February 9, 2012 Food Shopping and Dinner-Quesadillas

February 9, 2012 Lunch – La Choza; Food Shopping; and Dinner-Quesadillas

Thursday was one of those strange days with a court appearance in Santa Fe in the morning, then a meeting out of the office at 4:00 p.m. and meditation at 7:00 p.m. so no time to prepare dinner.  We ended our 10:00 a.m. hearing at 11:30 a.m. so I was pleased when Bill Turner hardily agreed to my suggestion that we stop for lunch at La Choza before returning to Albuquerque.  La Choza is a rambling adobe complex near the corner of St. Francis and Cerrillos that is owned by the same family that has owned and run the The Shed for over 50 years. La Choza serves the same prize winning red chili that garners the Shed its perennial Best red chili award in Santa Fe and helped win the Shed a James Beard Award in 2003.  The only difference between the two restaurants is that one rarely has to wait to be seated at La Choza, while at The Shed there is normally a wait for a table.  We were seated immediately at a table bathed in warm sunlight at the back of the last room.  I ordered my favorite: blue corn enchiladas with ground beef, with red chili and extra chopped onions and double posole and a Negra Modelo to drink.  Bill ordered a cesar salad and a bowl of green chili clam chowder and a Santa Fe lager and Sally ordered blue corn soft tacos with beans and posole.  I was impressed when the beers were served in pint glasses from a tap. We rode back to Albuquerque happy and full.

At around 3:00 p.m. I left home; stopping to pick up my billing and go by the post office and then Sunflower Market at the corner of Academy and San Mateo on my way to the State Bar Headquarters for my 4:00 p.m. meeting.  At Sunflower, I bought two Swordfish steaks for $8.99/lb and some lovely large white mushroom caps.  I then saw that Sunflower was still featuring tender thin stalks of asparagus for $.97/lb., so I bought two more bundles of them.

Since we are assigned chocolate fondue for February 12^th’s fondue party, I bought dried apples, apricots, and pineapples and some large pretzels for dipping in chocolate.

Since it was Thursday, after mediation on the way home at around 8:15 p.m., I went to Pro’s Ranch Market for its produce specials to buy oranges (5/lb for $.99) and strawberries ($1.39 per quart).  I also bought a bag of flavored, colored marshmallows for the fondue party and 2/3 lb. of  Mexican Bafar sliced Honey Cooked ham ($1.99/lb.) and Oaxaca string cheese ($3.99/lb).

When I finally arrived at home at around 8:50 p.m., neither of us wanted to cook or eat a full dinner, so I said I would prepare a quesadilla and Suzette said she would make one also. 

So I sliced an avocado and thin onion slices and tore the Oaxaca string cheese into thin strips and piled some of those ingredients on a flour tortilla in a skillet and threw on a slice or two of the ham and then threw more strips of cheese and avocado on top of it and another tortilla and flipped and sautéed both sides of the quesadilla in the skillet until it was light brown and the ingredients were hot and the cheese melted.

As Suzette was making her quesadilla with a bit of butter in the skillet to butter the tortilla, I fetched a couple of beers from the basement fridge and we had a quick, light and delicious late night dinner made with our wonderful Mexican ingredients.  As I was eating my quesadilla, my déjà vu thoughts switched back and forth from watching the ocean waves from Mexican beach bars to small Parisian bars and cafès that, after the kitchen closes, will heat pre-prepared Croque-Monsieurs late at night with beers and the concluding thought that a fabulous food experience can happen at almost any time.

We went to bed full and happy, rather than hungry and sad.  As Suzette says, “Good food puts you in a good mood”.

Bon Appètit