June 2, 2016 Lunch – PPI Pho Noodle Soup. Dinner – Roasted Chicken with Blanched Asparagus

June 2, 2016 Lunch – PPI Pho Noodle Soup. Dinner – Roasted Chicken with Blanched Asparagus

Loida came today to shampoo the rugs.  I ate two pieces of German Kommisbrot rye bread spread with peanut butter and honey, which sat heavily in my stomach for much of the rest of the day.  

I was a bit busy today helping Loida with the rug cleaning and my work, so I simply heated the PPI Pho noodle soup and ate it.

In the afternoon I went to Ranch Market and went a little wild, shopping for groceries.  Wednesday and Thursday are the produce special days and today was no exception.  Small avocados were five for $.99, oranges were 3 lb. for $.99, there were fresh Hoja Santa leaves for $1.19 per bunch, pineapples for $.99/lb., papaya for $.89/lb., mangoes at 4 for $.99, and Anahiem chiles were 3 lb. for $.99.

I then went to the deli section and bought three smoked Pork chops for $3.69/lb.  Mexican cheeses were on sale so I tried one I had not had before a panels made by FUD, the great Danish agricultural firm, that has extensive production in Mexico. The panels had a salty tangy flavor, so I bought ½ lob. of it plus a pint container of grated white cheese for enchiladas.  I then bought forty red fresh red chili tortillas for $1.99 and a 12 oz. bag of corn chips for $1.50.

I then walked by the dairy section where I bought a Dozen large eggs on sale for $.77.  Then on to the fish section, where I found large heads on shrimp on sale for $4.99/lb. and bought 1 ½ lb.  I then proceeded to the butcher area, which is extensive and bought a whole 3 ¼ lb. chicken for $.89/lb. on sale.  As I was waiting for one of the butcher to bring out a fresh carton of chickens, I saw fresh sweetbreads for $3.19/lb. I had enjoyed sweetbreads three times on our recent trip to Canada.  They are one my favorite meats, so, although I never had prepared any, I bought a package containing .86/lb. of them. 

This was one of my largest shopping days ever at Ranch Market totaling $42.78, but we will generate four or five meals plus fruit salad and guacamole from this load of food.

I went home and road to Montano.

When I returned Willy had returned from visiting his mom in Santa Fe and he made a snack of guacamole from two of the avocados.

Willy had made dinner plans with friends.

At around 5:30 I dusted the whole chicken with Tandoori seasoning and put it on a steel vertical cooking frame and put it in a pyrex baking dish filled to depth of ½ inch with water and baked it in a 425 degree oven to set the juices for about 20 minutes and then turned the heat down to 350 degrees and roasted the chicken for another hour.

I like lemon and tarragon with chicken, but rather than stuffing it's cavity, I decided to make a sauce for the chicken and asparagus I intended to serve with it and chose a Hollandaise sauce flavored with tarragon.  I followed Julia Child’s recipe in “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”. I went to the garden an picked three sprigs of tarragon.

After completing the Hollandaise, I snapped the hard ends off 14 stalks of asparagus and blanched them in water to remove a bit of their woodiness.

At around 7:00 everything was ready.  I had opened a bottle of 2013 Le Ponte Rose’ (Total Wine $19.99 less 15%), which is my favorite rose’, for Aaron to taste in the afternoon, so we decided to drink that with dinner.  We enjoyed the juicy chicken and fresh asparagus with the elegant Hollandaise Sauce and French rose’.

Bon Appetit