September 18, 2014 Shopping at Trader Joe’s and TaLin and Red Snapper Fish Tacos.

I had been out of town for two days so I needed to replenish our larder.  I went to Trader Joe’s and bought European yogurt and then went to wine area to pick up a bottle of Chevalier VS cognac ($19.99), which is our house cognac.  I then bought a bottle of La Ferme Julien Rosé ($5.99), a bottle of Amontillado sherry for cooking ($5.99).  There was a wine expert who was very helpful and looked up some information of several wines such as the 2008 and 2007 Harris Late bottled Vintage Ports, he looked at his app on Vivino and found out that the 2007 was more highly rated so I bought two bottles of it ($12.95).  Then he recommended the newly released Bogle Phantom, a blend of Petite Sirah, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon and Mouvedre ($16.95) and a light dry bottle of Muscadet and a bottle of Cote du Rhone for $6.99.  I also said I wanted a bottle of Tuella red from the Douro and he found that bottle for me.  When I walked over to the spirits section, I asked him about the Scotches and he said the Lisamore was not as peaty as the Flanagins, so I bought a bottle of Lisamore ($20.99).  

I was happy with my purchases and then drove to TaLin to replenish the Aji Mirin.  After grabbing a 60 oz. bottle ($15.98) of Aji Mirin, I picked up a tempura cooked fish cake, a 2 lb. red snapper ($6.38/lb.) and one pound of 30-40 count shrimp ($8.38/lb.).  I also picked up an 8 oz. bag of mushrooms and a bag of yu choy and several packages of dried noodles.

When Suzette got home we had a discussion about dinner and finally settled on grilling the red snapper whole, like they do in Puerto Vallarta, and eating it in tacos with a cabbage slaw and fresh heirloom tomatoes like in San Diego.

We filled the stomach cavity with a Swedish style stuffing of thyme, oregano and chives mashed into butter.  I pinned the stomach cavity closed with a bamboo skewer and Suzette grilled it.

I shredded ½ head of Napa cabbage and we sautéed it in a wok with onions instead of making slaw.  

In about thirty minutes we were nibbling delicious grilled fresh red snapper in flour tortillas (we had no corn tortillas) filled with sautéed cabbage and tomatoes and sipping beers.

We had ice cream for dessert.

The whole dinner reminded me of a pretty typical evening’s meal in Puerto Vallarta; grilled red snapper and ice cream, minus the ocean view, the incredible sunset and the walking around town.

Bon Appétit