Thanksgiving Dinner – Stuffed Red Snapper baked in a salt crust

November 24, 2011  Thanksgiving Dinner – Stuffed Red Snapper baked in a salt crust

Suzette saw a recipe in Eating Well on the plane for salt encrusted fish, so we went to one of the fish markets in Sayulita and bought four small Red Snappers. The street was closed off and there was a huge band playing Mariachi Music in front of the Chile Rellenos Restaurant and across the bridge on the other side of town was a huge parade in support of voting green in the local election, so little Sayulita was in a very festive mood.  We stopped a new bakery (Panaderia) and purchased a chocolate croissant. Then took our fish back to the house and we went on the back road to the Coral Highway (Carraterra Coral) on the north side of Punta Mita, which lies at the northern tip of the Bay of Banderas, where there is a coral reef offshore.  The CarraCoral has been formed by the wave action tearing off pieces of coral and pushing them to shore, where they aggregate at the high tide line forming a road like strata of white. 

The other reason Suzette and I like the CarraCoral is because it is located on one of the most beautiful bays in Mexico.  A sweep of pure white sand about five miles long with a very flat beach that is ideal for walking and because we have found so many cowries on its beach.  We walked to our favorite spot beyond the first bend where there is a channel that runs out to a line of rocks that block the waves and is very calm and only about three feet deep out to a distance of about 150 feet.   Since the water is warmer and calmer in this protected area the fish are abundant. After eating some of our leftover sandwiches from the 23^rd and drinking a beer, we put on our snorkeling masks and went into the water. 

Just as we had hoped the fish were abundant.  I saw lots of a purple fish and silver dollar shaped fish with two black strips across their bodies.  Suzette saw a large parrot fish and several different fish.  We both agreed that it was the best snorkeling in years.  We then drove to Punta Mita to buy gas and found none, but as we drove toward Cruz and the National Highway, we passed a Pemex station under construction just like the one at the Sayulita turnoff.  After gassing up at La Cruz, we drove back to Sayulita via the jungle highway and stopped in town, where we found fresh string beans and bought onions and garlic, celery, raisins and dried coconut and bolillos.

 When we arrived at home we found that Luke had made a dessert of galletas (round butter cookies), condensed milk and lime juice for our Thanksgiving Dinner.  After drinking a lovely strawberry Daiquiri that Suzette made we started cooking.  The first dish was the dressing.  Suzette combined two stale bolillos cut into one inch cubes with about one cup each of chopped celery, onion, parsley, (sauteed till wilted in butter) and four beaten  eggs.  We then stuffed the fish and Suzette mixed one kilo of kosher salt with one cup of water and a hand full of parsley and then added some more regular salt to thicken the salt batter so it would adhere to the fish.  Then she coated the four fish with the batter and folded them into packets of aluminum foil and placed them on a baking rack in a 350°F oven to bake for thirty minutes (See recipe).  Luke then snapped the string beans and I cut flowerlets from the cauliflower and cubed one large white potato. 

As the vegetables boiled and the fish baked, I asked Luke what he wished to drink and he said, “Something pink!”, so I opened a bottle of Guigal Côtes du Rhone Rose 2010.  It was fruity, yet had a lot of character and complexity, characteristic of Rhone wines with their distinctive mixture of grapes.  It was a fun drink even if it overpowered the tender fish a bit. 

When thirty minutes had passed, we removed the packets of salt covered fish from the oven and tore them open.  I tried to carefully remove all of the salt from the fish.  It was easy where there was skin, but more difficult where it covered the dressing.  I then filleted the fish by removing their skin and taking the fillets off the central bone and removing the bones in the dorsal fin areas.  I laid the fish fillets on a plate and put the dressing with the fillets and then Suzette added some string beans and some of the potato and cauliflower mixture.  It made a lovely plate (See picture).  The fish was very tender and we agreed that it was not as watery as poached fish and not as dry as baked fish.  So it appears that the salt holds the juices in the fish.  What we are not sure about is whether the same effect can be obtained by simply wrapping a whole fish in aluminum foil and baking it without the salt. 

We lit candles on the patio outside our house and ate the tender fish with vegetables under starlight in the middle of the jungle and counted ourselves very thankful.  After dinner, Luke served the dessert he made and we sipped brandy with it.  A lovely Thanksgiving meal.

 Mucho Gracias por todo

November 23, Pasta Shells stuffed with goat cheese in Smoked Marlin Sauce.

November 23, Pasta Shells stuffed with goat cheese in Smoked Marlin Sauce.

Pictures coming later, technical difficulties in Mexico uploading pictures and videos

After making ham and cheese sandwiches on lonches (flattened bolillos), we spent the day at the beach in Sayulita.  After getting sick on food on the beach two years ago, I prefer to take my own food, when possible.  But when a fellow walked by with a tray of ice and one dozen fresh shucked oysters on it, we could not resist and bought a dozen for 80 pesos.  They were deliciously fresh and by all appearances had been taken from the waters off Sayulita only hours earlier.   So we ate oysters, sandwiches and drank Buena Noche beer.  Buena Noche is Moctezuma Brewery’s wonderful Holiday bock beer.  To my taste it has characteristics of both a dark beer and a light pilsner.  Somewhat like a bock Bohemia, Moctezuma’s best beer, in my opinion.

At around 4:00 p.m. we wandered around downtown Sayulita and stopped at the small grocery store where we purchased a container of crema, a lovely red bell pepper, and more avocados.  Then we walked another block to the fish store.  We thought we would buy some shrimp to sautèe with the shells, but we saw that they had smoked marlin, so we bought about one pound frozen chunk of it for 43 pesos ($3.50).  

As we walked back toward our car we passed a small truck loaded with coolers of fresh seafood.  A man was straddling the coolers with a large shrimp in his hand.  He stopped beside us and we picked six large shrimp that weighed .35 kilo (.77 pounds) and paid the man 65 pesos for them.  Translated into shrimps per pound the shrimp would be 8 to the pound.  Big shrimp

We then drove home and, after a drink and my thawing the marlin and Suzette boiling the leftover chicken to make a chicken stock, we started cooking.  While Suzette boiled the beautiful Sgambaro No. 53 – Lumache pasta shells, I chopped one onion and one-half red bell pepper, two cloves of garlic and about one-half pound of the marlin.  The marlin turned out to be very tender and was the dark red color of aged beef.  After the shells cooled she stuffed the about 1 ½ inch openings with small mounds of the chipotle goat cheese we had purchased the day before. 

Then she sautéed the chopped onion, garlic and bell pepper in olive oil and butter, while I chopped about one-fourth cup of Italian flat leaf parsley.  I asked Luke if he had a preference in wines and he said that he would like a buttery white, so I opened a bottle of Finca Montico Rueda 2009 that I had purchased at the Marques de Riscal Vineyard in Spain in April.   We tasted the Rueda and Luke loved it.  I agreed that it was a very special wine.  I think I paid 8.8 Euros or about $12.30 for the bottle at the Riscal Vineyard.  I don’t know if it is imported into the U.S.  I also like the label which seems to show the acreage where the wine is grown.  The wine had a pleasant fruity front end, a darker minerally middle and lovely finish on the back of the tongue.

After pouring about ¼ cup of wine and an equal amount of chicken stock into the sauce we let covered it and it let cook for about fifteen minutes and then added about 1/8 cup of parsley and cooked it a bit more and then Suzette added the stuffed shells to the sauce pan and lowered the heat and covered the shells and sauce to heat throughout. 

Then Suzette put some olive oil and butter in a pan and put the shrimp into the pan to sautee. The five heads on shrimp filled the pan to overflowing and it required about ten minutes to cook them thoroughly.

 Luke made rice and lentils that he had soaked earlier in the day and while we were cooking he cooked the rice.   As we finished cooking, Luke heated one of the vegetarian chile rellenos in the small toaster oven and when it was hot added to it some of the warm rice and garnished it with chopped parsley.

We then plated up the shells and sauce and garnish them with one of the sautéed large shrimps.

A lovely looking meal (see picture) and the rich meaty sauce was delicious and unusual.  Suzette commented on the fact that we had created a different sort of dish.  Unusual in the sense that it included both a hearty meaty fish sauce with delicate goat cheese filled pasta shells and shrimp.  The goat cheese was rather pasty, so was perfect for stuffing into the shells because it held its shape inside the shells but also mixed with the sauce when the shells were cut and combined with the liquid of the sauce. 

The shrimp were fresh.  The plump chewy texture and briny flavor of a fresh shrimp is really indescribable.  Each shrimp yielded five fork sized bites of tender white meat.  Luke and I shared two and Suzette ate one; and we have three sautéed shrimp and small plate of stuffed shells left as PPI’s.

After dinner Luke shared a chocolate bar with me and we drank a sip of Mexican Solera Presidente Brandy.   

A terrific meal.  I later found out that the U.S. Dow Jones average plummeted over 236 points and I was thankful that I missed that and felt far from the madness of the world of investing, sitting and cooking in this imported Indonesian Teak wood house in the Mexican jungle with all of the conveniences of home.

Bon Appetit 

November 22, 2011 Lunch Chabacango Dinner – Chile Rellenos

November 22, 2011 Lunch Chabacango  Dinner – Chile Rellenos

Pictures and video to be insereted upon return to the States, technical difficulties in Mexico are not allowing the upload of videos and pictures, sorry

We woke up hungry so I chopped up some of the fresh papaya and ate cereal with papaya. Then when Suzette awoke she was hungry so we chopped some onion, garlic, roasted chicken and potatoes and tomatoes and avocado and scrambled them with eggs, and topped it with cheese,  the perfect wayt to start a Mexican vacation.  Then, we drove to Puerto Vallarta  and walked around looking at art galleries and pricing silver bracelets.  We loved walking on the newly refurbished Malacon with its exquisite mosaics of fanciful shapes executed in black and white stones and through the new and old town areas.  We went to the market that lies between the two, but did not see anything of interest.  A gallery on Mina Street had lovely ceramic and steel sculptures.   Finally, I was getting hungry and tired and after taking a look at the menu at Maxmillano’s we decided to look for the small café that I love called Las Ollas across the street from the school in the old town.  It was closed on Tuesdays, but we found a new seafood bar at the end of the street named Bargalao’s.  I saw that they had Chabacango coctel so I ordered one.  Chabacango is my favorite with its octopus, scallops, shrimp and fish ceviche.  This one was served in the typical large parfait glass with finely chopped cucumber, red onions, and tomatoes in a catsup and seafood liquor and garnished with one-half of an avocado beautifully sliced and fanned across the top like a little green island in a red and white sea. Very Japanese.  Simple, yet beautiful.

We stopped at the new Mega super market just south of Bucerias on our trip back to Sayulita and did some more shopping (948 pesos).  We found beautiful poblano chiles that are used locally to make chile rellenos.  The poblano is not very hot and has a very thick flesh so it makes an ideal pocket for stuffing. The ones we found were about seven to eight inches straight, not twisted.  We saw a prep stand where there were freshly cut nopales, so we decided to make a green tomatillo sauce for the chiles and so we bought tomatillos, and a bag of the nopales.  When we asked the lady at the deli counter what cheese to use for rellenos, she handed us a bag of Oaxacan string cheese for the stuffing.  We also saw beautiful pasta shells, so we purchased some Mexican Chipolte flavored goat cheese and fresh mushrooms.  We then saw our favorite Mexican beer, Noche Buena, which is only made in the Holiday season, so we bought a 12 pack of it.  There was also another prep station where a man was squeezing fresh fruit juices, so we bought a liter of orange and a liter of strawberry juice. After the usual selection of whiskey, rum and brandy, flattened bolillos and mustard and mayonnaise, plus coke, ham, cheese for sandwiches, we were off. 

I looked up several recipes on the internet and found one that looked great.   Since we did not have baking soda or powder to bind the coating, we decided on the traditional method of beating the egg whites until stiff and then adding the egg and flour mixture to it. 

I started cooking the sauce, by chopping and sautéing one onion, five tomatillos, one of the cooked jalapenos from our chicken dinner and about a pound of nopales.  After those ingredients cooked a bit, Luke and I added a handful of cilantro and I chopped and tossed in two cloves of garlic and bit of water to make the sauce looser. 

While I charred the skins of the 6 chiles on the gas burner on top of the stove and threw them into a plastic bag to steam loose, Suzette started working on the sauce.  Apparently the one jalapeno pepper was about one-half too much, so Suzette chopped up an avocado to thicken and make the sauce milder.   We realized that we had used chicken stock before to make the sauce milder and  then, also recalled that we had used crema to soften and make the sauce milder as well.  We had considered buying some crema, at the store, but rejected that idea as too much dairy.  She blended all of the ingredients into a thick sauce.  After the sauce was made I peeled and de-seeded the chiles and then whipped four egg whites until they were stiffened until the peak stood (See picture).

I then whipped the egg yolks and flour into a thickened paste and folded that in with the egg whites to make a fluffy batter.

While I was charring, deseeding, and whipping Suzette made the stuffing with rice and chicken and got the cheese ready.  She then stuffed and battered the chiles, three with rice, cheese and chopped chicken and three vegetarian ones without chicken.  Suzette used mayonnaise to bind the ingredients together since we did not have toothpicks to seal the chiles. 

She then sauteed the battered chiles in olive oil to cook and brown the batter and we lit the oven and baked them for a few minutes to warm the ingredients fully.

We then each took one of the chicken and rice ones, put a scoop of the green tomatillo sauce on it and garnished the chile relleno with some dry flakes of cojita cheese we had bought at the Mega store.  We ate them with a Negra Modelo outside on the patio in candle light.  They were delicious, although we all agreed that it took a lot of prep time and it would have been far easier to buy them at a restaurant for 90 pesos, even considering the fact that the other three vegetarian ones we made will be like gifts from the Gods.  The Chile Rellenos can be cooked and then stored for several days.  When we go to the market restaurants in PV and in Albuquerqaue, I always see plates full of already prepared chile Rellenos that are just waiting to be heated and served.  Also, Suzette and I made my favorite kind last year in Albuquerque with beef picadillo and raisins and pecans.  The thing to remember about chile rellenos is that they are never perfect and they don’t have to be because they always taste great and folks will love you for making them.   

For dessert, I drank a Lala yogurt drink flavored with pineapple and coconut.  Slightly sweet, but it dispelled the ill effects of the fried chile.

Bon Apetit

   

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November 18, 2011 Dinner – Poached Salmon and Greens on Pesto and Linguine

November 18, 2011 Lunch - A Chinese Banquet

Dinner – Poached Salmon and Greens on Pesto and Linguine

I ate lunch at East Ocean.  After I finished my favorite, Scallops in Lobster Sauce, Choi and Bill invited me to join them and meet their relatives from Taiwan.  They were having a large Chinese meal and asked me to stay.  The meal was served one dish at a time.  It started with beef tendon cooked in a hot pot (a first time experience) followed by roast duck in a light brown sauce and then a large Rock Fish with threaded scallions, ginger and the thin black sauce made with oil and soy.  Choi and her relatives had a large family discussion about who got to eat the eyes from the fish and finally Choi took the one nearest me.  After a lovely bowl of rice and fish, I told them I had to go to work so excused myself after taking one stalk of the next dish, Chinese Broccoli in garlic sauce.

Choi, who has worked as a Chinese chef, confirmed my belief that East Ocean is the best Chinese Restaurant in Albuquerque.   If Choi is correct East Ocean has a special Chinese menu.  But I tend to think that the kitchen can cook both Chinese and Americanized  Chinese food and when Chinese walk in and ask for Chinese dishes, the kitchen simply goes into full Chinese cuisine cooking mode.   

After a bike ride cut short by descending darkness, I went into the garden at dusk and picked kale and spinach and some garlic greens and thyme. I de-stemmed and chopped these. When Suzette came home we decided to poach one of the fresh salmon filets left over from the Gravad Lax demonstration, since I was not very hungry.

So I fetched the bottle of salmon stock and chopped two cloves of garlic and gave them to Suzette, who did a one pan poaching of the salmon by adding about 2 tablespoons of white wine (Cutler Creek Pinot Grigio) and butter to the stock and covering the pan with a wok cover (See picture). After the fish had poached for about ten minutes, we added the greens and covered them also (See Picture), while I heated the linguine in the microwave and mixed it with some of the pesto we had prepared with the fresh basil grown in our garden about one month ago (See Picture).

We drank the Cutler Creek Pinot Grigio, which went surprisingly well with the salmon and pesto

A simple and very satisfying meal. The fresh greens tasted really flavorful and healthy, as they had absorbed the wonderful flavor from the poaching medium in which they were steamed. The combination of flavors of the pesto and fresh thyme and garlic with the fresh salmon was really pleasant also.

Breakfast and Lunch on the Plane 21^st   On the flight from Albuquerque (6:05 am) we ate a beautiful cherry turnover, baked at the Green House Bistro and Bakery and given to us by Executive Chef Ann Sesler on Saturday, with the complimentary coffee and tea on the plane to Dallas.  We then ate our German sandwiches with Heineken’s beers on the flight from Dallas to Puerto Vallarta.  The best plane food are still the food items that you pack.  Fortunately they still let you bring food through security. 

When we arrived in PV at 1:30 p.m we fetched our rental car and went to the Mega Supermarket at the Marina Shopping Center next to the airport.  We bought a few basic things to eat, like bread, pineapple marmalade, water, Negra Modelo beer, tomatoes, onions, avocados, limes, eggs, potatoes, milk, yogurt (400 pesos).  We then ran around the corner to the Pechurgon chicken store where we bought a chicken dinner with a whole chicken, roasted potatoes, several grilled jalapenos, chile sauce and tortillas; a wealth of PPI’s, for 100 pesos.

Then we went back to the airport to pick up Luke and we drove to Sayulita.

We had agreed to meet Angelica our guide and neighbor to the house we had rented at 5:30 p.m. at Choco Banana on the square, so when we arrived in Saylita at 4:30 p.m. Luke and I did some shopping at the Super Mini store on the squares and bough cereal, cilantro, and a beautiful papaya and two  avocados.  After stowed the additional groceries in the car, we went by the surf shop and then at the end of the street, we sat at table at the restaurant facing the beach and the ocean, where we ordered guacamole and chips, rice and beans for Luke.  Suzette ordered the large margarita that came in the largest margarita glass I have ever seen, about 12 inches across.

We then went back to the Choco Banana and met Angelica and we all drove to the house that is in deep jungle just south of Sayulita.  When we finally got settled into the house, we were more tired than hungry so I went to bed.    

November 20, 2011 Dinner – Duck Salad

November 20, 2011  Dinner – Duck Salad

What a way to leave on a trip.  The problem with our style of cooking is that since you are always preparing dishes and ingredients that last into the future, what happens when you leave town and that process is cut off.  How do you plan for a trip in such a way that your ingredients are used up as you walk out the door?   Well this trip is a good example of how that process can work.  As you know we ate roast duck last night and saved the breasts for a salad.  Suzette said that our new crop of lettuce in the garden was ripening, but I was not sure.  Alas, she was correct.  When it was time to start dinner Suzette walked in with a basket full of baby salad greens from our garden; our first fall/winter crop.  I then made a tarragon wine vinegar dressing with our newly made tarragon vinegar, about a tablespoon of dried tarragon (from the garden), a little Dijon mustard, two pressed cloves of garlic and some olive and grape seed oils, whipped until stiff.  Suzette steamed the last of our bundle of asparagus and I heated and sliced cranberry glazed duck breasts.  This was one of the best duck salads I have ever eaten.  The fresh garden greens were so delicate that they almost melted as they touched one’s tongue.   We ate the salad with the last of a bottle of Concannon Sauvignon Blanc.

After dinner I fetched all the salami, gelbwurst and coarse Liverwurst (Braunshweiger) from the fridge and some German rye bread slices and the last three pieces of German fullkorns bread, smeared bread with mayonnaise and German deli mustard and then layers of meat and then sliced Swiss cheese, bagged them with a quartered gala apple and our trip food was ready.

Arguably, this was one of the best food ending, trip starting, transitions in very long time.

Bon Voyage . . .  off to Sayulita, Mexico

November 19, 2011 Dinner - Roast Duck with Sautèed Turnips

November 19, 2011 Dinner -  Roast Duck with Sautèed Turnips

I met Suzette at the Greenhouse Bistro after my massage and we discussed whether to eat at the Bistro or go home.  Since I had two duck halves thawing at home, I gladly agreed to go home for dinner when Suzette said she wanted to get into her pajamas so she could relax because she was tired and wanted to relax at home. 

When I arrived at home, I reviewed the section in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking on turnips and saw that she recommended simply roasting them with butter or beef stock.  Julia also suggested blanching turnips for 2 to 3 minutes if they were not young and tender and garnishing them with fresh parsley. 

When Suzette arrived, I quickly agreed to her idea of sautéing some turnips and carrots from our garden with some onion in butter, rather than baking them.  So I cubed about one pound of turnips and one-half pound of carrots and one-half onion into cubes. 

We then pricked the duck skin and placed it on a baking the rack of a baking pan with a rack on it so the fat and moisture could drip down and allow the duck skin to crisp and because the duck halves were not completely thawed and needed to release their moisture.  Instead of the normal 15 minutes recommended on the package we roasted the duck for about 25 minutes on the convection setting of the oven, increasing the temperature to 475 for the last 10 minutes to try to crisp the skin.

While the duck was roasting and the turnips, onion and carrots were sautéing I went to the garden and picked about 1/4 cup of parsley and de-stemmed it and chopped it and threw it into the turnip mixture to cook and Suzette seasoned the turnip mixture with a healthy dash of freshly ground black pepper and coarse sea salt.  The winter turnip mixture still had slight bitter flavor, so Suzette made a mixture of brown sugar and cheese and added it to the turnips.  It created a light sweetness and creaminess to the mixture. 

We have received a comment from a reader who mentioned that we use a lot of “leftovers” in our cooking.  Since the term “leftover” seems to have a  bad connotation,  we decided to henceforth use the term “previously prepared ingredient” or “PPI”.  There are three previously prepared ingredients in this meal; the cranberry sauce Suzette made about two weeks ago, the orange sauce from last week’s duck meal and the bulgur wheat I made about three days ago.

Suzette did not want the usual traditional Sauce L’Orange and wanted to make a glaze for the duck by mixing about one-half cup of PPI cranberry sauce with about one-fourth cup of the PPI L’ Orange Sauce, so she mixed them in a small enameled sauce pan and put that on the stove on low heat to heat and thicken, while I fetched the PPI bulgur and put it into the microwave to heat.

We discussed our wine selection and Suzette recommended a Pinot Noir.  I went to the wine cellar and could not find a moderately priced Pinot because I did not want to drink one of our Londers’ Pinots,  I chose a 2005 Terrasses Chateau Pesquié from Ventoux – Rhône Valley Vineyards (Côtes du Ventoux Contrôlée) that was 70% grenache and 30% Syrah, imported by Eric Solomon/European Cellars Selction and one of our Spanish 50% Grenache/50% tempranillo’s.  Suzette decided on the Chateau Pesquié. 

When the duck had adequately crisped and slightly browned, we took it out of the stove.  I carefully removed the breast from the leg and thigh quarter and put the breasts aside for a salad for Sunday and then we plated the leg quarters with a large scoop of the turnip mixture and coated the duck with the thickened Cranberry/Orange sauce/glaze and I added a pile of heated bulgur to my plate.  The camera’s battery was dead, so no picture, but I can report that they made a beautiful plate of brown and beige and red.

We poured the wine and began eating.  Suzette then commented that the wine was good but not quite right for the dish. 

I was sorry I did not select one of our Pinots, but let me explain the reasoning that led me to select the Chateau Pesquié.  Since we recently had opened several wines that had gone bad lately due to holding them too long, we decided that we needed to drink the wines that had a bit of age on them before they went bad and because the recommended ageing for the Chateau Pesquié was five years and thus it was into its sixth year, I chose it. The Chateau Pesquié would have been better with a leg of lamb because of the earthy heaviness of its 30% syrah, rather than the elegant smoothness of a good 100% pinot noir, but after the Chateau Pesquié opened up a bit, it was lovely. 

Ten hours after opening, as I sip some of the Chateau Pesquié while I write this article, it still has that rich, fruity, yet smooth, earthy character that one associates with the wines of Southern Rhône that stands so well on its own.  I would call it a sipping wine.  

Alternatively, before dinner Suzette tried a glass of the corked Cutler Creek Cabernet Sauvignon that had been opened a day or two before and had to throw it out because it had gone bad, which made us realize that cheap wines do not have the staying power of well made wines or we need to buy one of the gizmos that extracts the air from or injects some nitrogen into an opened bottle before it is stored .

Bon Apètit

 

November 16, 2011 Breakfast – Vietnamese Omelet Lunch – meatloaf and mashed potatoes Gravad Lax Demonstration

November 16, 2011    Breakfast – Vietnamese Omelet 

Lunch – meatloaf and mashed potatoes   Gravad Lax Demonstration

I was hungry for the fresh eggs I had purchased at Pro’s market on the 14^th, so I cut up the leftover steak from November 15^th’s dinner and threw it and some of the left over mushrooms into a bowl with the left over rice and pork stir fry from November 13^th and added the about one cup of mung bean sprouts and tossed in two egg whites and one whole egg and stirred.  Then I heated about one tablespoon of peanut oil and a dash or two of sesame oil to a non-stick pan and when it was hot laid the egg and leftover mixture in the pan.  The mixture was too dry so I added another egg white to the top of it to cover the entire surface of the mixture.  After it browned one side I flipped the omelet and cooked the other side to golden brown while I heated water for green tea.  A wonderful breakfast, although not as much flavor as the other day when there was lots of ginger in the mix.

I had been invited to make Gravad Lax  at the Center for Ageless Living at 3:00 p.m.  When I arrived at 2:00 p.m. Ann Sesler, executive Chef at the Green House Bistro and Bakery offered me a plate of the daily special, which she described as a “Killer Meatloaf”.  Of course, that was irresistible.  The meatloaf was unusually tender and was covered with a tomato sauce and garnished with a crispy piece of panetta and was topped with a large mound of mashed potatoes.  I drank a glass of Beaujolais and was ready to cook Gravad Lax.

The Gravad Lax demo went well.  About a dozen folks showed up and I did a little intro about Swedish food and gravid lax and curing meats with salt and then constructed a gravad lax using about two pounds of Atlantic farmed salmon from Costco and made the traditional dressing for the dish that accompanies the recipe  

For those who are not Swedish speakers, gravad is the Swedish word for this method of salt and sugar curing and lax is the Swedish word for salmon.

After I constructed the Gravad lax, I then showed the group the prepared Gravad Lax that I had made from the dill ($1.79) and King Salmon we purchased at Ta lin on Saturday ($5.95 per pound). One question asked was, “How long do you cure?”  I answered, “Anywhere from 24 to 48 hours”  “Suzette, answered that if you want to keep the salmon for a long period of time, you may want to cure it longer.”  The King salmon had been curing for two and one-half days when it took it out of its curing medium at 4:00 p.m.    

The question was asked, “What determines the density of the gravid lax?”  My answer was, “I do not know for sure, but, based upon my experience of preparing it for about twenty years, the density is directly related to the thickness and fat content of the fish. For example, the King Salmon is thicker and has more fat than the farm raised Atlantic salmon, so it will be softer and thicker than the farm raised salmon.

I then cleaned the curing brine and spices off one of the two pieces of the cured King Salmon and sliced about five slices that I then cut into fourths, so it fit on the pieces of French bread that had been supplied from the Bistro.  We then all dipped the bread and or salmon into the dressing and tasted the salmon and dressing combination on bread.

I told the group that my experience of a Gravad Lax dinner is Sweden is that it is simple: boiled new potatoes, butter, Gravad Lax, dressing and breads (Hard and French) with Aquavit and beer.  Very simple, yet very delicious and elegant.

I do not know how fresh salmon becomes so exotic, special and elegant when it is cured into Gravad Lax, but I love that aspect of the dish.  I recommend King Salmon if you want the full experience, anything less will lack the luscious soft oily flavor that allows the aquavit to slide down the throat so effortlessly, even when inevitably chased by a sip of beer.  My favorite Aquavit is Aalborg’s Jubilaeums, a 90-proof variety flavored with coriander and dill.            

  

De Småke Got  (It is good tasting)

Bon Apètit

 

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November 15, 2011 Dinner- Steak and Potatoes

November 15, 2011 Dinner- Steak and Potatoes

We are cleaning out the fridge because we need space for our cooking for the Holidays, so I put together what I will call a usual meal for us, which is some type of meat served with a vegetable, a sauce and a starch. 

I poked holes in the two russet potatoes (Lowe’s $.47) and baked them on a cake pan in the oven for one hour at 400°F.  Then I picked garlic greens, spinach and thyme from the garden and chopped the greens into small pieces and stripped the thyme from its stalks (about two tablespoons).

Then I sliced last three chanterelle mushrooms and the one-half pound of white mushrooms I had purchased at Pro’s Market ($1.39) on the 14^th and minced one clove of garlic and about one-fourth cup of yellow onion.

When Suzette arrived and we began cooking, she sautéed the thawed out thick cut boneless rib eye steak in butter and then said she wanted to make a sauce in the steak pan, so we decided to add about two tablespoons of French cognac to deglaze the butter and steak drippings.

I sautéed the mushrooms with the garlic, onion, and thyme mixture in a pan with melted butter and grape seed oil and then after a few minutes of cooking I added the greens, two tablespoons of Amontillado sherry and covered the pan to allow the mushroom mixture to steam because we were close to being ready and needed to have the mushrooms and greens wilt as soon as possible.   Then I picked about ten stalks of chives from their pot in the dining room and cut them into short pieces to garnish the potatoes that Suzette had cut open and added a piece of butter

I ran to the basement and selected a bottle of Casa Rondena Winery’s Calvin Clarion 2007, which is a Bordeaux style blend of 70% Syrah, 28% Tempranillo, and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon.

We plated up the one-half of the steak and a potato and then piled mushrooms onto the steak and poured the sauce from the steak pan over the potato and layered the greens on the side.  A very hardy Fall dinner made with a minimum of effort.  

Bon Apètit

November 13, 2011 Lunch – German sandwiches Dinner - Pork and bok choy stir fry

November 13, 201

Lunch – German sandwiches

Dinner - Pork and bok choy stir fry

Last Tuesday after lunch I had gone to the Alpine Sausage and bought Genoa salami, Gelbwurst (veal bologna), coarse braunsweiger and German fullkorns bread plus the veal stew meat.  So today I made open faced sandwiches with all of the above (except the veal stew meat that was used in the veal and mushroom ragout on Tuesday evening) using a bit of German Deli mustard and mayonnaise on the bread.  Suzette and I had the sandwiches with a beer for lunch.

For dinner I cut up ginger, garlic, shallots, about one-half of a poblano pepper, about one pound of boneless pork meat and the bok choy, plus about ¼ cup of brown button mushrooms, one cup of sliced water chestnuts and one cup of diced fresh pineapple that Suzette had found in the ice box in the garage. 

I stir fried all of these ingredients in a wok with Chinese rice wine, soy sauce, mushroom soy, and sesame oil and a dash of salt and sugar.  Then I mixed some cornstarch in a cup with some water and a bit more of the sesame sauce and thickened the dish in the wok.

We heated the leftover rice and served the stir fry with a sprinkle of roasted, honey glazed cashews.  It was a great meal.

 

Bon Apetit

  

November 12, 2011 Lunch – Leftover Veal and Mushroom Ragout and Butternut Squash and Ginger Soup Dinner – Greenhouse Bistro Chicken Liver Paté

November 12, 2011

Lunch – Leftover Veal and Mushroom Ragout and Butternut Squash and Ginger Soup Dinner – Greenhouse Bistro Chicken Liver Paté

I ate leftover soup for lunch with a client/friend and noticed something worth mentioning, although it is obvious.  Your pre-conceived perceptions make a big difference in your experience of tasting food.  When I asked my friend what his first impression was of the soup, he said, “I immediately noticed the curry like taste of the soup.”  I immediately realized that he connected the strong flavor of fresh ginger with curry and he was really saying that he tasted the flavor of the ingredients in the soup.  My first impression of the soup was that of the texture of the ragout; its chunkiness and the firmness of the lobster mushrooms.  After I had gobbled up all the chunks of meat and vegetable, I took a spoonful of the soup and tasted its compelling ginger and pumpkin like squash flavor.  This tells me two things.  We often hold pre-conceptions when we eat and those pre-conceptions influence how we taste any given dish.  In some ways, the truer taste is that of one without any pre-conception, like my friend’s who did not make the dish and had not eaten it before.  He tasted the flavor components.  I was trying to see how the stew ingredients held up upon re-heating and was trying to taste the texture of the stew.  So in some ways a person who has not ever tasted a dish has a better chance of getting an accurate impression of its taste profile.

I also ate a piece of toasted German rye bread with melted Swiss Gruyere cheese on it and drank a glass of the Wellington Roussanne White with my soup. 

Dinner – I noticed that the most interesting part of the meal was the complimentary appetizer served as an extra at the beginning of the meal. The appetizer plate included a slice or two of a freshly made soft yet grainy chicken liver pate with bits of truffle coated by a thin layer of aspic.  A perfect rendering of the traditional French dish, but with the added flavor of freshness and tenderness. I realized when I ate a creamy fresh Crème Brulée for dessert that softness of food on the palate seems to be one of the distinguishing characteristics of Executive Chef Ann Sesler’s style of cooking.  I love that characteristic because it allows one to taste the active combination of the ingredients, from how the aromatic truffle flavor mixes with the chicken liver’s tartness to how the egg and cream combine in the Crème Brulée. 

This inclusion of a little appetizer at the beginning of the meal also introduces the surprise factor into the meal and offers an insight into a restaurant’s food philosophy.

Here is how I described the complimentary appetizer served with my first meal at the Bistro on October 29, 2011: 

            “The complimentary appetizer of a thick, creamy pumpkin, green chile and potato soup was served in an interesting slope-sided shot glass.  The spicy bite of the green chile was complemented by the slight sweetness of the pumpkin and the smoothness of the creamy soup and chunks of potato.  The soup set the tone for the evening’s meal and introduced the restaurant’s food vision: the perfect blend of fresh seasonal ingredients presented within the context of a traditional country recipe employing the sophisticated preparation of a classic French Cuisine potage.  To further set the tone for the meal, the soup was served on a plate labeled “Paris” with an image of the Eiffel Tower on it.” 

The pounded, grilled chicken breast in the Chicken Paillard with a dill, caper and lemon sauce had a golden brown color, yet was not overcooked or dried out inside.  Also, the vegetables with Romesco Sauce were terrific.  I ate a piece of cauliflower and it was just a piece of cauliflower without any real flavor, but when I dipped a piece of cauliflower into the Romesco Sauce it took on a completely different flavor when coated with the sauce with its spices, tomato and almond suspended in Spanish olive oil.  I was instantly transported to Spain.

Dessert was the same.  A fresh crème brulèe with its thin crust of lightly browned crystallized sugar and its indescribably soft creamy custard was also a transforming food experience.  The texture of the custard below the crust changed from firm at the top to a creamy liquid by the time I scooped up the soupy liquid on the bottom of the bowl.  Every bite was delicious but the last bite of the liquid at the bottom was really interesting because I could taste the elemental mixture of egg and cream flavors; one of the most essential and uniquely French combinations of ingredients in French Cuisine in its most elemental form.  Terrific and very, very French. 

Bon Apetit 

November 11, 2011 Dinner - Pasta Primavera with Shrimp and Anchovies

November 11, 2011  Dinner -  Pasta Primavera with Shrimp and Anchovies

            This is a meal that demonstrates how some meals are driven by ingredients.  My friend Richard Donfro, kindly left a bag of Italian basil, a head of red kale and some green pear tomatoes on by my front door.  The basil was so fresh and beautiful that I immediately thought of cooking a summery dish; pasta primavera.

So after I finished work, I went to Whole Foods and bought a 12 ounce container ($5.49) of fresh mozzarella cheese. In the cheese department I noticed some white anchovies packed in pickling spices, vinegar and olive oil, not smoked and packed in salt.  Their texture is softer and more delicate ($14.99/lb.), so I bought a small container of them.

Suzette stayed to work at the Bistro, so I started gathering ingredients from the fridge: ¼ cup of brown button mushrooms, one-half pimiento, 3/4 cup of diced zucchini, about 7 or 8 large shrimp, two shallots, one clove garlic, a large handful of red grape tomatoes (fresh from our garden), and about twelve of the small white anchovies chopped into thirds.

I started a pot of pasta water and added about one teaspoon of olive oil and about one-half teaspoon of salt to it and then about 2/3 lb of spaghettini.

I began sautéing the ingredients with about one-half teaspoon of sea salt and a couple of twists of black pepper.  Then I roughly chopped about 1/2 cup of the basil and one large ball of mozzarella (about four ounces).  I then tossed about ¼ cup of the basil into the sautéing vegetables.   

Then Suzette called to say she was on her way home, so I turned the stove off and waited for her arrival to finish the dish.

When she arrived Suzette took over cooking and plating the dishes.  She added butter, 1/2 of pasta water and bit of wine to the sautéed vegetables to make a sauce. Then we plated the pasta and laid the sautéed vegetable and shrimp and anchovy sauce on the pasta and garnished it with cubes of fresh mozzarella and more chopped fresh basil.  We toasted about one-half baguette of French bread and I opened a bottle of the Cutler Creek Pinot Grigio.

We ate, dipped bread in the sauce, and talked as we enjoyed the brightly colored, deliciously fresh, light meal (See picture).  Suzette proudly announced that the Greenhouse Bistro had turned a few of its tables twice;  a good night at the Bistro and an occasion to celebrate.

After arguing a motion in a big case in Las Cruces Thursday and finishing the paperwork for a sale of a business around 5:00 pm. this evening, I felt a heavy load lift from my shoulders and, became energized, so after dinner I made some chocolate chip cookies with raisins, oatmeal, and lavender.

Bon Apètit

November 10, 2011 Dinner – Veal Ragout and Butternut Squash soup

November 10, 2011 Dinner – Veal Ragout and Butternut Squash soup

Principle One – Seek combinations of ingredients and dishes that offer more variety and complexity than the components eaten separately 

I called ahead to Suzette from the road as I was coming home from my hearing in Las Cruces and was pleased to find the two pots containing veal stew and butternut squash on the stove as I walked in the door.  After changing, Suzette ladled a large scoop of the soup into a large soup bowl and then ladled a scoop of the Veal Stew on top of it as I poured a glass of the Cutler Creek Cabernet Sauvignon.

When I sat down to eat with my client Scott Boyd I discovered that the combination of the soup and the stew had created a more delicious melding of flavor and texture.  The stew’s thin Bechamel sauce smoothed out the Soup’s fibrous character and added a chunky texture and variety to the soup’s uni-dimensional texture and squash and ginger taste.  The soup provided the blandly flavored stew an interesting pumpkin and ginger flavor.  The two worked better as a dish together than separately and Suzette created a new, infinitely better dish by combining the two leftovers.  Magic    

This wedding of two dishes with different characteristics to make a more flavorful united new recipe is an foundational element of creating recipes from leftovers.  I was not thinking about this combination when I bought the veal stew meat.  I was only thinking about using the roasted vegetables and mushrooms I had been buying in a veal stew.  It took Suzette’s creative thought of combining the two dishes to trigger the new more flavorful united whole.  The Queen of Leftovers flashed her brilliance once again.

To illustrate the creative power of combining dishes with disparate ingredients, let me recount the explanation Rick Davis, the winemaker for Londer Vineyards, gave me for how Londer Vineyards created Londer’s very famous Parabol Pinot Noir. Rick said he and Larry had been tasting pinots and found one that had a very huge fruity front end and not much finish (a fruit bomb) and then they tasted a pinot with a lovely full finish but not much bouquet or front end fruitiness. When the mixed the two they discovered a huge wine with great front end fruitiness and great character in the finish (like the great French Pinots that leave a great taste in your mouth for minutes after you swallow).  The effect of the combination of the two parts offered a more complex and satisfying flavors than its two parts separated.  Besides being one of the guiding principals in wine making, this is one of the guiding principles of cooking leftovers.

Also, just as in wine making a mixture of different wines can have greater eye (color) appeal; the eye appeal of the scoop of the chunky whitish veal stew plopped down into the middle of the orange butternut squash soup was very appealing. Unfortunately we did not take a picture of that dish before we decided to combine the two, so here is a picture of the combined new dish.  Please, let us know what you think.

Bon Apetit

November 7, 2011 Dinner- Sauteed Bratwursts with mixed vegetables.

November 7, 2011  Dinner- Sauteed Bratwursts with mixed vegetables.

I diced the halves of the yellow and red leftover Italian peppers and two white mushrooms, one-half onion, some garlic greens, one sprig of parsley, and about twelve sage leaves cut into strips.  This mixture was sauted in olive oil in a cast iron skillet.   I also de-stemmed and steamed a head of broccoli, a cup of diced zucchini and one chopped turnip.

Suzette had an idea to throw the bratwurst onto the steamed broccoli mixture and allow the steam to heat the brats a little.   I wished we had thought of that earlier as it would have cooked them more thoroughly.  It is always a great idea to utilize any heat that is already being produced in the cooking process to cook other things.  I am reminded of MK Fisher’s How to Cook a Wolf  in which she talks about surviving during War Time with limited provisions; Utilize Everything! Once the onion and pepper mixture softened we then put the brats into the cast iron skillet and turned up the heat to allow them to brown.   We then added the steamed vegetable mixture, covered the entire skillet and steamed everything a while longer.

After a bit the mixture became quite dry so I added about 1/4 cup of Dry White Vermouth that went into solution quickly and we served it with German Deli Mustard and horseradish. .

We drank it with a 2004 Guigal Cotes de Rhone Rosé. Delicious

Bon Apetit

November 6, 2011, Brunch – fish soup Dinner – Linguine with Shrimp in a three pepper sauce and lemon flavored Zucchini

A glorious fish soup is like looking into a constructed lagoon in an aquarium populated by clams and rocky chunks of white and purple potato and pink salmon with leaves of kelp like kale and spinach strewn among threads of garlic greens and flecks of thyme and strands of white cipolinni onion; all bathed by the foamy broth of butter, white wine and clam juice.

I cut four slices of the Greenhouse Bistro and Bakery French Bread and layered each with slices of Dubliner Cheddar and Swiss Gruyere.  We broiled them in the oven as the soup heated and when the cheese was still soft but starting to brown, we served the soup with the toasted cheese open faced sandwiches and a glass of crisp, clean tasting Wellington Sonoma Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2010.

A hugely satisfying meal for little effort; simply heating the leftover soup, cutting some bread and cheese and broiling it for a few minutes in the oven and twisting off the bottle cap of the wine.

Suzette was working on the computer and did not wish to participate in the dinner prep.

We had gone to Ta Lin and bought a pound of large (20-30 count) shrimp with heads on and a few other items such as two kinds of mushrooms and some garlic and shallots and baby bok choy.  I decided to use up the left over peppers we had bought at last Saturday’s Farmers’ Market and use the medium sized zucchini Suzette found in the garden this morning.  Since it is forecast to freeze Monday, November 7, 2011, I picked the last ripe tomatoes and five sprigs of parsley.  Then I began to chop zucchini and shred some fresh oregano Suzette picked yesterday.  I chopped up one-half of the two sweet Italian peppers and about ¼ of the pimiento and about one-half cup of red onion and one cup of the more distressed grape tomatoes and a lobster mushroom that weighed about one-half pound.   

Suzette helped me start two skillets with butter and olive oil.  I then cooked the onion in one and started the zucchini in the other.  After squeezing a couple of cloves of the fresh garlic into the onion one, I tossed in the chopped lobster mushroom and the peppers into the onion one.  After both skillets’ ingredients sautéed for a bit, I tossed about one-half cup of split grape tomatoes into each pan and squeezed one-half lemon into the zucchini and poured about three tablespoons of Dry White Italian Vermouth into the onion skillet to make a sauce.  After a few minutes Suzette checked the skillets and said that we needed to add some water to the onion skillet to make the sauce and said she always added both water or chicken broth and wine to make a sauce for pasta.  So after Suzette added some water to the onion skillet, I then added 12 shrimp to the onion, mushroom and pepper skillet and covered both skillets so they would steam a bit.  Suzette checked again and turned up the heat on the shrimp to a boil so the pepper sauce and shrimp would cook through with more steam and she turned down the heat on the zucchini so it would not dry out and scorch.  I then divided the minced parsley from three sprigs of Italian flat leaf parsley between both skillets.

Suzette heated up the leftover linguine with pesto and we plated it into large soup bowls and ladled the shrimp with pepper sauce and sautéed zucchini over the linguine.  We drank the remaining half bottle of the Wellington Sauvignon Blanc 2010 that we had opened at Brunch.

About thirty minutes after dinner we heated the last of the Apple Tart and scooped the last of the Alden’s Organic Vanilla Ice Cream over it and had a lovely dessert, while we watched English BBC mysteries on PBS.   

Bon Apetit

November 3, 2011 Dinner Steak with mushrooms, asparagus and pasta with pesto

November 3, 2011 Dinner Steak with mushrooms, asparagus and pasta with pesto

Dinner was late and not very complicated because Suzette got home after 7:00 p.m. and I rode 18 miles.  I chopped up some garlic greens and thyme I picked in the garden and cut up one-half of a fresh pimiento and five mushrooms and one cipollini onion.  I steamed asparagus while Suzette sautéed a rib steak with Sushito peppers and I sautéed the onion, garlic greens, thyme, pimiento and mushrooms in olive oil and butter with a pinch of sea salt.  After the mixture took on some of the oil, I threw in about 2 T of Spanish Amontillado Sherry and covered the pan to heat the mixture through and mix the aromas.

I was careful to find and taste the fresh pesto Suzette had made and we micro waved some of the left over pasta tossed with the pesto and garnished with grated parmesan cheese.

The entire prep time took about fifteen minutes. It was served with some leftover horseradish sauce, and it made a beautiful plate of colors. 

We enjoyed our filling and varied dinner with a glass of the Cutler Creek Cabernet Sauvignon and followed it with a few chocolates with the last sips of the red wine. 

Bon Apétit

November 2, 2011, Lunch – Azuma, Dinner - Fish Soup

November 2, 2011, Lunch – Azuma, Dinner - Fish Soup

I try to limit my sushi to once a month, but with a great sushi restaurant like Azuma, that is difficult.  I had a 1:00 p.m. appointment so I went at 11:15 am and was the first person seated in the Sushi Bar.  It was a great day.  My favorite waiter, Robin, was working and greeted me warmly.  I asked for my usual and began reading Cleopatra, A Life.  Soon Robin returned with his hands filled with, silverware, napkins, a carafe of green tea, a tea cup, a glass of ice water and a bowl of miso soup. As I was enjoying my miso soup the sushi cutters arrived.  The usual head cutter, Paul, was not present, so I worried if I was going to get my usual altered assortment. The sushi chefs were in high spirits today, singing and telling jokes.  Soon Robin returned and stood by the chefs to let them know that he and I were waiting for my order but left again.  When the order came up he returned and served me a beautiful assortment of sashimi in a decorated plastic box. Chirashi Donbari ($13.95) is an assortment of fresh fish served with slices of pickled daikon and shredded fresh daikon on a bed of sushi rice in a box with wasabi horseradish and pickled ginger.  The fish slice assortment was perfect, 2 salmon, 2 Maguro (Red Tuna), 4 ultra white Tuna, 4 yellowtail (tuna), 2 Octopus, 2 Albacore Tuna.  In essence what Robin had told the chef was to substitute 2 additional Ultra whit tuna and yellow tail slices for the usual 2 slices of Redfish and Ocean Perch. I cut and ate until almost 1:00 pm and then ran to my appointment with the wonderful flavors of my sushi experience lingering in my mouth. 

I must make a disclosure; the owners of Azuma are my clients.  But I do not feel that I am unduly prejudiced in favor of Azuma  The walls full of awards for best sushi that greet you as you walk into Azuma attest to the fact that I am not the only person who thinks its sushi is the best.  When I asked my client, why their sushi is best they said that they receive fresh fish every day, sometime two times a day and buy only the best sushi center cuts of fish, not the whole fish.  I also guess that Azuma is more successful in controlling the freshness of its fresh fish more easily than other sushi restaurants, because its supplier, Seattle Fish, is located near the restaurant and can make deliveries of fish when needed and because Azuma serves such large quantities of sushi that its turnover time is less.     

Dinner was magical, also.  Suzette came home around 5:30 and we discussed having the Fish Soup we have been building leftovers for.  I suggested corn and potatoes and we agreed that a Chowder approach would be good.  I went to meditate from 7:00 until 8:00 p.m.  When I returned I was welcomed by a large enamel pot on the stove in the kitchen, simmer with: the left over clams and garden greens and broth from Friday October 28, 2011, the leftover salmon filets (diced up) with its poaching broth from November 1’s disastrous dinner, the leftover (diced up) cooked potatoes from Saturday, October 29, 2011’s lunch and a bag of corn we had shucked and frozen this summer plus some milk and extra white wine.  We ate it in large soup bowls with a glass of the leftover Wellington Viognier 2002, which tasted better than the night before and went well with the soup because it had more character than Sauvignon Blanc and less bitterness than the night before and complemented the delicate flavors in the soup, and a slice of the fresh French bread from the Greenhouse Bistro and Bakery.  Suzette is the "Queen of Left Overs", and I will be her galley slave forever, if she lets me. 

A very delicious light meal.  And we had three or four cups of soup leftover.  Oh!,  not another leftover, slave for every.

If you have been reading these records of our meal, I hope you realize that for Suzette and me the word leftover is not a negative associated with old inedible food, but a positive word associated with creative recipe planning.  Some recipes fit into historically successful recipes, like the Fish Soup this evening, but others are quite unexpected such as the Mexican open face Sandwich I created yesterday, November 1.  Leftover recipes are often the result of adapting available leftovers from one country’s Cuisine to another country’s cuisine, such as using an Italian Frittata to make a Mexican Cuisine dish served in a Danish manner.  

Bon Apetit