May 14, 2014 Lunch, Vichyssoises and Pollo Asado Dinner, Beef Quesadillas and corn on the cob

May 14, 2014 Lunch, Vichyssoises and Pollo Asado  Dinner,  Beef Quesadillas and corn on the cob

Peter Eller came by the house around 11:00 to do some legal work and lunch.  I was hungry and asked him if we could go to Pro’s Ranch Market first and fetch lunch for a whole grilled chicken, which were on sale for $4.99 each and some groceries first.   Peter said, “That is fine.  I need some groceries also.”  I was thrilled because limes finally have gone back to below $.50/lb.

When we arrived at Pro’s we grabbed a cart and immediately went to the food court and selected two chickens; one for our lunch and one for Peter to take home.  I asked the lady if we could also have some tortillas and onions.  She gladly filled a small Styrofoam container with grilled onions and 2 jalapeno chilis and two packages of fresh corn tortillas with six tortillas each. (This is typical Mexican cultural generosity in action; adding non-menu listed items that go well with the dish’s ingredients to enhance the dining experience).

Then we went to the vegetable and fruit area and I selected, a head of green cabbage ($.20/lb.), a bag of limes (2 lb.s/$.99), 8 nice medium avocados (2 for $.99), four bananas (2 lbs./$.99), six Roma tomatoes ($.79/lb.), a bunch of cilantro ($.25), four bananas ($.50/lb.) and four ears of fresh white corn (3 for $.99) and about twelve pounds of oranges (3 lbs./$.99).

When we returned home I asked Peter if he wanted some salad with his lunch and when he said. “Yes”, I handed him a plastic bag and I took a plastic bag and we went to the garden.  I picked a variety of lettuces and I encouraged Peter to pick some chard.  Soon we had filled our bags and returned to the kitchen.

I brought in the big bowl with the last of the Vichyssoise from the garage and tasted it to see if it was still okay.  I was thrilled when it tasted okay and asked Peter to filled two soup bowls with the last of the vichyssoises, while I went to the garden to fetch several stalks of chives, which I sliced finely and garnished the bowls of vichyssoises with.

We ate the soup and then we went to the kitchen where I made salads for each of us while Peter cut up pieces of chicken for us.  I used one of the new Roma tomatoes, some fresh lettuces, the last of the PPI Tabouli, a few slices of garlic plant, and the left over chives and dressed the salads with some tarragon Cesar salad dressing.  We took our food to the table on the patio and ate and looked at the garden that had produced some much of our lunch and kibitzed.

Carey Smoot came by toward the end of the meal to do some legal work, so I opened a bottle of Josefina Rosé of Syrah (Trader Joe’s $5.99 or $6.99) and we each had a glass.

I did not get on the trail until around 5:00.  When I arrived home around 6:00 I watched T.V. and dozed until Suzette came home around 7:00 after shopping at Costco for groceries for Santa Rosa.

She was tired so she made a drink and rested while I watched Stanley Cup Playoff hockey for a while and then we discussed dinner.  I mentioned the things I had bought and the PPI’s.  Finally, Suzette said, “I do not wish to cook.  Why don’t we boil ears of fresh corn and make steak quesadillas.”  We decided to sauté onion, steak and some of the grilled jalapeno for the stuffing.  I wanted to use the fresh corn tortillas from lunch and one of the lovely avocados.  So we had a plan.  I sliced the PPI rib eye steak thinly and put it in a large skillet with three thinly sliced rounds of yellow onion and about ½ of a jalapeno chili, chopped and we sautéed those ingredients for a couple of minutes in olive oil.  Then I removed the heated ingredients and placed four tortillas in the skillet to toast.  When one side of each tortilla was toasted I flipped the tortillas and placed the steak mixture on two tortillas and then garnished that with grated cheese and slices of avocado and fresh cilantro and then placed the toasted side of the other tortilla on top of the filled one.

I turned each of the now two quesadillas about every five minutes until both sides were toasted to golden brown and the cheese had melted.  While I was making the quesadillas, Suzette filled a pot with water and placed it on the stove to boil and shucked two ears of corn.  When the water began to boil we placed the two ears of corn into the water and let the water return to a boil and cooked them for about a minute or two more.

Suzette went to the garage to fetch two bottles of Negra Modelo and we had a great light very Mexican meal (As Suzette said, “Corn two ways”.) while smeared butter on the ears of corn and sour cream on the quesadillas and ate and watched game seven of the Montreal v. Boston series.

We had two old spotted, blackened bananas and during dinner Suzette suggested that we make bananas Foster with the old bananas.  So after dinner she went to the kitchen and sliced the bananas and I placed about two generous Tbsp.s of butter in the large skillet on medium high heat and when the butter had melted added about three or four Tbsp.s of dark brown sugar to the butter and melted it into solution.  When the butter and sugar mixture had melted, we added the banana slices and cooked them for a couple of minutes, until the banana slices were coated with the caramel sauce.  Then we added about ¼ cup of dark rum and stirred the rum into the sauce.  Then we lit the sauce and after the fire burned for a minute, I stirred the sauce to put out the flame and Suzette fetched vanilla ice cream from the ice box and filled parfait glasses with ice cream.  I then garnished the ice cream with Bananas Foster and we enjoyed a delicious dessert. 

When we finished dessert, It was around 9:30 and we were tired and ready for bed.   

One of the benefits of watching hockey is there are twenty minute periods and then twenty minute intermissions during which you can cook a dinner or a dessert.

Bon Appétit