April 1, 2017 Lunch – French Onion Soup, Dinner – Grilled Rib Steaks and Artichokes with Pasta with sorrel and sautéed Onions and sautéed mushrooms and Chard

April 1, 2017 Lunch – French Onion Soup,  Dinner – Grilled Rib Steaks and Artichokes with Pasta with sorrel and sautéed Onions and sautéed mushrooms and Chard

I made French onion soup a few days ago and today was cold, rainy, and windy.  The perfect day for a hearty soup.  I worked with Ioana until noon and she joined Suzette and me for a bowl of soup.

We rested in the afternoon and at 5:30 while we were discussing dinner, Willy called.  We asked him what he wanted for dinner and he suggested chard.  Suzette asked Willy, “What type of starch do you want, potatoes, pasta, or rice?”

Willy answered, “Do you have some of that sorrel  pesto you could put on some pasta?”

Suzette said, “Yes.

We had two cooked artichokes that Suzette cut in half and  we had thawed out three steaks yesterday.k

I said, “Our menu is set.”

I took a basket and went to the garden and picked a basket full of chard, plus three garlic plants and about five or six sprigs of tarragon.

Suzette cleaned and chopped the chard while I sliced about 6 oz. of mushrooms, the three garlic plants and the tarragon.  I also thickly sliced three medium onions. Suzette salted and peppered two rib streaks  I had thawed yesterday.

Luke called shortly after 6:00 and told us he was in Sonoma County .  I suggested he stop  in Sonoma to see where the Californians raised the Golden Bear flag in 1846.

So we grilled two steaks and the two artichoke cut into four halves.

Suzette boiled a bag of cassarecce pasta and tossed it with sorrel pesto.  I sautéed three small onions I cut into1/2 inch thick slices and revived the artichoke dipping sauce with lemon and fresh dill.

When the onions were cooked, Suzette added those to the pasta.  In a separate skillet I sautéed the mushrooms, garlic and tarragon and when the mushrooms softened I added 2 T. of Amontillado sherry and the chard and covered the skillet to sweat the chard.

When the chard collapsed a bit, we were ready to eat.  I sliced the steak and we each served ourselves pasta and chard.  I opened a bottle of 2012 Wellington Syrah in honor of Luke’s trip to Sonama that was really smooth.

Bon Appetit