September 14, 2019 Lunch – Tortilla Paella Dinner- Eggplant Parmigiana and Spaghetti

September 14, 2019  Lunch – Tortilla Paella   Dinner- Eggplant Parmigiana and Spaghetti

Today was International Cuisine Day.

I ate a bagel with cream cheese, gravid lax, onion slices, and capers with a cup of green tea for breakfast to get in touch with my cultural heritage.

At 1:30 when Suzette returned home from work I made an new dish with the PPI gumbo and jambalya from last night's party that Susan sent us home with.  It turned out to be one of my baked egg dishes like Egg Foo Young or a Spanish Tortilla with three egg whites and one egg yolk. I sauteed diced vidalia onion, a red sweet pepper, two diced tomatoes for several minutes in 1 ½ T. of heated olive oil and then added the last 1/3 cup of sushi rice, and about a dozen green beans, sliced into 1 inch lengths.  After another minute or two I added five crustaceans and three shrimp sliced in half and a scallop and a few bits of crab.  After another minute or two during which I whipped the three eggs with a couple of T. of gumbo soup I added that and let the mixture set and cook in my wok.

After about five minutes I turned the mixture so the other side would cook.  I heated water for green tea and then served Suzette and myself a plate of the mixture.  Here is a picture.  I looked every bit like a Spanish Tortilla and was filled with all the ingredients of paella, so I name it Tortilla Paella.  We drank the last of the Emma Reichard Rose with the tortilla.

I drove to Bombay Spice Store on Central at 4:00, which proved to be a bit difficult logistically due to the masses of cars and trucks trying to enter the parking lot for the State Fair from Central, which is immediately across the street from the Bombay Spice Store.

I asked the owner if he could help me find Vicco toothpaste and a bag of Nepali peppercorns named Tumir, which he found for me quickly. I thanked him and said, “I will browse a bit.”  Soon I found a small container of Rajah Tandoori seasoning, which is my favorite for seasoning roasted chicken and took my items to the counter.  When I handed him the items, I said, “They have changed the label on the Rajah Tandoori Seasoning.  Is it the same as always?”  He smiled and said, “Yes.”

When I got home I opened the new container and it had the wonderful aroma l I have always loved about this spice mix.  I filled my old empty container with the contents of the new container, so I would have my familiar container in the spice rack.

Suzette was making pesto with fresh basil, almonds, olive oil, and Reggiano Romano cheese.  I helped her de-stem some of the basil but she was on a roll, so I lay down and watched TV.  She wanted to make Eggplant Parmigiana for dinner.  We talked and she said she wanted to not grill it or fry it, but wanted to bake it so it would not be oily or dried out. She sliced the eggplant in ½ inch thick slices and lay the lightly oiled slices into a lightly oiled pyrex baking dish and covered them with PPI spaghetti sauce and then grated Reggiano-Romano cheese and baked it in the oven for about thirty minutes until the eggplant cooked, the cheese melted and the surface was bubbling.

While the eggplant dish was cooking Suzette boiled a pot of water and cooked about ½ lb. of vermicelli. When it was just al dente, I turned off the heat and let it sit in the water.   

I fetched a bottle of 2013 Sangiovese          from the basement and opened it.  It was a little harsh as first but soon smoothed out as we ate our dinner.  We re-heated the PPI green beans and scattered them over the spaghetti and Eggplant Parmagiana

We had a wonderful dinner. The eggplant was succulent and the sauce was terrific. 

Later I ate a small bowl of peach and blueberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream with a cup of Chai and a bit of Grappa, while Suzette had a bit of cognac.

We were in recovery mode for most of the day from our excessive food and drink of yesterday, so less exciting menus were what the doctor ordered.

We watched a very enjoyable movie on our new Comcast subscription service called Stranger than Fiction, with a terrific cast, Will Ferrell, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Linda Hunt, Emma Thompson, Queen Latifah, David Hale, and Dustin Hoffman.

We love our new TV service.

Bon Appetit