A near perfect day according to Suzette.
I watched Watford beat Bournemouth in PL soccer and Fareed Zachariah and at 9:00 we left for shopping and breakfast.
We first went to El Super. I was hungry so we ate before we shopped. El Super has a restaurant inside the store. Most Mexican restaurants have Menudo on the weekend and El Super is no exception. I ordered a large bowl which was three times what I couldn’t. Menudo is Posole or hominy cooked with tripe and spices. I assume that El Super uses pre-cooked hominy from cans and adds chili, salt, and tripe. It was quite good. Suzette ordered a Chile Relleno plate with double beans. She said she did not like her dish or the restaurant because it used a cheap oil or lard that had a bitter taste.
After breakfast we shopped. Suzette shopped for her Center and I shopped for our home. This is the first time to shop El Super since our trip to Big Bend, so we needed more stuff than usual. For example, I have no tropical fruit salad, so I bought a pineapple, a papaya, limes, oranges, and mangos. I also bought white onions, zucchini, yams, crema, ginger, a Poblano chili, a Napa cabbage, a head of celery, and three small avocados.
We then drove to Home Depot so Suzette could get some paint.
We returned home around 11:00.
Suzette measured screens for Willy’s apartment and we watched the Kansas City v. Houston AFC playoff game, which had two huge swings open the scoring. I chilled one of the white Italian wines I bought yesterday, Falerio from Saladini Pilastri. Here are the wine notes published by a Saladini Pilastri on the wine.
This wine is producted from an ancient mixture of grapes from Trebbiano, Passerina and Pecorino. Its typical straw-yellow hue and delicate bouquet are due to the excellent position of the vineyards. Elegant and full-bodied, Falerio, it served at 10°C. makes an excellent accompaniment to Ascolani green olives, fish, soups, delicate sauces and white meats.
At 2:00 I ate the PPI Roasted Pork with Apple and Onion slices and then we went for a walk. We actually walked two blocks farther than ½ mile in the neighborhood. When we returned I made a hot buttered rum and we watched some house renovation shows and then at 4:00 the AFC playoff mentioned above.
At 6:00 we started cooking dinner. I cut the 1.3 lb. salmon fillet into three pieces and Suzette prepared them for steaming in the steaming oven. She garnished the fillets with pads of butter on the and sprigs of fresh thyme.
Mixed Vegetable Couscous
I have prepared Couscous with many different added ingredients but this combination of vegetables
was particularly tasty.
I prepared the Couscous by dicing about 2 oz. of red onion. I then finely diced ½ red bell pepper, and 5 stalks of asparagus,, and 1 carrot. When Willy arrived around 6:30 we began the final prep. Suzette cooked the salmon in the steam oven and cooking the vegetables in a Saran covered Pyrex baking dish in the microwave with a small amount of water.
I then sautéd the red onion in 2 ½ to 3 oz. of butter for several minutes. When the onion was soft I added 1 cup of Couscous and stirred it with the onion. I then added the cooked vegetables, which Suzette had microwaved. Finally I added 1 3/4 cups of boiling water and turned down the heat from medium high to the lowest temp.
Managing the heat is the most important part of cooking Couscous. The normal recipe would call for 1 ½ cups of water but I add 1 ¾ cups because that creates a wetter Couscous that will cook more thoroughly and swell up more. The secret with Couscous is for it to steam so I leave the lowest heat on for 3 to 4 minutes, then fluff the Couscous with a fork or spoon, then re-cover the Couscous lid and only after I think it is steaming, turn off the heat. To let it continue to steam and cook. I like a soft fluffy Couscous infused with the vegetables’ flavors, not the dry almost nutty Couscous that one often is served.
Tonight’s Couscous was perfect, except I do not salt my Couscous for health reasons. Suzette salted her Couscous and fish to her taste.
The Falerio is my new favorite white wine. I bought two more bottles of it at Total Wine on Saturday for $11.99 before the 10% mix six discount. The wine had a strong flavor also that added character to the meal that enhanced the unique flavors.
This was a great meal in the new California or New American Cuisine style of cooking because it expressed rather than obscured the flavors of the ingredients. The steamed salmon tasted deliciously
like salmon. The cranberry sauce was both sweet and yet still had that tartness of cranberry. The Couscous was fluffy and suffused with bits of vegetable flavor. The strongest vegetable flavor was the red bell pepper. I don’t think I have tasted a better bell pepper taste since tasting cooked fresh pimientos in Spain. It was unique and very flavorful. I shall add red bell pepper to Couscous again. The asparagus added a bit of textural crunch to the Couscous that was also very pleasant.
So each ingredient retained its unique flavors, yet added a complementary element to the meal.
Suzette loves cranberry sauce with salmon and I have learned to like it also. It clearly retains its unique flavor and yet when eaten with the salmon creates a sauce complement that adds a tanginess to the salmon’s fishy richness.
Bon Appetit
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