August 31, 2014 Dinner Bobby Flay Chicken with Brussels sprouts, Corn and Asparagus casserole and Braised Cucumber

Suzette’s niece by marriage, Karen, came to visit us for a few days.  Karen is not eating red meat so I thawed out the two PPI Bobby Flay seasoned chicken thighs and two more unseasoned chicken thighs.

In the morning I had halved and peeled the last ten of the peaches Suzette had brought from the prodigious harvest at her Center in Los Lunas.  They peeled and cut cleanly in half with one knife stroke into perfect circles, so I put them into a pasta bowl and covered them with saran wrap and looked for a recipe for custard.   In the morning we had discovered a large cucumber in the garden that must have weighed three pounds. When Karen came at around 1:30 we discussed dinner and Karen found a recipe for Julia’s braised cucumber that was simple to make.  It called for sautéing cucumber cubes in 1 Tbsp. of butter covered for five minutes and then squeezing 1 Tbsp. of lemon juice into the cucumbers and adding a dash of salt and cooking them covered for another two minutes.

At around 3:00 we decided to go to the Hispanic Cultural Center art museum.  When we arrived we found that admission was free on Sundays.  Besides the permanent collection, there were four other exhibits, three cut paper exhibits and the other exhibit was of prints created by the ASAR collective of revolutionary teachers and artists in Oaxaca that rebelled against the government in 2006. 

Getting Up Pa 'l Pueblo: Tagging ASAR-Oaxaca Prints and Stencils features block prints and stencils from the ASARO (Assembly of Revolutionary Artists of Oaxaca) collection in the University of New Mexico's College of University Libraries and Learning Science, Zimmerman Library, Center for Southwest Research and Special Collections (CSWR). "Getting up" is slang for posting and applying images in public places; generally, the expression refers to street art. ASARO is a contemporary Mexican artists' collective working in block prints, stencils, and graffiti murals. The group was formed in 2006 after riot police repressed annual teachers' demonstrations in the state capital of Oaxaca.  We forget how important an art institution the Hispanic Cultural Center is.  My guess is that it enjoys the same status as the National Gallery when it comes to traveling art exhibits, which is that it has first dibs on all exhibits relating to Latin American/Hispanic/Chicano Art traveling to or originated by museums in the U.S.  So the quality of Latin American Art is of the first order.  It also has one of the best if not the best curatorial staff for Latin American Art in the country, so the exhibits are beautifully hung and documented. We loved the exhibits.  No pictures are allowed.

At 5:00 we drove through the Tingley Beach area and Old Town and returned home.  We made ourselves mojitos and sat in the garden and watched the sun send slats of light through the trees and talked.  We made a Brussels sprouts casserole before watching 60 Minutes peeling and cutting in half Brussels sprouts, the kernels of two ears of corn, and the last of the bundle of asparaguses and doussed them in olive oil and salt and pepper and baked it for 30 minutes in a 350˚ oven.

After 60 Minutes Suzette made her, now famous, Riesling pastry dough.  Here is the recipe:

While Suzette made the pastry dough, I made a zabaglione with 4 egg yolks, 2/3 cups of sugar whipped together and then cooked with the addition of 5/8 cup of Royal tokaji.  Tokaji (Hungarian: of Tokaj) is the Hungarian form for the name of the wines from the Tokaj wine region (also Tokaj-Hegyalja wine region or Tokaj-Hegyalja) in Hungary or the adjoining Tokaj wine region in Slovakia; the traditional English form is "Tokay". The name Tokaji (which is of Protected Designation of Origin) is used for labeling wines from the Hungarian wine district; the Slovakian form is "Tokajské". This region is noted for its sweet wines^[1] made from grapes affected by noble rot, a style of wine which has a long history in this region. The "nectar" coming from the grapes of Tokaj is mentioned in the national anthem of Hungary.

While we were making the pastry and zabaglione Suzette was sautéing  the thawed Bobby Flay chicken thighs in a large cast iron skillet in a bit of olive oil.  One of the coolest steps in the sautéing is the use of a second skillet of slightly less circumference filled with water to weigh down the chicken and make it cook faster, like chicken roasted under a brick.  After about 8 minutes of sautéing on the top of the stove at medium heat, Suzette put the skillet into the 350˚ oven with the Brussels sprouts casserole.  After another ten to fifteen minutes the chicken and the casserole were ready. 

With about 7 minutes left of cooking time for the casserole and chicken, I cooked the cucumbers.  And we were ready to eat.  I served the last of the Grillo Sicilian white.   We then opened the bottle of Southern Rhone white that Mike had brought with its blend of Syrah, Mouvedre and Grenache.

During the meal the timer went off when the peach torte was ready.  The light golden top had turned a dark golden brown, which we put into the fridge for tomorrow evening’ meal.

After dinner as the sky darken we took up our positions in our newly remodeled orhard area and watched the fireworks at the Country Club.

Later we had a slice of the PPI chocolate torte that Charlie had given me after it was served Thursday night at Book Club with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and cups of decaf coffee.

Bon Appétit