August 29, 2014 Appetizers in Garden and La Merienda Dinner at Los Poblanos for Suzette’s Birthday

August 29, 2014  Appetizers in Garden and Dinner at Los Poblanos  for Suzette’s Birthday

Mike and Kathryn were coming by at 5:30 for appetizers, so at 4:00 I drove to Bosque Bakery and bought three day old baguettes for $1.25 each (half price).  Kathryn commented, “Geeks bearing Gifts”, as Mike unpacked the back pack he was carrying filled with bottles of wine.  We stored the wine for Monday evening and opened the can of foie gras and bottle of fig confit Mike and Kathryn had given us at Christmas and plated those with the last of the Le Delice cheese.  I cut and toasted slices of baguette and Bosque’ rye bread that we had bought at the Farmer’s Market last week and took them to the garden.

We sat in the shade at the small table at the east end of the garden, which gave us the longest view of our yard with its new orchard area addition.

I opened a bottle of Guadalupe Vineyards Muscat and then a bottle of Hungarian Tokjai 5 pts. And we nibbled toasted bread slices smeared with the foie gras and fig confit or cheese and talked as we sipped the sweet wines for about 1 hour.

We had made a reservation at Los Poblanos for dinner at 7:45 and since Mike and Kathryn also had a dinner commitment, at around 7:15 we said goodbye and drove to Los Poblanos to celebrate Suzette’s Birthday.

When we arrived we walked through the woods and pond with it huge lotus plants to the dining room in the Inn.  Wednesdays through Saturdays the Inn serves

La Merienda Dinner

Open Wednesday – Saturday by reservation.

Wednesdays through Saturdays we offer our guests the option of ordering evening meals from our La Merienda menu. The menu changes seasonally, and features artisan ingredients from our farm and local growers. In addition, guests can choose from select beverages such as our signature lavender lemonade, Blue Sky sodas, or order from our beer and wine list. Vegetarian friendly.

We were seated in the small but lovely dining room and about ten minutes later were shown to a table on the outside patio as we had requested.  The menu was not very extensive but was interesting.

 

Suzette chose a bowl of cold corn chowder for her first course that creatively combined fresh kernels of corn and small cubes of potato floating in a creamy amalgam of creamed corn held together with a béchamel sauce or perhaps potato flour or corn starch, garnished with very picante fried strips of Los Poblanos' green chili dusted in flour (Penny Rembe told me they harvested and roasted 1200 pounds of green chili this year). 

I ordered a glass of Meiomi pinot noir because Keith Gilbert recommended it last night at my Book Club meeting.   Here is some information on the wine from the winery:

Our Vineyards

Where does Meiomi come from? Well, it comes from a series of vineyards all selected by Joe Wagner, Winemaker & Viticulturist for Belle Glos and Meiomi. Each vineyard is chosen for its unique flavors, textures and aromas. Bucking tradition, this Pinot Noir is a blend of multiple vineyards stretching along the California coast starting from Sonoma, to Monterey, and last but not least...Santa Barbara.

Each of the vineyards within these three appellations are in Region I climates, designated by UC Davis as the optimal climate to grow this temperamental variety ...we couldn't agree more. Each unique area yields fruit that is distinct in character and style. The individual characteristics of each vineyard combine in one blend to enhance Meiomi's broad flavor profile and allow us to consistently craft a balanced Pinot Noir bursting with aromatics, mouthfeel and depth of flavor, every year, regardless of vintage.

My first sip of Meiomi overwhelmed me with flavors of jammy fruit, a light cranberry acidity and some spiciness.  We both tasted it and our shared conclusion was this was a huge pinot noir, not unlike an Archer’s Summit, which is Keith Gilbert’s favorite.   We asked our waiter about sourcing it and he said it was distributed in New Mexico by National and can be bought at Total Wine, where he used to work.  It is great to have knowledgeable wait staff.  

Suzette ordered a glass of German Riesling.  I took a sip of it with the corn chowder and it had a pleasing lemony citrus flavor and was not too sweet.  The wine menu was very pleasant with lots of good choices of wine as was the food menu.

I selected a smoked pork belly served with spinach on a corn cake and garnished with fresh apricot compote.  We started with a bowl of cold corn chowder, which was a new one on me.  The corn chowder was chowdery with creamed corn mixed with a sauce bechamel garnished with fried strips of fresh green chili that were so hot they were inedible.

 Suzette chose a house special of fresh halibut served with fresh squashes and cherry tomatoes for her entree that looked great and tasted wonderful laid on a slice of sauteed pitti pan squash with a bit of spinach and garnished with a fresh tomato colis.

We both enjoyed our entrees.  I had never had smoked pork belly and found it interesting although the smoking did dry the meat out a bit, which is good or bad depending upon your attitude about eating fat. I had previously eaten pork belly at Suzette’s Greenhouse Bistro and Bakery in Los Lunas that had been cooked with the  sous vide method, which retains all of its internal juices and in Boston Suzette ordered it and it was prepared confit style which makes it very tender and juicy.  The smoking took away some of those juices and imparted a very smoky flavor, which imparted a very different texture to the meat.  

When I tasted the smoky, yet moist pork that I was struck by the realization of the concept behind the food at Los Poblanos; to as closely as possible replicate the foods and styles of cooking of the traditional ingredients found in New Mexico’s Middle Valley using as many of the food stuffs produced at Los Poblanos’ Farm and locally.  For example, smoking pork has been a traditional method of preserving meat for hundreds of years in this area.  It is actually a more challenging task to create a delicious meal using only traditional food stuffs and cooking techniques than to utilize all the fancy new cooking techniques and ingredients.   I realized Los Poblanos had achieved its goal as I examined the plate in front of me, with its combination of smoked local pork belly, served with fresh local greens on a fresh corn and green chili pancake, garnished with fresh apricot compote made from fresh local apricots.  The corn pancake infused with bits of green chili and spinach and fresh corn kernels was wonderful, soft and filled with fresh spinach and corn kernels.

Pork Belly on Corn pancake with spinach garnished  with apricot compote 

I really enjoyed combining bits of the smoked pork with bits of the excellent corn cake, with bits of fresh steamed spinach and apricot compote.   This meal with its traditional food stuffs prepared in the highest culinary order as one can imagine in this traditional setting spoke to the historic position that Los Poblanos  holds in New Mexico’s food tradition.

  It is hard to balance the competing demands of creating interesting modern cuisine with traditional food stuffs and preparation techniques, but Los Poblanos has done an admirable job.  It has been recognized as one of the Top 10 Hotel for Food Lovers” by Bon Appétit Magazine | 2013 and was selected by diners at Open Table as the diners’ choice winner in Albuquerque.  If you have not been to this historic estate originally built in 1934 by the Simms/McCormicks with all of its own self-contained food production facilities, not unlike Winterthur in Delaware (Duponts) or Stone Barns in New York (Rockefellers) although perhaps on a slightly smaller scale, you owe to yourself to explore its rich history and enjoy the bounty of its gardens in the restaurant.  The Rembe family has done an amazing job of rehabilitating and breathing life into this historic estate, which now contains the 34 acre core of the original 800 acre estate.

Penny Rembe hosted us to the wine and dessert.  After we finished our entrees and sipped the last of our glasses of wine, we were served flutes filled with beautiful buttery smooth Cazanove Champagne with the chocolate dessert we had ordered. 

The dessert is hard to describe, so here is a photo of it.

Chocolate dessert with Bottle of Champagne Cazanove

The Birthday Girl confronting champagne and dessert

The dessert actually was my favorite part of the meal, perhaps because the pastry chef, not constrained by any local food traditions, created a stack of fresh raspberry and chocolate ganache layers with layers of chocolate mousse and strawberries topped with a soft crumbly round chocolate French style macaron/macaroon and held together with chocolate meringue breadsticks on end and supported by a slather of thick chocolate sauce with a crumble of chocolate meringue on the side.  We deconstructed the dessert pretty quickly and enjoyed combining all of its diverse elements as we sipped the lovely richly textured champagne with its lemony notes and strong character.  If you put Dom Perignon with its effervescent nothing texture on one end to the texture spectrum of champagne, the Cazanove Brut would be near the other end of the spectrum; a big rich buttery textured champagne, but with small beautiful bubbles that persisted for as long as we sat and drank it. 

deconstructed dessert

At around 10:00 p.m. we left happy and filled with Los Poblanos’ wonderful food and atmosphere of its historic buildings set so beautifully in its extensive gardens.   Suzette enjoyed her lovely birthday dinner.

Bon Appétit