May 3, 2015, Brunch - Caprese Salad and Vichyssoises Dinner at Cynthia and Ricardo’s house

May 3, 2015,  Brunch - Caprese Salad and Vichyssoise   Dinner at Cynthia and Ricardo’s house

We actually started the day at 8:30 with a warm Almond Croissant and tea in bed.

We got up at 10:00 and began preparing brunch.  Suzette ladled soup bowls of Vichyssoise I made yesterday and I sliced a tomato and then fresh Old Windmill mozzarella cheese we bought at the Farmer’s Market yesterday with leaves of fresh basil from our garden, which Suzette drizzled with a balsamic and olive oil dressing.  I went to the garden and picked five stalks of chives and sliced thin ringlets of them to garnish the soup.

The morning was lovely and we enjoyed the bright sunlight and brunch in the garden.  Here are some pictures:

I became hungry at 2:00 and decided to make a noodle soup with the PPI Corvina in Mousseline cream sauce.  I wanted a thick creamy soup so instead of boiling all the ingredients together in a pot of water, I decided to boil the noodles first and then remove most of the boiling water and then add the PPI fish, shrimp and sauce.  I boiled some of the flat Vietnamese rice noodles I had bought a Ta Lin.  After a few minutes I added two sliced shitake mushrooms to the boiling water and cooked them while the noodles were cooking..  In about twenty minutes the noodles seemed soft, so I poured off most of the water and added the PPI corvina, shrimp and sauce to the pot of noodles and mushrooms.  I also added some of the PPI Taka Choy for a little extra vegetable. After a few minutes of simmering, the result was an excellent thick creamy soup. 

  

Voila, a new creation.  I loved the thick soup with fish and shrimp and noodles and mushrooms.

After eating my soup I napped for an hour and awakened at 3:30.  It was too late to ride bike, shower, and still make the pineapple and mango salsa I had agreed to make for dinner and still arrive by 5:30 to 6:00 at Cynthia and Ricardo’s, so I showered and made Pineapple Salsa

Pineapple Salsa

½ pineapple cubed

2 mangoes cubed

2 Tbsp. of pasilla chili minced finely

Juice of 4 small Mexican limes

1 shallot minced finely

1 large avocado cubed

2 Tbsp. of fresh cilantro chopped

We did not have any good avocados or cilantro so we went to Sprouts Farm Market a bit after 5:00.  

It was mobbed with people.  I could not imagine how many people there were.  Suzette We found a lovely large avocado for $1.88 while I picked three small avocados for $1.00.  We also picked up four ears of corn for $1.00 and some granola and waited in line about 20 minutes to check out.

We then drove to Cynthia and Ricardo’s house and said hi to Mike and Cynthia and Ricardo and then while Suzette chopped up the avocado and cilantro, I drove home to fetch the bag of shrimp I had boiled in shrimp boil yesterday for the shrimp coctels.

When I returned the shrimp were added to a large pitcher of cocktail mix made from spicy tomato juice and clam juice and lime juice and lots of chopped celery and avocado and we enjoyed Mexican style shrimp coctels for appetizers with wonderful organic crisp blue corn ships bought at Sprouts.

Soon Cynthia took the Chilaquiles casserole out of the oven.  I did not ask her for her recipe but found several that looked interesting on line.  Chilaquiles is essentially fried tortilla pieces that are combined with tomatoes and cheese and baked in a casserole dish. Cynthia’s were vegetarian, served with sour cream and were delicious.

Wine - Mike brought a bottle of the 2008 Brunello di Montalcino sold at Costco (Caparese?).  It was the lovely smooth big red one would expect.  On line ratings of this vintage are 90 points, so a fun wine to taste.

Around 6:30 Janet arrived with a couple of bottles of wine.  One was particularly lovely, a 2011 Rocher des Violettes Chenin Blanc from Montlouis sur Loire, just across the river from Vouvray.  It has a lovely smooth Chenin Blanc taste without the citrus bite of Vouvray; a lovely wine.  Janet's husband, Kurt, is a great wine enthusiast and orders many wonderful wines on line, such as this one. Janet's other wine offering was a sparkling Chevallier Carte Noir Cava from Spain,that she said they bought at Trader Joe's for $5.50, which we drank with dessert.

Janet's wine selections

We brought Modelo and Negra Modelo beers, which I loved with the chilaquiles.

Cynthia also made a black bean and corn salad and a red cabbage slaw with jicama.

Around 7:00 Cynthia put the slaw and the salad and the salsa on the table and we moved to the dining room for dinner.

We drank and ate the salads and chilaquiles and drank and talked.  Mike talked about Lisa and her family, who he will visit in a couple of weeks in D.C.   We all knew Lisa and she was very much in the room as we reminisced about her.

chilaquilas casserole is between the two wine bottles 

After we finished dinner, Cynthia served glasses of panna cotta made with gelatin dissolved in water and heated with cream and sugar and a touch of vanilla.

Here is the Epicurious recipe:

YIELD: Serves 8

Ingredients

• 1 envelope unflavored gelatin (about 1 tablespoon)
• 2 tablespoons cold water
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup half and half
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preparation

In a very small saucepan sprinkle gelatin over water and let stand about 1 minute to soften. Heat gelatin mixture over low heat until gelatin is dissolved and remove pan from heat.
In a large saucepan bring cream, half and half, and sugar just to a boil over moderately high heat, stirring. Remove pan from heat and stir in gelatin mixture and vanilla. Divide cream mixture among eight 1/2-cup ramekins and cool to room temperature. Chill ramekins, covered, at least 4 hours or overnight.

Dip ramekins, 1 at a time, into a bowl of hot water 3 seconds. Run a thin knife around edge of each ramekin and invert ramekin onto center of a small plate.  end of recipe 

Cynthia served the panna cotta filled glasses with a large bowl of blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries doused with a bit of water and sugar.  The fruit and panna cotta was a lovely light ending to the vegetarian meal.

Suzette had worked all day cleaning and painting her new kitchen at the Center for Ageless living so was ready to go home at 8:30 and we said goodnight.

Bon Appetit