Noodles Romanoff

Yesterday's special at the Spoon Drop Inn was Noodles Romanoff... And no, I checked, and there is no relation to the Romanov family, the last of the Russian royals.

However, this dish came by its name because it was originally served at Romanoff's, a famous Beverly Hills restaurant in the 1950s, that was owned by none other than Michael Romanoff. Ironically, that wasn't even his birth name. His parents gave him the name "Hershel Geguzin." It's probably a good thing he changed his name, because I can't imagine anyone wanting to eat a dish called "Noodles Geguzin."

Apparently the dish was a smash hit in Hollywood because of its "mystery ingredients," and Mr. Romanoff himself was full of mystery, because he had multiple aliases and fictional heritages and con games, and well... he was eventually deported for fraud. His restaurant closed, and Stauffer's reduced the Noodles Romanoff to a boxed frozen dinner special that any non-cooking mother can buy at the local grocery store.

But Mom is not a non-cooking mother! Thus, the BCC helped us to restore some of the dignity of this dish.

Noodles Romanoff (from p. 226 of the BCC): This is the first pasta dish we have made from the BCC! It looks like its in alfredo sauce, but it's actually a mixture of sour cream, Parmesan cheese, chives, salt, pepper, and garlic. Just cook the egg noodles and fold them in with the mixture. The recipe also says to be sure to arrange and serve it on a "warm platter." It had a wonderfully unique flavor, which I think made it worthy of its exotic last name. Mom served it as a "filling accompaniment" with Rotisserie chicken and breaded-baked zucchini.

Dad liked it, but was in a mischievous mood and suggested we fold it in with whipped cream next time instead of sour cream. "After all, cream is cream!" he said. Oh, the wisdom of Dad... I think he was just pining for more pumpkin pie.