January 16, 2024 Lunch - Crazy Fish Restaurant. Dinner - Leftover Pasta Casserole

January 16, 2024 Lunch - Crazy Fish Restaurant. Dinner - Leftover Pasta Casserole

We discovered a new wonderful restaurant today at lunch. 

I ate my usual breakfast of granola.

Then Suzette and I went to Wells Fargo and closed my safety deposit box because the bank is closing and we took our stuff to the Wells Fargo Richmond Branch and rented a safety deposit box.

After we put our stuff into our new box and left the bank I mentioned going to lunch and Suzette said, “Look, there is a restaurant called Crazy Fish across Central that is open.”

So we walked across the street and discovered that Crazy Fish was a Japanese Sushi restaurant.

I glanced at the menu and asked if the restaurant served Chirashi, even it was not on the menu. 

The waiter replied, “Yes, we serve Chirashi”. So I ordered chirashi and specified the five items I wanted.

We were first served a bowl of miso soup that was quite nice.

The waiter then served us a pot of green tea. It was the best green tea I have had in a restaurant. Here is the name on the label of the tea bag.

Suzette ordered Combo A that was a platter with an assortment of nigiri with mostly the same four fish on my chirashi and a California Roll with a small pile of seaweed salad.

My chirashi had a smooth mound of sushi rice molded in a small soup bowl and inverted in the middle of a square plate with five fish and octopus cut in thick unusual shapes resting on the sides of the mound, including salmon Aji tuna, albacore tuna, white tuna, and octopus. The only difference between the items I requested and those I receive was the albacore tuna instead of hamachi. I loved the mellow almost creamy fresh albacore, so that was a plus. The four corners of the plate were filled. Each with a different item, squid salad, seaweed salad, pickled ginger, and a beautifully extruded mound of wasabi paste.

It almost seemed as if the chef knew I knew good sushi and responded with a special effort. Good fish elegantly presented puts Crazy Fish at the top of my list for sushi in Albuquerque. In fact I have not had better octopus. This octopus was cooked until mor tender than most other tough chewy octopus served with sushi.

I could only eat 1/2 of my chirashi, so I boxed the remaining half for lunch tomorrow. Oh boy.

After lunch we drove home and Suzette went to work around 12:30.

At some point I looked at the requirements for release of my dividend at the Indian bank and decided to try using AI to find the requirements for a PAN, the Indian Identification number card that everyone must have. I quickly saw that there was a government form that could be used by foreigners and started to fill it in but several of my entries were rejected and I was clueless on one requiring an AO code, so at 3:00 I called Mohan and asked if he could help and he could not but he told the time difference between India and NM was 12 hours. The form gave a phone number and hours to call between 7:00 and 11:00 Indian time. So I decided to wait until after dinner to call.

When the mail came it included a check so I walked to the bank and cashed the check. When I returned home I checked my steps and found that I had accumulated over 4000 steps during this day’s activities. I ended the day with 4500 steps.

I watched the news until 6:00 while Suzette, who came home around 5:15 watched home remodeling shows.

Then at 6:00 I rolled out of bed and we looked at the proposed itinerary for Argentina until our scheduled telephone call with Billy and Elaine. I discovered that Mendoza is near the Andes and on the other side of the Andes was Santiago, Chile, only a hour flight over the Andes, so we tentatively added that to our trip.

We are trying to plan a trip to Argentina in April. Billy has done most of the planning, so we went over his plan and shared some flight information. It is slow going but we are coming to a final itinerary that we will fill in with lodgings, rental cars, and meals.

At 8:00 we heated the leftover Cassarecce pasta with four cheeses and spinach, mushrooms, and hamburger that was just as delicious as it was several night ago when we made it. We watched the President’s Farewell address as we ate and then Midsomer Murders to its end at 9:30. Suzette toasted several slices of baguette and spread brie on them for a little late evening cheese course to eat with the last sips of wine, I poured out the last of the Teneres GSM and the Amarone at dinner.

Then we called the PAN customer service number in India and got help to complete the PAN application which took until 11:30, when we fell into bed.

I was happy that I reached a steady level of activity in my normal activities that exceeded 4000 steps that seemed like I had reached a new plateau and we discovered a wonderful sushi restaurant across the street from my new bank branch.

Another awareness I am coming to is the link between a question triggered by a thought of curiosity and the answer has shortened dramatically in the accelerated Information Age driven by AI. 

For example, I wondered where to find the green tea we were served and Suzette asked Chat GBT where to find the tea and got an immediate answer with both a local source, Taxaokaya’s website, and Amazon, of course.

The same was what prompted me to inquire in the Internet about a PAN registration. I may finally be entering the Information Age my sons and Suzette have been living in for years. Voila!

Bon Appetit

January 15, 2024 Lunch - Garcia’s Kitchen. Dinner - Lamb Kabab Pita Sandwiches

January 15, 2024 Lunch - Garcia’s Kitchen. Dinner - Lamb Kabab Pita Sandwiches

I woke up at 6:30 and showered and dressed and watched news until 9:00 because the market turned from negative to positive today. The Costco bagels are huge so a toasted splice of bagel is almost equal to two slices of a water boiled bagel. I spread cream cheese and garnished with red onion and Gravad lax slices and capers for a lovely breakfast with a cup of green tea.

I then worked at my desk trying to gain access and figure out the Secretary of State’s new website in order to form a new LLC.

Then at 11:30 I called Peter Eller to invite him to lunch. I drove to his house and picked him up a few minutes after 12:00 and we drove to Garcia’s at 4917 4th St. we each ordered the large bowl of menudo that were served with chopped onions, oregano, lemon wedges, and chili sauce. The red chili broth was significantly hotter than at the Garcia’s on Central we usually go to. I ate a flour tortilla with my menudo and the we each ate a sopapillas after the meal with honey.

We talked and ate until around 1:30, when I drove Peter to his house and returned home a few minutes before 2:00.

I was able to watch the last 15 minutes of Aston Villa v. Everton, which Aston Villa won and then watched Arsenal beat Tottenham to go into second place 4 points behind Liverpool and 2 points ahead of Nottingham Forest, so a fun afternoon of soccer.

At 3:30 Jody came and inflated the tires on the mini to 35 lb. for winter. Then I walked to Laguna and over to Los Alamos and back, a distance of 2600 steps that got me to 4150 steps for the day without a lot of huffing and puffing, although I stopped almost every block to catch my breath.

Suzette was at home when I returned at 4:15. I rested and watched news and completely forgot to meditate at 4:30.

Dinner - Then at 5:00 I went to the kitchen and chopped 1/3 cup of sweet onion and two cloves of garlic for the lamb and red rice kebabs Suzette was making. She added an egg and some saltine cracker crumbs and shaped each kebab into 8 small domed shaped kebabs and sautéed them in coconut oil.

While the kebabs were sautéing I made tzatziki with two cloves of garlic, 1/3 cup of sweet onion, about 1 T. of lemon juice and 1 T. of olive oil and 1/2 cup of minced parsley.

I also opened a bottle of the Tenebres Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre blend that was a heavy wine but without the sweetness of the Amarone we drank two nights ago.

We chopped some lettuce and I sliced a tomato. We toasted three pita halves and filled them with kebabs, tomato slices, lettuce, feta cheese, and tzatziki for a lovely light dinner.

After dinner at 6:00 we watched President Biden’s farewell speech.

After the speech we spent over an hour planning our trip to Argentina and a side trip to Santiago, Chile. 

Then we worked on Suzette’s Heart Beet Salad for the Bistro’s Valentine’s Day meal. We cut a slice of a beet she had baked in the oven for 1 1/4 hours into a heart shape using a steel template and then Suzette garnished the heart shaped beet slice with a slice of fresh mozzarella covered with lightly whisked cream to replicate burrata and dusted it with crushed almond slices and a few sprigs of parsley. It looked nice.

It was after 9:00. I went to bed to blog this entry and Suzette lay on her new heating pad for an hour and we went to bed by 10:30.

Bon Appetit

January 14, 2024 Lunch - Salami Salad with Brie sandwiches. Dinner - Cod Fillets stuffed with cranberries, spinach, feta cheese, and pinon nuts

January 14, 2024 Lunch - Salami Salad with Brie sandwiches. Dinner - Cod Fillets stuffed with cranberries, spinach, feta cheese, and pinon nuts.

 I was awake from 4:30 to 6:30 and then slept until 8:00. After showering and dressing I ate a bowl of granola with milk and some blueberries and yogurt at 9:00 for breakfast.

I then drafted a document by 11:30 and walked around the block onto San Carlos for the first time in a while that gave me an opportunity to see the changing nature of our neighborhood as homes are torn down and replaced with new more modern homes such as these three on San Carlos.

 I am walking faster and farther in an effort to build my stamina. By the end of the day I accumulated 3750 steps, many of which were rapid.

At 12:30 when I returned I made a salad with romaine lettuce, a diced tomato. 1/4 cucumber peeled, seeded, and sliced, two radishes sliced, a slice of sweet onion minced, and 5 or 6 slices of rosette salami sliced into strips and dressed in the ubiquitous Caesar dressing to which I added lemon juice and olive oil.

Yesterday I had thrown out the old ammoniated brie and today brought in the new wheel of brie with a use by date of February 15, which was perfect.  So I toasted two small slices of baguette and spread Brie on them. The Brie was perfect and a wonderful addition to the salad.

I watched Man City v. Brentford for a few minutes at 12:20 and then at 1:00 switched to No. 1 Liverpool v. No. 2 Nottingham Forest. Amazingly at about the 20 minute mark Nottingham scored to take the lead. Then it was back and forth until Liverpool scored to tie.

I left at the 81st minute to go to Bill’s office to meet the Romero Brothers.

When I returned home at 4:15 I watched the news until Suzette arrived and switched to the HGTV channel, at which time I went to the bedroom and read the last chapter of West With the Night by Beryl Markham that described her fist solo crossing of the Atlantic from East to West from England to Newfoundland by man or woman in 1936.

Dinner - Suzette had wanted to prepare a roulade of salmon for dinner. I did not find salmon but thawed two strips of cod instead and at 6:00 she started prepping dinner, which turned out to be a one dish dinner of a baked cod sandwich stuffed with spinach, cranberries and pinon nuts.

I opened the bottle of Pecorino wine I bought at Trader Joe’s on Monday and it was as vibrantly fruity as the tasting notes claimed. It also among the oldest cultivated grapes. For more information see the Wikipedia article at:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pecorino_(grape)

After dinner we watched Finding your Roots and I toasted three slices of baguette and spread more brie on them instead of a dessert.

We went to bed shortly after 8:00.

I ate all of my portion but Suzette ate only half of her Stuffed Cod Sandwich. It was an interesting way to make an attractive one dish meal.

Bon Appetit

January 13, 2024 Lunch - Basil Leaf. Dinner - Sautéed Hamburger Steak with Sautéed Mushrooms and Onions with Cottage Fries, and Catalan Spinach

January 13, 2024 Lunch - Basil Leaf. Dinner - Sautéed Hamburger Steak with Sautéed Mushrooms and Onions with Cottage Fries, and Catalan Spinach

Today I started with the usual granola, milk, yogurt, and blueberries.

Then I helped Suzette write a response to the director of the Japan tour we wish to take in November organized by 10,000 Waves.

I then worked at my desk for a couple of hours and at 10:15 walked to the country club and back as it began to snow for a lovely finish to the walk.

This walk helped me walk over 4000 steps for the day.  

When I returned at 11:00 I toasted two square slices of baguette and spread butter and Liverwurst and garnished them with red onion slices and cheddar cheese and drank a cup of green tea with them.

Then at 12:00 Aaron called and I met him at Basil Leaf at 1225 Eubank for lunch.  Aaron ordered spring rolls with peanut sauce and a Vietnamese sandwich. I ordered a small bowl of soup with five wontons.

The spring rolls were really wonderful, stuffed with lots of fresh mung bean sprouts and fresh lettuce for a very light appetizer.  Aaron’s sandwich was full of lettuce, mung bean sprouts and sliced pork, served with a small ramekin of peanut sauce.

Then came the small bowl of wonton soup filled to the brim with chicken stock, 5 wontons, a shrimp, and sliced pork. It was also seasoned with black pepper that caused me to cough, but the  wontons were filled with ground pork and very lovely, so I finished most of the soup until I saw the ground black pepper flakes at the bottom of the bowl..

After Aaron finished his sandwich and I finished my soup, I gobbled up some fallen mung bean sprouts dipped in Aaron’s remaining peanut sauce to clear my palate of pepper..

Aaron showed me the new deck he made for Earn with Chat’s assistance and I was really impressed.

After lunch I drove to Trader Joe’s and bought 14 bottles of wine to replenish our stock of everyday wines and try a few new wines, such as a highly recommended Amarone.

Then I drove home and worked until Suzette came home at 4:00.

We watched the news together and confirmed that we would cook Catalan Spinach with the hamburger steaks cooked with mushrooms and sweet onion with country fried potatoes.

We also received applications for the Japan Hot Springs tour, so we were accepted for the tour.

Dinner - At 5:30 we began cooking. I sliced three mushrooms and a slice of sweet onion for the hamburgers and three Yukon Gold potatoes for the Country fries. While Suzette destemmed the spinach and fetched the pinon nuts and raisins, I diced an apple for the Spinach dish.

Then Suzette sautéed the nuts, raisins, and apple in one skillet and the hamburgers, mushrooms, and onion in another skillet and the potato slices in a third skillet.

I opened one of the two bottles of Amarone I had bought at Trader Joe’s today. It was slightly sweet but had a rich heavy texture, perhaps due to its drying of the grapes.

Here is a Wikipedia article that explains how Amarone is made:

Amarone della Valpolicella, usually known as Amarone (UK: /ˌæməˈroʊneɪ, -ni/,[1][2] Italian:[amaˈroːne]), is an Italian DOCG denominationof typically rich dry red wine made from the partially dried grapes of the Corvina (45–95%, of which up to 50% could be substituted with Corvinone), Rondinella (5–30%) and other approved red grape varieties (up to 25%).[3]

Valpolicella is in the province of Verona, within the large Veneto region.

In Italian, the name Amarone literally means 'Great Bitter'; originally, this was to distinguish it from the Recioto produced in the same region, which is sweeter in taste.

History

Notable wines have been produced in Valpolicella since ancient times,[4] but the Verona wine was not marketed as Amarone before 1953.[5] It is believed that the label Amarone was coined by Adelino Lucchese in 1936.[6]

The wine was assigned denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) status in December 1990. On 4 December 2009, Amarone and Recioto della Valpolicellawere promoted to the status of denominazione di origine controllata e garantita(DOCG). Total production for sale (including Recioto) in 2008 was 8.57 million bottles.[7]

Process

Grapes are harvested ripe in the first two weeks of October, by carefully choosing bunches having fruits not too close to each other, to let the air flow. Grapes are allowed to dry, traditionally on bamboo racks (arele in local dialect) but more commonly in plastic or wooden crates. This process is called appassimento or rasinate (to dry and shrivel) in Italian. This concentrates the remaining sugars and flavours thanks to the water evaporation and is similar to the production of French Vin de Paille. The pomace left over from pressing off the Amarone is used in the production of ripasso Valpolicellas.

Modern Amarone is produced in special drying chambers under controlled conditions. This approach minimizes the amount of handling of the grapes and helps prevent the onset of Botrytis cinerea. In Amarone, the quality of the grape skin is a primary concern, as that component brings the tannins, color, and intensity of flavor to the wine. The process of desiccation not only concentrates the juices within the grape, but also increases the skin contact of the grapes. The drying process creates a polymerization of the tannins in the skin that contributes to the overall balance of the finished wine.[8]

Typically, the length of the drying process is 120 days, but varies according to producer and the quality of the harvest. The most evident consequence of this process is the loss of weight: 35 to 45% for Corvina grapes, 30 to 40% for Molinara, and 27 to 40% for Rondinella. Following the drying process that is completed during the end of January or beginning of February, the grapes are crushed and go through a dry, low temperature fermentation process that may last up to 30 or 50 days. The reduced water content can slow down the fermentation process, increasing the risk of spoilage and potential wine faults, such as high volatile acidity. After fermentation, the wine must undergo a period of ageing of at least 2 years (calculated from 1 January of the year following the harvest). The ageing process takes place in wooden barrels, traditionally in big oak casks but also tonneau (500 lt) or barriques (225 lt) made of either French or Slavonian oak can be used.

Variations

If fermentation is stopped early, the resulting wine will contain residual sugar (more than 4 grams of sugar per litre) and produce a sweeter wine known as Recioto della Valpolicella. Recioto was the traditional wine produced according to this method, and originally, Amarone was Recioto wines that had fermented for too long. Unlike Amarone, Recioto della Valpolicella may be used to produce a sparkling wine.[9] Ripasso is an Italian wine produced when the partially-aged Valpolicella is contacted with the pomace of the Amarone. Typically, this will take place in the spring following the harvest. The resulting wine is more tannic, with a deeper color, and having more alcohol and more extract. The word ripassodesignates both the winemaking technique and the wine, and usually is found on a wine label.[9]

Characteristics and faults

The final result is a very ripe, raisiny, full-bodied wine with very little acid. Alcoholcontent easily surpasses 15% (the legal minimum is 14%) and the resulting wine is rarely released until five years after the vintage, even though this is not a legal requirement.

The labor-intensive process of producing this wine poses significant risk for the development of various wine faults. Wet and rainy weather during harvest may cause the grapes to rot before drying out, requiring winemakers to be diligent in removing rotted bunches that can cause moldy flavors in the wine.[10]

We enjoyed dinner but I felt like the wine was not quite right for this decidedly plebeian dinner.

Perhaps Amarone is more of a sipping wine than a food wine. It would have paired well with the French blue cheese we put on our hamburgers alone, according to recommendations on the Internet.

Then I gorged on the last of the potatoes and spinach, which I must stop doing.

More exercise and less food must be my new mantra if I am to lose as much weight as I wish to lose.

After dinner we watched Antiques Roadshow but Suzette fell asleep during the show so we went to bed at 8:00.

I woke up at 4:30 a.m. and finished this entry. With a cup of ginger flavored green tea.

It seems we are going to bed earlier and waking up earlier currently.

Bon Appetit