February 7, 2015 Food and Wine Shopping Lunch Vietnam 2000 and Dinner Tapas

February 7, 2015 Food and Wine Shopping   Lunch  Vietnam 2000  and   Dinner  Tapas

Today I took a couple of hours to do some shopping.

We are going to have a Valentine’s Day Dinner next Saturday and Suzette said she wants to grate or slice truffles onto the truffle mashed potatoes, so we need a black truffle.

I first went to William Sonoma and they had no truffles.  Then I made a loop, first to Total Wine, then Trader Joe’s and finally to Ta Lin.

At Total Wine I bought a new Albarino and a new dry Italian white, plus bottles of California pinot noir (Angeline and Cloudcraft?), an Italian Sangiovese red that was being tasted (Falcula?), a bottle of Urgate Cincuenta to celebrate the 50^th year since the current family leader Victorino took over the 170 year old family vineyard business ($14.99 less 10% with purchase of six bottles).

 I also bought two bottles of Gruet Rosé Champagne, a Marques de Casaus Verdejo from Rueda and a Rosado rosé and couple other bottles of wine.

Then I went to Trader Joe’s.  Again no truffles, but I bought a bottle of California organic Grenache for $3.99, a couple of bottles of Tuella Douro for $6.99, a bottle of Griffone rose from Italy for $4.99 and a couple of other bottles.

I then drove to Ta Lin and found the truffles ($15.00 for two small Italian black truffles), plus I bought noodles for lunch, tofu, Shanghai Bok Choy, shitake mushrooms, a pound of head on shrimp for noodle soups, and a few other things.

It was 1:00 when I left Ta Lin and drove to Vietnam 2000 and ordered No.21, fried egg rolls and grilled pork on a bed of steamed vermicelli rice noodles laid on a bed of chopped lettuce, cucumbers, bean sprouts, and basil and cilantro ($7.75).  I get extra fish sauce, cilantro, basil and bean sprouts for an extra $1.00.  I loved the dish and spent an hour gorging myself full of the cool noodles and salad and meats.

After lunch I drove up San Mateo to Sprouts Market and shopped bought 3 lbs. of asparagus, plus a pound of Mahi Mahi ($5.00), two bratwurst ($3.99/lb.), a jar of paprika, a lb. of chocolate covered almonds ($4.99/lb.) and a pound of large 21-30 count shrimp ($9.99/lb.).

I arrived home after 4:00 and did not have enough time to ride so I took a shower and began helping Suzette get ready for our tapas dinner with Janice and Tom, who were going to bring over some cheeses for wine and cheeses.  We decided to make four items, a Shrimp with Garlic, the sautéed ham, artichoke hearts, saffron, and pea tapa we discovered in Spain, avocado slices spread on pesto mayonnaise and grilled asparagus.  I would prep the asparagus and the shrimp and Suzette the mayonnaise spread and her tapa.

While I de-stemmed the asparagus and bagged it with some of the Quinta de Tedo olive oil from Portugal, I checked the phone and received the message that Crystal and Doug could not make it due to not feeling well, so we decided not to grill the asparagus.

Suzette peeled the 22 shrimp and I deveined them.  Then Suzette went to the garden and picked some fresh Italian broad leaf parsley, which I cleaned and chopped while Suzette made her tapa dish.  I helped her by removing the pickled pimientos from a bottle of olives Bob and Marilyn Mueller gave us for Christmas and chopped the pimientos while she cuisinarted the pesto and salt and mayonnaise into a sauce.  We then sliced rounds of Fano baguette and toasted 12 of them in the oven and she spread them with the pesto mayonnaise and sliced ½ of an avocado and lay them on the toasted bread sliced smeared with the pesto mayonnaise sauce.  

I then chopped six cloves of garlic for the shrimp and put it into a large skillet and Suzette added a hot chili flavored olive oil and some regular olive oil instead of using chili flakes in the shrimp recipe.  Suzette chopped up the can artichoke hearts (Trader Joe’s) and I chopped up about 1 lb. of Keilbassa sausage and Suzette washed about 1 cup of frozen peas to re-hydrate them a bit.  At 6:30 Suzette began to cook her tapa dish by frying the sausage in olive oil and then adding the artichoke hearts and peas and saffron.  When the dish was warmed throughout she covered it to keep it warm.  

Soon Tom and Janice arrived and we poured glasses of wine and Suzette started the shrimp dish, which called for sautéing the garlic until it began to brown and then adding the shrimp and cooking them 2 minutes on each side.  When they were almost ready I added the 1 Tbsp. cognac and the parsley.  In another minute they were ready to serve and Suzette plated up our plates with the tapa and the shrimp tapa and we put the plate of Avocado tapas on the table and I poured the Ugarte Cincuenta.  

Janice had brought a cheese board with several cheeses given to her by Gayle Doyle, who used to work for the NM Symphony.  There was a wonderful perfectly aged blue Auvergne:

Bleu d'Auvergne is a French blue cheese, named for its place of origin in the Auvergne region of south-central France. It is made from cow's milk, and is one of the cheeses granted the Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée from the French government.

Bleu d'Auvergne is of relatively recent origin, discovered in the mid-1850s by a French cheesemaker named Antoine Roussel. Roussel noted that the occurrence of blue molds on his curd resulted in an agreeable taste, and conducted experiments to determine how veins of such mold could be induced. After several failed tests, Roussel discovered that the application of rye bread mold created the veining, and that pricking the curd with a needle provided increased aeration. It allowed the mold to enter the curd and encouraged its growth. Subsequently, his discovery and techniques spread throughout the region.

Today, bleu d'Auvergne is prepared via mechanical needling processes. It is then aged for approximately four weeks in cool, wet cellars before distribution, a relatively short period for blue cheeses.

 and a lovely Comté San Antoine:

This particular comté comes from Fort Saint Antoine, a 19th-century fort where the cheeses are aged by the renowned Jura affineur, Maison Marcel Petite. It is smooth and sweet, and tastes of butter and apricot

plus Janice brought a bowl of red seedless grapes and a wedge of German Cambozola

Cambozola marries the creamy richness of Camembert and the sharp tangy flavor of Gorgonzola. Cambozola is a soft German blue cheese developed in the 1970s by Kasseri Champignon in Bavaria. This popular German Cheese is smooth and velvety, with distinctive blue pockets and a white rind. Extra cream is added for a supremely mild flavor. Cambozola is best when enjoyed with fruits and nuts, or a piece of French crusty bread.

I added a heart shaped piece of Couer de Bray AOP Neufchâtel. I have been dreaming of this moment for several months.  This was the first time at our table that we had the choice of several AOP cheeses.  Thanks to Costco for eh Neufchâtel, a bargain at $2.99 or $3.99 for almost a ½ lb. heart shaped loaf.  This is the second AOP cheese I have bought at Costco in the last few weeks and I am thrilled that Costco has begun carrying such wonderful cheeses. 

The Neufchâtel had a slightly muenster type of flavor and a rather sticky dense texture.  

We discussed our Monet Inspired Valentine Day Dinner for February 14, 2015.  Here is my suggested tentative menu using the oyster soup and Tart Tatin from the new Book, Monet’s Table.

Monet Inspired Valentine Day Dinner February 14, 2015

First Course         Monet’s Oyster Soup; oysters in a clear court bouillon

Entrée                  Bouef Bourgongnone and truffled mashed potatoes

Salad                    Belgium Endive, Maytag Cheese and pear salad or some other cheese and fruit salad

Dessert                 Tart Tatin, Monet, a great gourmand  knew the Tatin sisters in Normandy, who gave him this recipe.

Bon Appétit