National Democratic Institute Award Dinner
WASHINGTON, DC – The National Democratic Institute (NDI) announced today that Vice President Joe Biden will headline its annualDemocracy Award Dinneron Tuesday, Dec. 9.
The theme of this year’s dinner is “From Protest to Politics: Honoring Ukraine’s New Democrats.” Three young Ukrainian activists -- Hanna Hopko, Serhiy Leshchenko and Oleksandr Solontay -- will receive the Democracy Award at the dinner.
Each of the honorees had achieved prominence in their respective fields before the political situation in Ukraine prompted them to take part in the demonstrations that led to the fall of the country’s autocratic government earlier this year. They have now transitioned to the political arena. Two of them -- Hopko and Leshchenko -- were elected to parliament on political party lists on Oct. 26.
Hopko, who has a Ph.D. in social communications, helped to launch the “Reanimation Package of Reforms,” an innovative effort to promote democratic legislation. She was recently named one of Foreign Policy’s 100 Global Thinkers of 2014. Leshchenko is an investigative journalist and deputy editor-in-chief of Ukrainska Pravda, and Oleksandr Solontay is a political analyst at Kyiv’s Institute of Political Education.
All three of the Ukrainians spoke last night. It was very touching. The two men bent over to kiss Madeleine Albright on the cheek. She is so tiny.
Hanna said that she wanted this second chance for Ukraine to be successful for her 4 year old daughter who was staying with her parents in L'viv.
I sat next to Gabe for most of the dinner and then they switched seats and I sat by his girl friend Lauren for the rest of the meal while Gabe and Omar talked.
Nancy had surgery on her left foot recently so is in a huge boot thing and decided not to go to last night's dinner. We met other people who work with Omar and sat at the same table, but for the most part we sipped our ginger ale and watched people.
Of course, black is the uniform color for women in DC. Black dress, black slacks and jackets. I did see an unusual woman wearing a long black jacket with a bright red design all over the back and a red shawl. She definitely stood out among all of the drab clothes around. I appreciated Albright's dress with the small touch of deep red on the neck and cuffs.
DINNER
For dinner we had baby kale and baby mixed greens,, fresh pears, pomegranate seeds, aged cheddar, spiced pecans and muscatel vinaigrette. The salad was followed by the keynote speech given by Vice-president Biden.
Both the Professor and I liked the Muscatel vinaigrette dressing. I don't think it is as alcoholic as the name sounds. Here's one recipe. It used Muscatel vinegar.
Another salad option: Instead of kale salad, make Serious Pie’s mixed lettuce salad with Moscatel vinaigrette. Box up as much as you like of salad greens, sliced cucumber, and sliced radishes and pick up a bottle of Uniq Moscatel vinegar. Put your greens and veggies in a bowl and dress your salad just like they do at Serious Pie by sprinkling the salad first with vinegar to taste and then with extra virgin olive oil to taste. Toss salad, seasoning to taste with sea salt and freshly ground pepper and serve. Note that the Moscatel Vinegar is milder than other vinegars, so you can use a little more vinegar and a little less olive oil than you usually do when dressing a salad.
Another option:
Moscatel Vinaigrette
Sweet and tangy vinaigrette to top warm roasted vegetables.
Details
- Serving Size: 2 tablespoons
INGREDIENTS
- 3 1/2 tablespoons Moscatel or balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons California golden raisins, plumped (No raisins in the dressing we had.)
Dressing: Moscatel Vinaigrette
2 Tbsp Moscatel Vinegar (you may need to go to a gourmet grocer for this)
Salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon stone ground mustard
Ground Pepper to taste
2 Tbsp minced shallot
A pinch or two of fresh minced garlic
6 Tpsp (3/8 cup) olive oil
2 Tbsp Moscatel Vinegar (you may need to go to a gourmet grocer for this)
Salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon stone ground mustard
Ground Pepper to taste
2 Tbsp minced shallot
A pinch or two of fresh minced garlic
6 Tpsp (3/8 cup) olive oil
1/2 teaspoon honey
In a small bowl combine vinegar, salt, pepper, shallot and garlic. Add mustard. Slowly add olive oil while whisking the mixture. Then whisk in honey. The mustard should act as an emulsifier, preventing the mixture from separating.
In a small bowl combine vinegar, salt, pepper, shallot and garlic. Add mustard. Slowly add olive oil while whisking the mixture. Then whisk in honey. The mustard should act as an emulsifier, preventing the mixture from separating.
Roasted Guinea hen, English peas French style, fingerling potatoes, carrots
Tiny onions did not make it onto the menu but they appeared on my plate along with a delicious brown sauce. Only the breast with a golden skin was served on the plate.
· 1 guinea hen, about 4 pounds, rinsed and patted dry (if you have the time, place on a baking rack, uncovered, in the refrigerator for 24 hours)
· 4 teaspoons olive oil
· ¾ teaspoon coarse sea salt
· ½ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
· 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
· 3 cloves garlic, skin left on and lightly crushed
· 1 cup chicken broth
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the guinea hen in an iron skillet large enough for it to fit or in a heavy roasting dish. (Enameled cast iron is best.) Using your hands, rub 2 teaspoons of the olive oil all over the bird, inside and out. Season again all over with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with thyme leaves. Scatter the garlic cloves around the pan.
2. Place in the oven and roast 15 minutes. Drizzle with the remaining olive oil and roast, basting every 10 minutes with pan drippings, until a thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh reads 160 degrees; this should take 40 to 50 minutes.
3. Remove the hen from the oven and transfer to a cutting board.
Drain excess fat (leaving some!) from the pan and place over
medium-high heat. Pour in the chicken broth. Using a wooden spoon,
scrape up the pan drippings and bring to a boil. Reduce until the sauce
is syrupy. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cut the hen into 6 pieces and
pour the juices from the cutting board back into the sauce. Serve on
a platter and pass the sauce with a big spoon.
Roasted Guinea Hen Recipe - NYT Cooking
cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/6483-roasted-guinea-hen This recipe is by Amanda Hesser and takes 1 hour. .Guineafowl - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Guinea fowl meat is drier and leaner than chicken meat and has a gamey flavour. It has marginally more protein than chicken or turkey, roughly half the fat of ...- What used to be a wild bird, Guinea fowl, also known as pintade, is now mostly farm
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