March 29, 2018 Lunch – Placitas Café. Dinner – Sautéed Smoked Pork Chops with red bell pepper and cauliflower Couscous and Chef John’s Corn Custard

March 29, 2018 Lunch – Placitas Café. Dinner – Sautéed Smoked Pork Chops with red bell pepper and cauliflower Couscous and Chef John’s Corn Custard

I ate ½ of a whole wheat bagel smeared with cream cheese and garnished with slices of Lax and onion, and fresh dill with green tea.

At 11:15 I picked up Charlie and drove to Placitas Café for lunch before our monthly book club meeting.

I ordered a Dubliner hamburger, which was served with a thick slice of Dubliner on a toasted bun garnished with organic greens, two slices of tomato and a dab of horseradish with fried onion rings for $9.75. I did not eat the top bun.  The hamburger was just okay.  Charlie got biscuits and gravy, which he did not like.  This was okay food, but I did not see anything creative on the menu.  The basics were better like a green chili cheese burger.

After lunch we drove up the hill to Jack’s house that has an incomparable view of the Rio Grande looking northwest toward the Jemez Mountains.

Each host serves a dessert after the club meeting.  Today’s dessert was excellent; a homemade dark chocolate cake iced with a fabulous butterscotch icing.

I returned home around 4:00 and worked until 6:15.

Aaron arrived at 6:30 with a bottle of Domaine Bogdan Muscat Ottonel.  Suzette created a wonderful dinner.  She sautéed the two smoked pork chops with diced apple, steamed asparagus, and red bell pepper and cauliflower couscous.  We enjoyed the wine but Suzette and I thought it had an off flavor that tasted like gum Arabic.

After dinner I heated the PPI corn custard and served it with glasses of Elk Cove Pinot Gris.  We all agreed that we liked the Elk Cove Pinot Gris better than the Bogdan Muscat because the Elk Cove had no rough edges; no off gum flavor or smell, just smooth grape flavor.

The slightly sweet corn custard was perfectly complemented by the Pinot Gris.  The Domaine Bogdan had an enticing fruity flavor that was unique.  I never had ever tasted the Muscat Ottonel grape.

I later helped Willy complete his taxes while we ate a naval orange

Bon Appetit

March 28, 2018 Lunch – East Ocean. Dinner – Mapo Dofu

March 28, 2018 Lunch – East Ocean. Dinner – Mapo Dofu

I ate ½ of a whole wheat everything bagel with cream cheese, sliced Lax and onion garnished with capers for breakfast.

I went with Aaron to lunch at East Ocean.  I ordered Fried Tofu and Mixed Vegetables ($7.95) and Manila clams in Szechuan Sauce ($9.95).  The dishes are served with rice and tea.  A lunch of these two dishes is one of my absolute favorite lunches in Albuquerque.  The menu and prices for these two regular menu items are the same at dinner, so I would make the same statement with regard to dinner.  For four people at dinner or lunch, I recommend also ordering Moo Shu Pork.

When I returned home I thawed two pork steaks.  At 5:00 I diced 2 Mexican Squash, 1 eggplant, 1 small onion, and ½ of a poblano chili and then went to meditate.

When I returned home from meditation a bit before 7:00 I cubed 1 of the ½ lb. pork steaks, about 1 ½ T. of ginger, and 1 ½ T. of garlic.

             From left to right. Chili garlic sauce, Chinese Cooking wine, and white soy sauce

I heated 2 or 3 T. of peanut oil in my wok and stir fried the pork, ginger, and garlic with the addition of 1 heaping tsp. of chili garlic sauce (on left side of above photo).

I removed the meat and added the vegetables and another T. of peanut oil and a tsp. of sesame oil and stir fried them to coat them with oil.  I stirred the vegetables occasionally while they cooked which took about twenty minutes.  While the vegetables were cooking I soaked seven or eight dried shitake mushrooms and 1 T. of shredded black wood ear in about two cups of hot water to re-hydrate them and also diced about 8 oz. of medium tofu.

                                         Dried shitake mushrooms and dried wood ear

After twenty minutes the vegetables began to soften.  I then added the tofu, rehydrated shitake mushrooms that I had sliced into bite sized strips,  the rehydrated wood ear strips (a type of fungus), and their soaking water to the vegetables in the wok, along with 2 T. of Chinese Cooking wine and 1 tsp. of sesame oil,

I cooked the mixture in the wok for another twenty to thirty minutes.  I made a seasoning sauce with 2 to 3 T. of Chinese Cooking wine, 1 T. of white soy sauce, 1 tsp. of sesame oil, 1 T. of cornstarch, and about 1/3 cup of water.

I added the seasoning sauce and cooked the dish for another five minutes until the liquid started to thicken.  I went to the fridge for beers, our preferred beverage for spicy Szechuan food.

The finished dish

I heated about ½ cup of PPI basmati rice in the microwave and we ladled the Mapo Dofu onto our plates.

By adding Mexican squash or zucchini and onion, I make it a more vegetable rich dish.

I usually use an entire 14 oz. container of tofu, but had only 8 oz. tonight.

Here is the base recipe I started with from the Good Food of Szechuan Cookbook:

I find all of the Oriental ingredients at Talin grocery at the corner of Louisiana and Central.

Bon Appetit

March 27, 2018.Lunch – Miso Noodle Soup. Dinner Poached Salmon with Cream garlic dill sauce and Spinach and Corn custard

March 27, 2018.Lunch – Miso Noodle Soup.  Dinner Poached Salmon with Cream garlic dill sauce and Spinach and Corn custard

I ate the usual tropical fruit salad with yogurt and granola for breakfast.  Aaron came to work on an agreement at 10:30.  At noon we stopped for lunch.  I freshen up the PPI soup from yesterday by adding four more shrimp, two more fish balls, two mussels, another heaping T. of red miso, about 1/3 cup of lovage leaves, two more stalks of asparagus thinly sliced, a tsp of dehydrated dashi, about 3 oz. of tofu cubed, and another three mushrooms thinly sliced.  The soup was even more delicious than the one yesterday.

After lunch I went to Sprouts and bought a 3.3 lb. salmon filet for $6.99/., plus a red bell pepper, white grapes for $.98/lb., and about ½ lb. of green beans.

I had invited Mike to join us for dinner at 6:30.  At 5:00 I called Suzette, who was still at work, so I started making the corn custard.  Here is the recipe:

I cut the kernels from three ears of corn, which produced almost three cups of corn instead of two, so I increased the recipe a bit.  Mainly I added five medium eggs instead of two eggs and two egg yolks.

Suzette came home before the corn custard was thoroughly cooked, so she turned up the heat and cooked the soufflé dish full of custard for an hour, until the top of the custard turned a golden brown and became firm in the Center.

We decided to poach the salmon and make a garlic dill cream sauce and add spinach to the dish for and easy one dish entrée and vegetable.

Suzette made a poaching medium of PPI Albariño wine, water, butter and four chopped cloves of garlic in the large sauté pan.

She then lay four ½ Lb. salmon fillets in the sauté pan and covered it with aluminum foil to seal in the steam and poached the salmon filets for about twenty minutes.  In a separate sauce pan she melted Two T. of butter and four chopped cloves of butter and ¼ cup of fresh chopped dill.  Then I added two T. of flour and we sautéed the flour for a couple of minutes.  Suzette removed the salmon filets from the sauté pan and I poured the approximately 1 ½ cups of poaching medium into the sauce pan.  The sauce thickened immediate.. I then added about 1/3 cup half and half and the sauce loosened a bit.

Mike and I had de-stemmed a basket of spinach, we added the spinach to the sauté pan and put the salmon filets back into the sauté pan and covered it with the aluminum foil again to cook the spinach and re-heat the salmon on low heat.

The corn custard finally browned and firmed.  It had a creamy and slightly sweet flavor from the fresh corn.

The poached salmon was excellent in its garlic dill cream sauce with warm fresh leaves of spinach.  It was more like a warm spinach salad with exquisite Poached salmon in a cream sauce dressing.  In our effort to Simplify the meal by combining the vegetable with the entree, we actually created a new type of dish.

See how the fish and spinach combined 

I initially poured glasses of  2014 Archery Summit rose (100% Pinot from Oregon’s Willamette valley), but after the first glass of rose Mike wanted to switch to the Faiveley Pinot, so we opened one of the bottles.  It was deliciously smooth.

Mike had brought two bottles of 2015 Joseph Faiveley red Burgundy Pinot Noir that he had bought at Jubilation. The importer, Wildman is an excellent importer.  Here is its description of the wine.

Domaine Faiveley combines the principles of modern winemaking methods with the time honored traditions that have been practiced for centuries within their 19th century cellars. Each terroir and each vintage, benefits from special attention which makes the cuvées unique. Each bottle therefore becomes the faithful reflection of its terroir.

Terroir: Joseph Faiveley Bourgogne Rouge is sourced from vineyards spread throughout the terroirs of the Côte de Nuits, Côte de Beaune and the Côte Chalonnaise.

Vinification: The Bourgogne Rouge is vinified in the cellars of Domaine Faiveley for 12 to 14 months in the same manner as their broad selection of reds from the Côte de Nuits.

Here is some information about Bourgogne Faiveley:

Founded in 1825, Bourgognes Faiveley has been handed down from father to son for over 175 years. As the sixth generation to take the reins, François Faiveley manages, with equal amounts passion and competence, the largest family domaine in Burgundy. Methodically reconstructing vineyards fractured by French inheritance laws, Bourgognes Faiveley today owns more appellations in their entirety (monopoles) than any other domaine in Burgundy.
"Faiveley’s wines are... supremely clean and elegant: definitive examples of Pinot Noir... above all they have richness and breed, the thumbprint of a master winemaker."
-Clive Coates M.W.
Côte d’Or, A Celebration of the Great Wines of Burgundy

Cotes de Nuits is one of my favorite areas in Burgundy.

Mike indicated that he paid $32.00 per bottle, which sounds like a fair price for this bottle. Suckling rated this bottle a 91.

We opened the second bottle when Willy came and I opened a new package of Dubliner Cheddar cheese and sliced 1/8 wide slices for each of us.  Mike said the cheese went well with the pinot.  Both seemed to me to have a smooth and creamy flavor.  

Mike also brought a bottle of Maison Surrenne cognac, which is one of my favorites.

Here is some information on Maison Surrenne:

Consisting of four distilleries and eight cellars, Maison Surrenne Cognac is the largest existing family run cognac house remaining in the region. The cognacs produced are either single district, specific vintage, single cask or from a single vineyard, allowing them to produce an extensive range of eaux-de-vie to suit every pocket. The main distillery and cellars can be found in Jarnac, on the banks of the Charente River. Within their extensive storage are cognacs that reach back through history, and these are used to create an authentic brand that concentrates on providing a great range of quality cognacs at prices that are affordable to everyone.

Mike brought the VSOP, which costs around $50.00 these days  I poured a splash into four sniffers and defrosted small three Swedish marzipan and chocolate desserts and made 3 cups of Earl Grey tea for us.  Suzette only drank the cognac.

We talked a bit and enjoyed what had turned into a rather nice French three course meal.

Bon Appetit

March 26, 2018 Lunch – Miso Vietnamese Noodle Soup. Dinner – Salad and Lentils

March 26, 2018  Lunch – Miso Vietnamese Noodle Soup. Dinner – Salad and Lentils

I ate the usual for breakfast.

By 11:45 I had a hankering for a big pot of Miso Vietnamese Noodle Soup, so I started throwing things into a three quart pot of water, including dehydrated chicken stock and dashi, a cube of pho seasoning, a diced stalks of celery, four sliced mushrooms, 2 tsp. of dried seaweed, a large T. of red miso, 2 T. of Chinese Cooking wine, six heads on shrimp, three quartered fish balls, and about seven of eight chicken and cilantro mini-wontons from Costco, four stalks of asparagus thinly sliced, two scallions thinly sliced, 3 oz. of onion, and four kinds of noodles (Japanese buckwheat noodles, 40 mm square Vietnamese rice noodles, wheat noodles and mung bean thread noodles.

Aaron came over and joined me for lunch.  I squeezed a line of Hoisin sauce and Shiracha across a plate to dip shrimp, wontons, and fish balls into.

After lunch I drank several cups of green tea.

I had no plan for dinner.   When Suzette arrived I had made a Swedish snack, a toasted piece of German sourdough bread spread with red onion slices and garnished with red onion slices and pieces of pickled Swedish herring and a round hard rye bread buttered and garnished with slices of Jarlsberg cheese and a cup of Earl Grey tea. I suggested lentils and salad and Suzette said, “We need to eat the lentils.”

Suzette had a few slices of cheese but I was tired and lay down for a 45 minute nap.  When I awakened at 5:45 Suzette had gathered a basket of lettuce from the garden and fetched the crock pot filled with lentils.  I cleaned the lettuce and placed it in two pasta bowls. I then diced two tomatoes, 1/3 of a peeled cucumber, and a couple of oz. of red onion to garnish each salad.  Suzette added a clump of the fresh cheese she had made and I dressed the salads with Caesar salad dressing.

Suzette heated a Pyrex baking dish filled with lentils and fetched two beers from the garage fridge.  We had a pleasant light dinner of salad with bowls of lentils.

Bon Appetit

March 25, 2018 Brunch – Machaca with eggs. Dinner- Salmon Salad

March 25, 2018 Brunch – Machaca with eggs. Dinner- Salmon Salad

I smeared a toasted plain bagel with cream cheese and lay slices of red onion and the fresh Lax I made yesterday on it and a few capers for breakfast with a cup of tea.  Fresh Atlantic Farm raised. Salmon, fresh dill from the garden, and 12 hours on one side 18 hours on the other side produced a near perfect Gravad Lax. Super tender.

               Note a key factor; the liquid is near the top of the salmon so all of the fish is curing

After 10:00 Suzette suggested making Machaca and eggs with some of the PPI pot roast from last night’s dinner.  I agreed and diced a Roma tomato, 3 oz. of onion, and 1/3 of a small mild poblano chili.  Suzette diced two PPI baked potatoes and de-husked several cloves of garlic and began sautéing them.  I added the  onion and then the chili, and finally the tomatoes and meat to the large skillet. I then broke four eggs into a metal bowl and Suzette emulsified them with a whisk and added the eggs to the skillet.
.
I opened a Brown Ale and poured ½ of it into a small mug for Suzette.

After the eggs firmed we ladled the Machaca onto our plates and ate a hardy brunch.  Suzette went to the garden to work and I rested and drank another beer and the took a short 45 minute nap.  I woke up around 2:30 and took a bike ride around the 15 mile long Southern loop from my house.  When I returned around 4:00 I lay down and read the Hi-Lo Country by Max Evans until 5:00 when Suzette brought in a basket of lettuce for dinner.

I went into action.  I diced a Roma tomato, I sliced 1/3 cucumber, and about 3 T. of red onion, while Suzette steamed 12 stalks of asparagus and I dredged  2 pickled balls of labne yogurt from their bottle and put one on each salad.  I then squeezed lemon juice and added more olive oil, salt and ground black pepper into my jar of Caesar salad dressing and shuck it to mix.

When Suzette placed the steamed asparagus on the salad with the tomatoes, red onion slices, a sliced pickled egg, and cucumber slices, and some PPI teriyaki salmon I dressed the salad.  I went to the garage fridge and fetched a bottle of 2016 Le Pont Rose from Bandol, France ($19.99 less 20% at Total Wine), opened it and poured glasses.  The 2016 Bandol is not as light or elegant as the 2015.  It is a deeper hued pink.  The tasting notes I found, rated the 2015 Rose at 87.3 and the 2016 at 83, so
others noted the big difference also.  If you want to taste the best Bandol Rose, try Domaine Tempiers Rose 2015, rated 93 to 94.

We enjoyed our light fresh dinner with teriyaki flavored salmon.  I did not add olives because that would have conflicted with the delicate slightly sweet teriyaki flavor of the salmon.

After dinner I ate some peanuts and two small pieces of chocolate with a sip of cognac mixed with Grande Mariner and a cup of Earl Grey tea.

Bon Appetit

March 23, 2018 Lunch – Super Caesar Salad. Dinner – cedar Plank Grilled Teriyaki Salmon, Rice, and Steamed Green Beans Dessert - Hotel Chaco

March 23, 2018 Lunch – Super Caesar Salad. Dinner – cedar Plank Grilled Teriyaki Salmon, Rice, and Steamed Green Beans Dessert - Hotel Chaco

I ate ½ of a bagel with Lax, cream cheese, red onion slices and capers with tea with milk for breakfast.

For lunch I decided to make my a salad.  I went to the garden and gathered a basket full of lettuces, which I rinsed, spun, and filled a pasta bowl with.

Then I diced a Roma tomato, sliced thinly a large green onion, added some fried onions and green cracked olives and sliced 1/3 cucumber.  I then grated a fair amount of Pecorino Romano cheese on the salad and added a sliced pickled egg and four Spanish anchovies.  I doused the salad with Caesar dressing and grabbed a couple of knaekebrod rounds and a glass of water and ate to my heart’s content.  The salad  was twice as large and twice as good as the one yesterday.

 

I was tired from lack of sleep and another loosing day in the market, so I decided to go food shopping.  I receive food brochures in the mail every week, so I knew Smith’s had asparagus for $.98/lb. so I went there first.  I bought two bunches, plus a 3.5 lb. chuck roast for $2.97/lb. and a small plastic container of blueberries for $1.25.

Then I drove to Sprouts , because it had a special on Atlantic farm raised fresh salmon, which is my favorite for making Gravad Lax.

Besides two 2 lb. matched salmon filets. I bought an eggplant for $.50, three ears of corn for $.99, and a 2 lb. bag of 16-20 count per lb. shrimp.

After I put away the groceries I went to the garden and picked a basket of dill and rinsed it.  I then made Gravad Lax. I put 1 cup salt,  ¾ cup sugar, and 1 tsp. of mortar ground pepper corns in a bowl and stirred the ingredients to mix them.  Then I cut the salmon fillets to fit a pyrex baking dish and lay a layer of dill on the bottom of the Pyrex baking dish.

I then spooned some of the dry ingredients over the skin side of one filet and lay it skin side down on the dill.  I then spooned dry ingredients on the exposed inner flesh side and lay dill on top of it.

Then I spooned dry ingredients on the inner flesh side of the other fillet and lay it flesh side down on top of the layer of dill so it fir into the dish and lined up with the other filet.  I then lay the rest of the dill on top of the exposed skin side o& the second filet and then spooned the rest o& the dry
ingredients on top of the dill.  I then covered the salmon and dish with Saran, placed a brick on top of the coated salmon filets to weigh them down and placed the dish in the fridge st around 4:30.  I will flip the salmon after 24 hours, at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon and at 4:30 on Sunday afternoon after curing for approximately 48 hours, I will remove the residual ingredients and wash off the salmon to remove an6 excess sal5 and sugar, wipe the two filets dry, wrap them in Saran, place the
wrapped filets in a freezer bag and store them in the meat drawer of the fridge, ready to use.

            The Lax cure after 7 1/2/hours.  Note that dry ingredients have gone into solution

I called a Willy and told him we were grilling teriyaki salmon tonight, which is one of his favorite meals.  He later texted and asked if he could bring his friend, Andy, from work for dinner and could we make rice.

When Suzette came home at 5:00, I told her that Willy planned to arrive for dinner around 6:00.

At about 5:15 I made rice by putting 2 cups of water into a pot with ¼ tsp. of dehydrated Knorr chicken stock, a few dried Lilly pods, and about a Tsp of dried shitake mushrooms.  When the water came to a boil I added 1 cup of basmati rice, covered the pan, reduced the heat to low and simmered the rice for 30 minutes.  Suzette cut two cedar boards to the size of the two salmon filets and soaked them in a bathtub in water for 30 minutes.  Then a little before 6:00 Suzette lay one filet on each board being careful to keep the edges of the filets inside the edge of the boards and heated the propane grill outside
Then she placed the boards on the grill and cooked them for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile I snapped the hard ends of the haricot verts and placed them in the steamer with water and placed them on high heat for 10 minutes.

Suzette she wanted to drink Marble Double White beer with dinner, so I went to the garage and fetched the last three.

When Wily and Andy arrived we served glasses of water.  Suzette said the salmon needed to cook an additional ten minutes.  I turned off the heat under the rice and green beans.

Suzette set the table and I gave beers to Willy, Andy, and Suzette.  I poured a glass of Apple cider
from Normandy that I bought at Trader Joe’s for $4.99.

The salmon was perfectly cooked, crisp on the edges and moist on the inside.  The rice was flaky and delicious, and the green beans were soft but still a little crisp.

Dinner was really pleasant.  Fresh, flavorful and healthy.  We enjoyed meeting Andy, who works with Willy.

A bit after 7:00 Willy and Andy left and Suzette suggested we go to Hotel Chaco to have dessert and watch the sunset.

When we arrived at Hotel Chaco we were greeted warmly and shown to the fifth floor bar observation deck.  We were shown two two chairs at a pebble shaped table at the edge of the deck that was surrounded by plate glass panels that protected us from the wind.

We enjoyed the great design of the building and the lighting and when the waitress came over we ordered a chocolate flourless torte, a pot of tea, and Suzette ordered a Special drink named Rio Chaco, that was made with a chocolate liquor, bitters, and tequila.

The flourless torte was delicious, a baked fudge served with a pile of sweet strawberry compote and garnished with a slice of chocolate dusted with sesame seeds.

At 8:30 we walked around the hotel and then went home.

I read a few pages of The Hi Lo Country by Max Evans and then went to bed.

Bon Appetit

March 22, 2018 Lunch – Kosmos. Dinner – Sautéed Smoked Pork Chop with PPI Ratatouille and a Man on a raft

March 22, 2018 Lunch – Kosmos. Dinner – Sautéed Smoked Pork Chop with PPI Ratatouille and a Man on a raft

This was a strangely scheduled day, but fun.

I worked on the Supreme Court Motion from 4:30 to 7:00 and then ate my usual yogurt, granola, and tropical fruit salad breakfast.  Then I sent the three day notice and default notice to the tenants at 524 Romero and went to the bank at 9:30.

When I returned the wind was calm and it was warm so at 10:30 I rode to Montano and back facing a 5 to 10 mph breeze in both directions that I can not explain but felt.

I showered and dressed by noon and around 12:30 Peter. Appeared at my door and drove us to Kosmos for lunch.  Peter had been raving about the Ceaser Salad, so we both ordered one ($8.95).

The regular chef was not in the kitchen, so rather than the salad being in a pasta bowl, which holds more, it was on a dinner plate.  I complained and was brought extra lettuce and cheese, for which I was charged $.75 each.  Peter also ordered extra cheese, which was a small ramekin of the grated parmesan of the type sold in bags at Costco. Nice but not special.  The point is that everything you ask for is an extra, except Peter asked for extra croutons when he ordered his salad.  The salad was pretty heavily tossed with a thick fresh ceaser salad dressing made with smoked anchovies that was delicious, so the extra lettuce actually blended nicely into the salad.  The other extra special thing was the croutons which were a dish unto themselves.  Large cubes of French bread that had been sautéed in olive oil and garlic.  I loved them and understood instantly why Peter ordered extra croutons.  All in all the salad was good to wonderful.  My problem was that I had just ridden 10 miles and was




hungry.  After I finished my salad I relaxed and talked to Peter as he nibbled the last of his salad and croutons.  The regular chef returned while we were eating and Peter mentioned that we were unlucky that he was out when we ordered, so the salad perhaps is probably more generous.

Today was Peter’s birthday, so I bought him lunch and he drank a small glass of beer.  Kosmos has a nice selection of locally brewed beers.  We spoke to to owner, who is a friend of Peter’s who has poured a foundation of concrete for his homemade pylon for the sign soon to be erected on Fifth in front of the restaurant.


The doors were open, so we could enjoy the lovely sunlight and weather.




After lunch I went home and worked until 4:00 when I ate the PPI stir-fried shrimp and Chinese
vegetables from last night and then down to rest for 30 minutes.  Suzette came in at 5:00 and told me Peter and Susan had arrived to go to Gruet.  I had invited them to go drink champagne the other evening when we ate dinner together at Susan and Charlie’s house, where they are staying until the first of April when they move into a rental in the Ridgecrest area.

Susan drove us to Gruet.  When we arrived we discovered that from 5:00 until 7:00 was the Pizza and Pinot release party for Gruet’s new Pinot Noir. Firenze Pizza has pulled its portable pizza oven into the parking lot and was baking.  We walked into the tasting room and found four vacant bar stools on the side were there was an elevated counter suitable for holding glasses of wine.  The banquet hall and the tasting room were full of happy people eating and drinking, so it was a very festive atmosphere.  We ordered two tastings of each of the champagne tastings.  One starts with the word Tete, which are the more expensive offerings and the other starts with the word Cuvee.

Both tastings are wonderful and by sharing them we were able to taste every bubbly for sale.

We started with the white and rose Sauvage, to which no sugar is added in the second dosage. The Rose Sauvage is probably my favorite Gruet champagne at the moment.  It is dry with a strong Pinot Noir flavor.  It is made with 100% Pinot Noir.  The white is also nice and made with 100% Chardonnay.  In the next 1 ½ hours of tasting we worked our way through all of Gruet’s champagnes.  Generally speaking the vintage champagnes have greater depth and complexity.  The non-vintages are fresher and fruitier.  My second favorite is the Rose Brut NV, which is light, crisp and also made with 100% Pinot Noir grapes.

                                     From left to right Bob, Laurent Gruet, Susan, and Peter

We got to know Peter and Susan a bit better as we talked and sipped.  Peter’s career was as a Spanish history historian, who was on faculty at UNM with lots of time spent in Seville and Salamanca, where the archives are kept and in South America.  Susan was an art historian who worked at the Fine Arts Museum in Santa Fe. They most recently lived in Bath, Maine and are moving to Albuquerque for their retirement.

We soon found out we share a similar love of travel in Mexico, they most recently stayed in Oaxaca for three months, and drinking champagne, of course.

We left at 7:00 and Peter drove us home.

During the day I had made teriyaki sauce by heating ¼ cup each of Aji Mirin, sake, and soy sauce plus ¾ T. of sugar until the sugar dissolves into solution.  When the teriyaki sauce called I added it to the gallon freezer bag in which I put the two salmon filets I bought at Costco on Tuesday and put the bag in the meat drawer of the fridge to marinate.

I suggested sautéing the salmon.  Suzette said, “Let me look in the fridge.” When she looked in the meat drawer she found the smoked pork chops I bought yesterday at El Super and the container of PPI Ratatouille.  So she suggested sautéing the pork chops with slices of apple and serving it with the Ratatouille, which is what we did.  Except I was still rather hungry, so I made a man on a raft.  I toasted a piece of Pastian’s German Soudough bread, tore a hole in the Center, sautéed both sides in butter and then placed an egg on the toast with the yolk in the hole in the Center and sautéed both sides of the bread again to cook the egg.

I went to the garage and fetched two Kirkland craft beers.

I loved dinner.  The smoky seared pork chop with the lightly sautéed apples and the heavy comforting Ratatouille were great together p, especially with a bit of egg and German sourdough bread.

Suzette was still a little hungry also, especially since she is not eating bread, so after dinner she Sautéed pieces of banana with several blackberries in butter and cognac and we had a lovely dessert of brandy poached fruits.

After dinner I was in the mood to cook.  I decided to make a lentil and chicken stew with the lentils and three chicken quarters I bought at El Super yesterday.  The 1 pound bag of lentils was $.99 and the three chicken quarters were $.69/lb.  suzette fetched the crock pot and I added three quarts of water and the pound of lentils to it. I then separated the legs from the thighs and sautéed them with three slices of bacon in a large skillet with one sliced medium onion and I sliced carrot. After adding the meat and vegetables to the crock pot I lay down at 9:00 and soon went to bed.  Suzette was having a great time watching “Who shot Roger Rabbit?” As I went to bed.

I often wake up during the night when I go to bed early and have eaten a fairly heavy meal and tonight was no exception.  At 3:30 am the lentil dish took on a decidedly Mexican approach when I diced and added to the crock pot 1 Padilla chili, two Roma tomatoes and eight or nine small clov March 22, 2018 Lunch – Kosmos. Dinner – Sautéed Smoked Pork Chop with PPI Ratatouille and a Man on a raft

This was a strangely scheduled day, but fun.

I worked on the Supreme Court Motion from 4:30 to 7:00 and then ate my usual yogurt, granola, and tropical fruit salad breakfast.  Then I sent the three day notice and default notice to the tenants at 524 Romero and went to the bank at 9:30.

When I returned the wind was calm and it was warm so at 10:30 I rode to Montano and back facing a 5 to 10 mph breeze in both directions that I can not explain but felt.

I showered and dressed by noon and around 12:30 Peter. Appeared at my door and drove us to Kosmos for lunch.  Peter had been raving about the Ceaser Salad, so we both ordered one ($8.95).

The regular chef was not in the kitchen, so rather than the salad being in a pasta bowl, which holds more, it was on a dinner plate.  I complained and was brought extra lettuce and cheese, for which I was charged $.75 each.  Peter also ordered extra cheese, which was a small ramekin of the grated
parmesan of the type sold in bags at Costco. Nice but not special.  The point is that everything you ask for is an extra, except Peter asked for extra croutons when he ordered his salad.  The salad was pretty heavily tossed with a thick fresh ceaser salad dressing made with smoked anchovies that was delicious, so the extra lettuce actually blended nicely into the salad.  The other extra special thing was the croutons which were a dish unto themselves.  Large cubes of French bread that had been sautéed in olive oil and garlic.  I loved them and understood instantly why Peter ordered extra croutons.  All in all the salad was good to wonderful.  My problem was that I had just ridden 10 miles and was hungry.  After I finished my salad I relaxed and talked to Peter as he nibbled the last of his salad and croutons.  The regular chef returned while we were eating and Peter mentioned that we were unlucky that he was out when we ordered, so the salad perhaps is probably more generous.

Today was Peter’s birthday, so I bought him lunch and he drank a small glass of beer.  Kosmos has a nice selection of locally brewed beers.  We spoke to to owner, who is a friend of Peter’s who has
poured a foundation of concrete for his homemade pylon for the sign soon to be erected on Fifth in front of the restaurant.

The doors were open, so we could enjoy the lovely sunlight and weather.

After lunch I went home and worked until 4:00 when I ate the PPI stir-fried shrimp and Chinese vegetables from last night and then down to rest for 30 minutes.  Suzette came in at 5:00 and told me Peter and Susan had arrived to go to Gruet.  I had invited them to go drink champagne the other evening when we ate dinner together at Susan and Charlie’s house, where they are staying until the first of April when they move into a rental in the Ridgecrest area.

Susan drove us to Gruet.  When we arrived we discovered that from 5:00 until 7:00 was the Pizza and Pinot release party for Gruet’s new Pinot Noir. Firenze Pizza has pulled its portable pizza oven into the parking lot and was baking.  We walked into the tasting room and found four vacant bar stools on the side were there was an elevated counter suitable for holding glasses of wine.  The banquet hall and the tasting room were full of happy people eating and drinking, so it was a very festive atmosphere.  We ordered two tastings of each of the champagne tastings.  One starts with the word
Tete, which are the more expensive offerings and the other starts with the word Cuvee.

Both tastings are wonderful and by sharing them we were able to taste every bubbly for sale.

We started with the white and rose Sauvage, to which no sugar is added in the second dosage. The Rose Sauvage is probably my favorite Gruet champagne at the moment.  It is dry with a strong Pinot Noir flavor.  It is made with 100% Pinot Noir.  The white is also nice and made with 100% Chardonnay.  In the next 1 ½ hours of tasting we worked our way through all of Gruet’s champagnes.  Generally speaking the vintage champagnes have greater depth and complexity.  The non-vintages are fresher and fruitier.  My second favorite is the Rose Brut NV, which is light, crisp and also made with 100% Pinot Noir grapes.

We got to know Peter and Susan a bit better as we talked and sipped.  Peter’s career was as a Spanish history historian, who was on faculty at UNM with lots of time spent in Seville and Salamanca, where the archives are kept and in South America.  Susan was an art historian who worked at the Fine Arts Museum in Santa Fe. They most recently lived in Bath, Maine and are moving to Albuquerque for their retirement.

We soon found out we share a similar love of travel in Mexico, they most recently stayed in Oaxaca for three months, and drinking champagne, of course.

We left at 7:00 and Peter drove us home.

During the day I had made teriyaki sauce by heating ¼ cup each of Aji Mirin, sake, and soy sauce plus ¾ T. of sugar until the sugar dissolves into solution.  When the teriyaki sauce called I added it to the gallon freezer bag in which I put the two salmon filets I bought at Costco on Tuesday and put the bag in the meat drawer of the fridge to marinate.

I suggested sautéing the salmon.  Suzette said, “Let me look in the fridge.” When she looked in the meat drawer she found the smoked pork chops I bought yesterday at El Super and the container of
PPI Ratatouille.  So she suggested sautéing the pork chops with slices of apple and serving it with the Ratatouille, which is what we did.  Except I was still rather hungry, so I made a man on a raft.  I toasted a piece of Pastian’s German Soudough bread, tore a hole in the Center, sautéed both sides in butter and then placed an egg on the toast with the yolk in the hole in the Center and sautéed both sides of the bread again to cook the egg.



I went to the garage and fetched two Kirkland craft beers.

I loved dinner.  The smoky seared pork chop with the lightly sautéed apples and the heavy comforting Ratatouille were great together p, especially with a bit of egg and German sourdough bread.

Suzette was still a little hungry also, especially since she is not eating bread, so after dinner she Sautéed pieces of banana with several blackberries in butter and cognac and we had a lovely dessert of brandy poached fruits.

After dinner I was in the mood to cook.  I decided to make a lentil and chicken stew with the lentils and three chicken quarters I bought at El Super yesterday.  The 1 pound bag of lentils was $.99 and the three chicken quarters were $.69/lb.  suzette fetched the crock pot and I added three quarts of water and the pound of lentils to it. I then separated the legs from the thighs and sautéed them with three slices of bacon in a large skillet with one sliced medium onion and I sliced carrot. After adding the meat and vegetables to the crock pot I lay down at 9:00 and soon went to bed.  Suzette was having a great time watching “Who shot Roger Rabbit?” As I went to bed.

I often wake up during the night when I go to bed early and have eaten a fairly heavy meal and tonight was no exception.  At 3:30 am the lentil dish took on a decidedly Mexican approach when I diced and added to the crock pot 1 Padilla chili, two Roma tomatoes and eight or nine small cloves of garlic.

Bon Appetit

March 21, 2018 Lunch – Polish Dog at Costco. Dinner – seared Salmon on pistachio sorrel pesto with Cauliflower carrot Couscous

March 21, 2018 Lunch – Polish Dog at Costco. Dinner – seared Salmon on pistachio sorrel pesto with Cauliflower carrot Couscous.

I had a whole wheat everything bagel with cream cheese, red onion slices, Gravad Lax and capers with a cup of Earl Grey tea.

Then Iwent to a seminar on evidence.  At the lunch break I drove to Costco and ate a quick Polish Dog.

When the seminar ended at 4:30 I drove to El Super for their Wednesday produce specials.  I bought yellow onions at 5 lb. fo $.99, Red onions for 3 lb. for $.99, green onion for $25/bunch, 3 mangos for $.99, Roma tomatoes, oranges, pineapple, papaya, poblano chili’s were all 2 lb. for $.99, cauliflower and green beans for $.99/ lb. and ½ lb. of mushrooms for $.99.  The highest priced produce was Mexican limes for $1.39/lb..  I also bought yogurt for $2.69 for 32 oz. and a gallon of milk for $2.25.  I bought three chicken quarters for $.69/lb., a dozen medium eggs for $1.39, 10 lb. of russet potatoes for $1.99, and smoked pork chops for $2.99//lb.

I drove home and put the meat and dairy in the fridge and went to meditate at 6:00.

When meditation ended a little before 7:00 I returned home.  Suzette decided to make cauliflower and carrot Couscous by processing about 1 lb. of cauliflower and 1 carrot in the Cuisinart and then sautéing it in a large skillet with a handful of dried cranberries and salt and pepper.

I poured out the rest of the 2016 Clos Crapon Chenin Blanc and Suzette laid a puddle of pesto on each plate, then a seared salmon filet and Couscous on the side

We ate a lovely dinner.  I love spontaneous creative dishes like the cauliflower Couscous with cranberries.  Cranberries is our favorite complement to salmon, so Suzette found a way to creatively add cranberries to the meal.

Bon Appetit

March 20, 2018 Lunch –Asian Pear. Dinner – Stir Fried shrimp with Vegetables

Tropical fruit salad, yogurt, and granola for breakfast. The fruit salad continues to generate enough liquid to wet the granola without the addition of milk.

I met Willy and friends at Asian Pear for lunch.  I love Asian Pear.  You order your lunch and after we took  it to a table the owner brought us small bowls of pickled cucumbers and Kimchi and another person brought us a plate of slices of vegetable pancakes doused with red chili sauce and bowls of egg drop soup.  I loved the extra food items and personal service.  My plate of BBQ chicken with salad and Korean noodles tossed in soy sauce was wonderful, also.  I don’t know how the noodles are cooked so they are tender and slightly gelatinous.

Asian Pear and Amerasia are my favorite restaurants in downtown Albuquerque.

After lunch I walked through the Border Exhibit at 516 Central.  There were several pieces that caught my eye, including a wicker chair with a frame made in the shape of Mexico.

I then drove to Costco and bought a sockeye salmon filet for $8.49/lb. when I returned home a brochure delivered in the mail while I was at lunch Disclosed that Atlantic farm raised salmon would go on sale for $6.99 at Sprouts starting tomorrow.  Looks like Gravad Lax is going to be made really soon.

 I napped for an hour and at 5:00 rode to Rio Bravo and back.

Suzette was home when I returned.  We discussed dinner and decided that I would make stir fried shrimp and vegetables tonight and she would make seared salmon with pesto tomorrow evening.  She wanted to use sorrel from our garden. She found a great recipe for salmon with sorrel pesto with pistachio nuts.

Salmon with sorrel and pistachio pesto

Four 6-ounce filets of salmon, skin-on
1 bunch sorrel (about 7 ounces)
1/2 cup shelled pistachios
1 small clove garlic, peeled
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt

Directions

Preheat a large heavy-bottomed skillet over low heat while you prepare the pesto. Remove the salmon from refrigerator to come to room temperature.

Separate the sorrel stems from the leaves, and then discard the stems (especially if it's later in the sorrel season, when the stems are fibrous and tough). You should have about 4 packed cups of sorrelleaves.

Combine the pistachios and garlic in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the mixture is the consistency of coarse sand. Add the sorrel and pulse until all of the leaves are chopped and incorporated into the nuts. With the machine running, slowly add up to 3/4 cup of olive oil until the mixture is smooth. Season with about 1 1/4 teaspoons salt. Spoon about 2 heaping tablespoons of pesto on the bottom of each plate. Transfer the remaining pesto to a bowl and cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent it from turning brown. For best use, keep in the refrigerator up to 3 days.

While Suzette made the pesto, I started slicing ½ yellow onion, two medium zucchini, five or six mushrooms, five or six Napa cabbage leaves, and diced six or seven cloves of garlic and four slices of ginger.

I also sliced a carrot and a stalk of celery and opened a 15 oz. can of bamboo shoot strips and a 7 ½ oz. can of sliced water chestnuts.

I heated my wok and added 2 T. of peanut oil and 1 tsp. of sesame oil to the wok.  Then I added the chopped garlic and ginger.  After a minute I added the hard vegetables(the onion, zucchini, and Napa cabbage stalk portion).  I stir fried these ingredients for about ten minutes until they softened.  While the ingredients cooked a made a bowl Oscar seasoning sauce with 3or 4 T. of Chinese rice cooking wine, 1 ½ T. of white soy, and 1 T. of cornstarch to which I added the 11 cooked shrimp that I had cut in halves.

I then added the cans of bamboo shoot strips and the sliced water chestnuts, carrot, and celery and stirred them into the ingredients.  After another couple of minutes I added the sliced Napa cabbage leaves and mushrooms and turned the ingredients in the wok to distribute the heat evenly to all vegetables.  After I thought the vegetables were cooked I added the seasoning sauce to thicken the dish.  The cornstarch thickened the sauce too much, so I added about ¼ cup of water, which  was a little too much liquid because the sauce became runny.  I cooked the dish a bit and the sauce thickened a bit but then the vegetables began yielding liquid, so I served the dish.

I drank green tea and a Suzette drank Chateau de Nages white wine.

After dinner I drank more hot green tea and ate some of the chocolate laced halvah I bought at Café Istanbul.

Bon Appetit

March 19, 2018 Lunch – La Salita. Dinner – Bobby Flay Chicken, Catalan Spinach, and a baked sweet potato.

Tropical fruit salad, yogurt, and granola for breakfast.

Mike called a5 10:oz and we decided to go to lunch at La Salita.  I ordered my usual , a single Chili Relleno stuffed with Swiss cheese and topped with green chili with a double helping of refried beans.

Mike got his usual, a sopapilla stuffed with stewed turkey and green chili.

We request that our sopapilla be served after the meal, so we can devote our full attention to while it is steaming.  I  fill mine with honey and feel like a bear attacking a bee hive when I break through the soft pastry shell and eat sopapilla doused with honey.

For dinner I thawed two chicken leg quarters starting at 1:00 but they were still a little frozen and water logged at 5:30 when we started to cook.  I also put a bottle of 2015 Clos Chapon Vouvray in the fridge to chill.

I made the rub with 1 tsp. of ground mustard, 1 T.of ground cumin, 1 tsp. of ground fennel seeds, ½ tsp. of white pepper and 1 T. of paprika.  I rubbed the rub onto the leg quarters.  Suzette put some olive oil into a latte skillet and sautéed the chicken until it brown with a smaller skillet filled with water weighing down the chicken.  After about fifteen minutes Suzette put the skillet into a 350 degree oven for another twenty minutes.  She also put two sweet potatoes into the oven to bake. I de-stemmed a colander full of spinach and while the other items were baking, she sautéed three oz of onion in a skillet with heated olive oil.  After a couple of minutes she added some piñon nuts and then some raisins and finally the spinach’s day turned the spinach to coat it with hot oil and mix it with the other ingredients.

The chicken had not fully cooked so Suzette cooked for several more minutes in the microwave.

I poured glasses of the Vouvray.  It was lovely. I bought it at Total Wine for $14.99 less 20%.  It was dry yet had good acidity and a very clean taste.  I like it a lot and will buy more.

Finally when the chicken was fully cooked we ate our dinner but the chicken was a bit tough.  I liked the soft baked sweet potato with some butter and the spinach.

Bon Appetit

March 18, 2018 Breakfast – Bacon and eggs and sweet potatoes and asparagus. Lunch – PPI Clams in Szechuan Sauce and vegetables with fried tofu. Dinner- Shrimp Salad

March 18, 2018 Breakfast – Bacon and eggs and sweet potatoes and asparagus. Lunch – PPI Clams in Szechuan Sauce and vegetables with fried tofu. Dinner- Shrimp Salad

During the news programs I fried bacon.  When it was crisp, I drained the fat from it and Suzette made four over easy eggs while sautéing PPI grilled asparagus and sweet potato slices from last night’s meal.

Suzette went to work and I worked on taxes and pruned the rose bushes in the back yard.

At breakfast we had discussed eating some of out the lettuce growing in our garden that we had covered for the winter and is now ready to eat.

At 5:30 we picked a basket full of lettuce.  I then diced a tomato and an avocado and sliced 1/3 of a cucumber.  Suzette sliced a pickled egg and drained some of the pickled fiddlehead ferns we bought in Maine last summer and put a few cracked green olives on the composed salad.

I chilled a bottle of 2015 Chateau de Nages Vielles Vignes Appellation de Nimes that I bought at Total Wine for $14.99 less 20%.  The wine was rather heavy due to blending five different grapes.

After dinner we ate he last of the Quince cobbler.  I doused mine with cognac and a little cream.

Bon Appetit