A lovely day. I worked from 4:00 until 9:00. Then I ate some granola, fruit salad, milk, and yogurt.
We then took empty bottles to the recycling dumpsters at the solid waste facility on Edith near Griegos. Then we drove to Pastian’s Bakery, where we bought a loaf of Komminsar bread and a loaf of whole wheat bread for $1.00 on our way to the downtown growers market at 8th and Central.
When we arrived at the grower market it was mobbed with people and merchants. Suzette tells me it is one of the largest in the state. We immediately saw beautiful sugar snap peas. We bought a pint container for $3.00. We usually walk around the perimeter and then walk through the central walkway, which we did today. On the copper side of the park where all the growers stalls are we found lovely bok Choy and bought to heads for $5.00. We decided to go home since it was 11:30 and we were hungry.
Suzette chopped the two slices each of sweet potato and rib steak. I chopped ½ of a poblano chili and some onion that Suzette sautéed. Suzette whisked several eggs and added them to the skillet and toasted two blue corn tortillas each and soon we had lovely blue corn tacos.
I pruned the dead rose heads from the three main rose bushes in the back yard which took about an hour and completely exhausted me.
I lay down to nap and slept for about an hour.
Clafoutis
When awakened I showered and dressed and went to the kitchen. I decided to cook instead of working. I was nearly 5:00 and Suzette agreed to help me make a dish of clafoutis. Every time I make it a bit differently. This time I scalded almost two cups of heavy cream and a bit more than 1 cup of whole milk. Then I mixed in a bowl 8 T. of almond flour, 10 T. of powdered sugar and ½ tsp of salt in a medium mixing bowl. While I was mixing the dry ingredients Suzette buttered the ceramic baking dish and dusted the dish with granulated sugar and then whisked three eggs.
We then added the three whisked eggs to the dry mixture and stirred the eggs in thoroughly. We then added the scalded milk by pouring it through a seize to remove the milk solids. After we stirred in the milk, we poured the mixture into the ceramic baking dish and then added 24 oz, of fresh blueberries and baked the Clafoutis in a preheated 350 degree oven for 50 minutes unto t was golden on top.
I then decided to make a meat and mushroom spaghetti sauce. I braised 2.5 lb. of 85% grass fed ground beef. I then chopped and added three diced onion, 8 cloves of garlic, 1 minced green bell pepper, and four diced fresh tomatoes. After we cooked those ingredients about 1/2 hour we added a No. 10 can of crushed tomatoes. We then went to the garden and I plucked about fifteen stalks of oregano, which we chopped and added to the spaghetti sauce and simmered the sauce.
Poached Salmon
It was about 6:00 and we needed to start cooking dinner. The menu was poached salmon served with a cream sauce made. Couscous, and the steamed sugar snap peas we bought this morning. I minced
some garlic for Suzette, who then sautéed it with freshly picked garlic scapes she picked in our garden. She then added two T. of butter, water, and white wine to make a poaching medium. She poached the three salmon filets in the deep skillet covered by a wok cover to contain the steam and heat.
We agreed that we wanted to add stuff to the Couscous. We discussed different ingredients and finally decided on cranraisins because cranberries go well with salmon, chard from the garden because we often add that to Couscous, and pinon nuts because Willy likes pinon nuts and because almonds and raisins are common additions to Middle Eastern dishes. We melted 3 T. of butter in a sauce pan and added about ½ cup of cranraisins which Suzette had soaked for ten to fifteen minutes in hot water to rehydrate and the drained in a colander, a handful of pinon nuts and 1 cup of Couscous. I tossed and braised the ingredients for several minutes until the pinon nuts began to brown. While I was sautéing the ingredients Suzette turned on the kettle to heat water and we added 1 ½ cups of water to the sauce pan and lowered the heat to low for about ten minutes to cook and steam the Couscous and then . I then checked the Couscous to see if the liquid had been fully absorbed. The Couscous appeared perfect, neither too wet or too dry, moist and fluffy when tossed and mixed with a fork. I covered it and
While the salmon was poaching I made a roux by heating two T. of butter and added two heaping flour to the melted butter and stirred it with a whisk for four or five minutes to cook the flour. Suzette removed the salmon and scapes from the skillet to an enamel pan with a cover and placed them in the still warm oven. We then began added the poaching medium slowly while constantly stirring to prevent the sauce clotting into lumps. When the sauce was thinned and smooth we reduced the heat and I kept stirring the sauce to keep it smooth. As it thickened I added additional poaching medium to thin it until it reached the right thickness and I turned off the heat.
Sugar snap peas
Suzette de- stemmed the peas and steamed them in the steamer with water while I was stirring the sauce.
Willy said he would arrive at 6:30 for dinner and we completed the dinner prep at 6:30 but he called and said he was running late so we plated the plates and poured the white wine and put hopes plate into the warm oven.
Suzette made a beautiful presentation as usual. She spooned a pile of Couscous into each of three pasta bowls, then placed a salmon filet on the Couscous and then spooned a liberal amount of cream
sauce over the salmon and then tossed steamed sugar peas over the cream sauce . Here is a picture of the final presentation. We put Willy’s plate in the warm oven and his glass of wine into the fridge. Then Suzette left for the garden as I was photographing my plate. I then gathered my glass and just as I was walking out the patio door to the back yard Willy walked through the side door. I said, “your plate is in the oven and your wine is In the fridge.” Willy and I then joined Suzette at the table in the gazebo.
The Wine
I decided to open a bottle of La Granja 70% Verdejo 30% Viura blend. I like this wine a lot. It is among my favorite whites. I like it with chicken and salmon that have lots of fat. For less fatty fish dishes we like Sauvignon Blanc. Both the La Granja and the Belles Vignes Sauvignon Blanc are regular favorites became they cost $5.99. The la Granja had a deep dark metallic after taste balanced with lots of fruit forward brightness. It is a wonderful wine for the money able to cut through the fat of the Couscous and salmon and cream sauce.
It was a great meal
Willy left at 7:45 to meet friends at Marble and we drove to Old Town to inspect the renovation work at the store and listen to the music at the Plaza. The City has planned nightly free concerts at the Plaza every Friday and Saturday night, by mostly professional local artists. This evening it was a blues musician that played both acoustic and electric guitar. His electric set was with a drummer and bass player. After about 30 minutes the electric riffs became somewhat repetitive and we left to go see Death in Paradise.
We went to bed at 10:00.
I have been working hard and that led to us cooking hard today. Some days the occasion dictates the menu, but today was both the occasion and the opposite, the ingredients. I had bought ground beef, mushrooms and tomatoes to make my favorite spaghetti sauce and they had to be used before they went bad. The same for the heavy cream and blueberries that went into the Clafoutis, which I will serve the book club on Thursday evening.
The menu for tonight’s meal was driven by my buying fresh salmon yesterday and Willy being available for dinner tonight and our love of those things that go with poached salmon.
Bon Appetit
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