June 9, 2013 Brunch – Salmon and Kale and Goat Cheese Scrambled Eggs

Ricardo and Cynthia came over for Brunch.  We did not plan an elaborate menu.  When we awakened I knew what to do to make the Brunch special.  Ricardo and Cynthia love champagne and Mimosas are always a great element of Sunday Brunch, so I squeezed a pitcher of fresh orange juice with about 7 lbs. of oranges I had bought at Pro’s Ranch market last Wednesday or Thursday ($.99 for 4/lbs.), while Suzette went to the garden and topped the kale and bought back a basket full of kale.

I had gone to the Downtown Growers’ Market yesterday and bought a baguette from Bosque Bakery, so we had a fresh baguette.

After squeezing the orange juice, we went to the garden and I cut the three outer leaves off of one of the stalks of fennel that is blossoming.

Then I de-stemmed and chopped the kale into bite sized pieces and then minced a large shallot and shaved the base of the stalks of fennel into thin slices and put that into a small bowl and then sliced and diced about ½ lb. of gravad lax and put it into a different bowl.  Suzette washed the kale pieces and put that in a bag.   We then discussed what kind of cheese went best with the scrambled eggs and decided upon California Goat Cheese.

When Ricardo and Cynthia came they brought a wonderful blueberry pie from the Range and a bottle of Korbel Extra Dry made in the méthode champenoise and vanilla ice cream. Ricardo said that he had found the Korbel in Lowe’s new liquor department, which is good information to know, in case we need an emergency bottle of champagne.  So, we poured champagne and made mimosas and talked on the patio for a while and then Suzette excused herself to go make the eggs and toast the baguette, after asking if anyone had an objection to goat cheese in the eggs.   Soon we heard Suzette say that the food was ready.  Ricardo helped Suzette bring the plates.  Each plate had a pile of scrambled eggs mixed with sautéed salmon, shallot, fennel and kale with a toasted quarter baguette beside the pile of eggs.  She had put a small ramekin on the table filled with the lemon curd we had made.   We opened a bottle of Gruet Blanc de Noirs to supplement the mimosas and spread lemon curd on the warm baguette and ate a lovely, light meal with fresh ingredients.

After we finished our eggs and baguette and few more mimosas, we were ready for dessert.

Ricardo and Cynthia went to the kitchen and sliced pieces of pie and scooped vanilla ice cream on the side to make a classic “pie a al mode” combination.  

I knew that Ricardo and Cynthia shared not only our love of sparkling wine, but also our love of sweet after dinner wines, so I went with Ricardo to the basement to pick out a bottle of dessert wine.  When we opened the door of the fridge, we found that the liquid in several bottles had yellowed and one was a 375 ml. bottle of 1998 Robert Mondavi Winery Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc Botrytis, so I suggested that we drink that one.  When we brought it upstairs, we could not get the cork out because it had dried out.  So after two pulls with two different cork screws that only removed about ¼ of the cork, I grabbed the side of the opening in the cork made by the cork screws with a butcher knife and easily pulled the rest of the cork out.  Unfortunately the two pulls had left a residue of cork pieces in the wine.  So we strained the cork out of the wine as we poured each a glass of the wine and we returned to the patio and ate our pie a la mode and drank the wine.  I apologized for the poor quality of the wine, but as I write this article I am tasting the wine and realize the great quality of this wine and the genius of Robert Mondavi.  The wine has become more seasoned and darker and thicker but still retains its light sauvignon blanc character, with the added character imparted by botrytis.  It is an exceptional wine and one of the few American wines I have ever tasted that successfully introduced botrytis into the growing process.  Here is the story as told by Robert Mondavi, whose signature is on the label in red.

 

I am saddened that this is the last bottle of wine that I have, bought from his winery while he was alive and making wine that I will drink, but blown away by his lifetime of creativity in wine making.  I remember the first time I visited the Robert Mondavi Winery.  It was in 1969.  I had clerked at a Beverly Hills law firm and Billy and I were on a road trip to Canada.  We stopped at the four or five wineries then in the Napa Valley, Martini, Inglenook, and finally decided to stop at a new one that I had not ever heard of, named Mondavi.  We went into the small wine tasting room and I swear Robert Mondavi was pouring the wine.  We tried several wines and the one I remember was a new wine he had made that he suggested we try.  It was the first French style rosé I had ever tasted.  It was dry and crisp with lots of fruit flavor and I shall never forget it.  It instantly made me a fan of rosé wine.  I guess you could call that a life changing experience for lots of reasons.   I suspect that he had a similar effect on lots of folks, including Julia Child.

As I drink his wonderful wine, I tear up remembering all the great people, like him and Julia Child, who helped bring the great food and wine traditions of France to these shores and who have made such a difference in my life.  To make a Luke axiom, “Great food is like great music and art, it leaves an indelible imprint on posterity.”   What memories a simple Sunday Brunch with friends can dredge up!

 Since I am in a mood of reminiscence, I was writing monthly food reviews back in 1992 for Albuquerque Monthly, which provided me the opportunity to watch the creation of the Range by Tom Fenton and Matt DiGregory at close range, thanks to Ed Louden, who then owned Bacchus Wines and was an early fan of their food and wine vendor to their restaurant.   I remember clearly my first meal of their food.  Ed took me to the Range Cafe in the old adobe for lunch and ordered everything on the menu that I mentioned from the menu.  I mentioned that they have meat loaf and he ordered it.  Then I mentioned that they have seared scallops and he ordered that.  He then mentioned that they have a wonderful roasted turkey and when I said, “Oh, really?” and he ordered it.  I remember eating a huge lunch including meat loaf, seared scallops and roasted turkey and several other things that I do not remember specifically and finishing the meal with a black and white mousse cake.   As Ed used to say, “Life is too short to eat bad food.”  I loved his gusto for living and love of great wine and food and hope he is doing well.

Here is that creation story in their words from the Range website:

About Owners Matt DiGregory and Tom Fenton

A Story of Creative Vision and Coincidence

Matt DiGregory and Tom Fenton could never have predicted that they would open a restaurant together, let alone three of them.

In the late 1980s, both owners were living in Albuquerque and working at Prairie Star and Scalo, both local gourmet dining establishments. While neither of them came to Albuquerque specifically to work in restaurants, both owners were attracted to the history, art and enchanting landscape of the Southwest.

As it turned out, coming to Albuquerque was a good move for Matt and Tom. Matt had impressed his boss at Prairie Star with a phenomenal cheesecake and an eye for creative recipes. He was quickly promoted and was now the pastry chef. Tom was playing music and eagerly learning about the restaurant business at Prairie Star.

Tom and Matt had a deep love and respect for the Albuquerque community but felt like the restaurant scene was missing something that they couldn’t quite put their finger on. Neither knew that they were close to embarking on a culinary journey that would become a legendary restaurant.

Finding Home at the Range

It was a morning like any other in Bernalillo. Matt was heading to have breakfast at Abuelita’s, a local diner favorite on the main drag. An old adobe building with history and character, Matt loved Abuelita’s captivating atmosphere and charm. Looking forward to a hearty Mexican breakfast, Matt approached the door only to find a “For Rent” sign.

This was it! Matt knew instantly that this was the opportunity to open a restaurant that would match his vision of delectable dining in an eclectic atmosphere. He rented the space on the spot and, after asking around at work, found that Tom had similar culinary ambitions.

Matt and Tom both shared the vision of ordinary food done extraordinarily well. Upon opening, Range Cafe’s owners offered comfort food made with gourmet care. The customers loved it. They loved it so much, in fact, that they ran out of food the first day and couldn’t open for dinner

Since opening in 1992, owners Tom Fenton and Matt DiGregory have opened two additional Range Cafe locations in Albuquerque. A local favorite, Range Cafe’s popularity comes from our owners’ insistence on making real food from scratch using the highest quality ingredients.

At the Range, we will always be about ordinary food done extraordinarily well.

I have always loved Matt’s desserts and consider his ability to create interesting and flavorful desserts to be unexcelled in Albuquerque.  This blueberry pie was no exception.  It was heavy and full of blueberries and not gooey with sugar but baked into a loaf with a crust on bottom and simply garnished with a splash of Swedish rectangular sugar crystals on the top. 

In retrospect, now that I am tasting the Mondavi wine again, I realize that there is no need to apologize.  It is a splendid wine full of character; sweet, with that botrytis citrus bite, but also with a slight bitter bite on the end, perhaps because of the dried cork.  Alas.  The never ending question of whether it is a perfect or flawed wine.  Perhaps the best way to describe it is, “It is simply a great old wine.”

Bon Appétit