February 10, 2016 Lunch – best Noodle Ever, Dinner – Bobby Flay Chicken, Steamed Broccoli and Cauliflower, and Israeli Couscous

February 10, 2016 Lunch – best Noodle Ever,  Dinner – Bobby Flay Chicken, Steamed Broccoli and Cauliflower, and Israeli Couscous 

I was not hungry today because last night’s dinner was either so satisfying or so nutritionally balanced that I had no hunger.  Finally, at noon, I decided that because I wanted to ride to Montano, i needed to eat something. I heated the PPI noodle soup that I had made with a pork chop, white miso, sugar snap peas, onions, and three kinds of noodles.  The soup had been enriched by the addition of the baby Bok Choy and fried tofu in garlic sauce from our lunch at East Ocean last Thursday and I added my PPI Shrimp a Scampi in the wonderful bell pepper, tomato, and onion sauce Suzette made for Tuesday night’s dinner. I heated the now thick soup and ate it all.  The combination and maturation of flavors made this the best noodle soup I have had in a long time, perhaps ever.  It was that delicious.

I napped for 1 hour,  then worked on my appeal until after 4:00 and then enjoyed a ride in the relatively warm, sunny, and windless late afternoon to Montano and back.  This is the first day this year that I thoroughly enjoyed my bike ride.  It is a bit uncomfortable for me to ride in cold weather.  I feel the cold in my joints a bit.  I much prefer the warmth on a sunny day, like today.

Suzette was home when I arrived a little after 5:00 and the welder was here looking at reconstructing the small gate in the side yard garden. 

I had to go meditate, so had to leave by 6:50, which gave us 1 ½ hours to cook and eat dinner.  We agreed on cooking the thawed chicken thighs using the Bobby Flay method, which is my favorite.  It basically is rubbing the meat with a paprika rub and then sautéing the chicken in olive oil weighted down with a pan of water, sort of like the brick cooking method.  Then you roast the chicken in the oven.  Tonight, due to the lack of time Suzette partially cooked the chicken in the microwave and then rubbed it with paprika and sautéed the thighs in a bit of olive oil with a pie pan filled with water on top for about thirty minutes.  Suzette had fetched the head of cauliflower and two stalks of organic broccoli I bought at a Sprouts from the garage fridge and I removed several flowerets from each head and placed them in the steamer and added sufficient water to stream them and placed the steamer on the stove.  At around 6:15 we checked to see if the chicken was cooked and it was still raw at the bone so I put slits in the bottom of each thigh and placed the thighs bottom side down in the skillet and we turned on the heat under the steamer and I heated the plastic container of PPI Israeli couscous in the microwave for 2.22 minutes.  I then went to the basement cellar and fetched a bottle of 2008 Concannon Central Coast Sauvignon Blanc, which I have enjoyed with chicken for the several years we have had it.  I think I bought three cases at $3.33 per bottle four or five years ago.  

There is an interesting dynamic in wine.  Whites and roses are generally fruitier when drunk young and loose some of their fruitiness as they age, so they are usually closed out at a discount in the fall when the new crop is harvested, but depending upon the tannin content a steely of chalky white or Rose will age for many years to good effect.  That was the case with the Concannon.  It has only gotten better with age the odd notes have coalesced into a solid mature wine that is very smooth.  I loved it. Suzette drank water.

We checked the chicken when the vegetables were ready at around 6:30 and it was fully cooked, no visible blood or pinkness. I heated the couscous one more time for 1.11 minutes and poured a glass of Concannon.  We enjoyed another low fat, low carb dinner.  Suzette’s diet is forcing us to simplify our menus.  No Hollandaise sauce tonight, so I rubbed the vegetables in the paprika on the skin of the chicken for added flavor, which was lovely and satisfying.

I left for meditation at 6:55, which got me there a little late, but Jim and J.B. were waiting for me.  After a good meditation I stopped at Lowe’s and bought pork riblets, duck foie gras ($7.99), and tonic water and club soda.

When I arrived home Suzette said she wanted something sweet and scooped the last of the vanilla ice cream into a bowl.  I said, “What about making Bananas Foster?”  She agreed and sliced a banana while I fetched a small skillet and melted 1T. of butter in it and then added ½ T. of moreno sugar and heated it until the sugar went into solution. Suzette added the banana slices and I fetched the rum.  In a couple of minutes, when the banana slices had cooked a bit and absorbed some of the butter sauce, I added 1 1/2 T. of rum and Suzette lit the mixture.  It burned for over a minute, which gave the bananas a slight flambé flavor.  Suzette served me a bowl of cherry vanilla ice cream and I added more cherries that had soaked in maraschino syrup to my bowl and then Suzette split the bananas and butter sauce between the two bowls.  I loved the dessert.  

A great day of work, play, and food.  

Bon Appetit