as I was working in a new kitchen and my timing got all off. Still, it was tasty and I altered the recipe by adding some vanilla bean, Meyer lemon, and whole cardamom pods. YUM!
All and all, a wonderful event! Thanks Hank and Holly! Can't wait till next year and the next bottle of Ouzo!
That octotini scares the bejeebus out of me. But I'm pretty scared of cephalopods anyway.
ReplyDeleteStrangely enough, they were a hit. We even ran out of octopi for the octopinis. And pretty much everyone ate the garnish. Except me. After nursing one octopus in my glass all night, I misplaced it and never got to nibble his little legs.
ReplyDeleteOpa! A fun time was had by all - thanks for coming, Garrett. Can I tell you just how much freakin' lamb we have left over? Sheesh.
ReplyDeleteMs. Meghan - I'm with you! While the octopus kabobs looks mighty tasty, those octotini's look like something out of a sci-fi horror flick! Pretty adventurous!
ReplyDeletethat must have been such amazing food!! the cocktail looks really cool, too! great blog!!
ReplyDeleteUm, you just breeze by the octopini as if you can get this at every TGIFridays. Tell me more!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a truly amazing party.
I am in awe of Hank's hunter-gatherer skills and you can bet I am heading over to his site! However, I am not a martini fan on the best of days and a martini with floating octopus....not so much. I'll trade mine for an extra helping of lamb!
ReplyDeleteThe tiny vegan inside my heart just fainted at the sight of your Octopini. I may need a shot of ouzo to revive her.
ReplyDeleteWow! Sounds like a big PHAT Greek party!
ReplyDeleteNot so much on the martini. I think that squid was still alive in the glass swimming around when you took that picture.
ReplyDelete