May 19, 2016 Lunch – Lan’s Dinner – Bobby Flay Chicken with Mint Sauce, grilled Asparagus and Rousted Red New Potatoes

May 19, 2016 Lunch – Lan’s  Dinner – Bobby Flay Chicken with Mint Sauce, grilled Asparagus and Rousted Red New Potatoes

I had to attend a mediation in Santa Fe today and had not slept well, so I asked Willy to drive me and I suggested that he hang out with his Mom. We decided to leave at 11:00 so we could eat lunch and 

I could attend my mediation at 1:30,  We called Amy to see if she was available for and she was, so Willy asked her where she wanted to eat and she picked her favorite, which is Lan’s.

We met Amy at Lan’s at 12:00.  I ordered a daily Special of duck stew.  Willy ordered No. 4. BO NUONG (ROOM TEMP, PORK)$12 with pork, , marinated in lemongrass, limeleaf, shallots, org. carrots, cucumber sweet and sour papaya, sweet onion, lettuce, cilantro, fresh herbs, roasted peanuts, and homemade sauce, w/ vermicelli noodles.  Amy wanted something different and ordered a Vietnamese Crepe made like we make an omelet but filled with meat and mung bean sprouts and herbs.

Amy and Willy also split a pot of jasmine tea and I had a Vietnamese drip coffee with condensed milk.

Amy’s crepe was overcooked and hard and my duck stew was unusually greasy.  Willy’s Bo Nuong was its usual wonderful.  Amy would not eat her crepe and requested a Bo Nuong with chicken.  Lan came by and gave a lame explanation about how the crepe was meant to be eaten with the sauce, as if we had never eaten Vietnamese food or at her restaurant before and surely did not ask or acknowledge that we had eaten much better crepes before.

I had the sinking feeling that I was witnessing the beginning of the end of a long run of great Vietnamese food at Lan’s and was saddened.

Last year Lan told us that she was tired and looking to sell or just quit.  Perhaps we are closer to that occurrence.

After lunch I attended my mediation hearing and Willy and Amy saw the newly released “Money Monster”.  I finished at 4:15 and spoke to Amy and met her and Willy at Kaune’s at 4:45 and we drove back to Albuquerque because we had made plans to eat dinner with Charlie and Susan Palmer.  

We had planned to cook Bobby Flay chicken which seems to be gaining credence as a generic name for chicken dry rubbed with paprika and cumin, then weighted and pan sautéed and then baked in the oven.

Suzette cooked the chicken and I went to the garden and picked 1 cup of fresh mint and ½ cup of parsley for the sauce.  Suzette added garlic,  ½ Serrano chile, and olive oil to make the mint sauce.

 I talked to Susan and she preferred asparagus, so we decided to take our bag of large asparagus (Costco $6.49 for 2.25 lb.) and Charlie and Suzette grilled them after I brushed them with olive oil and sprinkled black pepper and salt on them.

I also took the clafoutis.

Charlie and Susan served us a bottle of St. Michelle Riesling from Washington state.

Susan had also roasted red potatoes and heated bread. 

I sat and talked with Charlie and Susan and ate the appetizers they put out including Bousin, brie, Comte, and cheddar on bread and crackers before dinner.

We had so many appetizers that no one could eat any clafoutis but we left some for them to eat later.

After a pleasant evening of food, wine, and conversation we al got sleepy a little after 9:00 and called a night.

Bon Appetit