September 11, 2017 Breakfast – Smoked Whitefish on Nativo toast. Lunch – PPI Green Mole with Pork. Dinner – Elk Burgers, PPI Ratatouille, Sautéed mushrooms and onions, and salad

September 11, 2017 Breakfast – Smoked Whitefish on Nativo toast. Lunch – PPI Green Mole with Pork. Dinner – Elk Burgers, PPI Ratatouille, Sautéed mushrooms and onions, and salad

I have almost finished the Gravad Lax I made, so today I decided to open the Smoked whitefish I bought several months ago.  I put some on a slice of toasted Nativo Wholewheat bread smeared with goat cheese.

We then rode to Rio Bravo and back.  Barry, David, and Chris came by at 12:00 to scout locations for the commercial Southwest Productions will shoot at the house on Friday.

I then re-heated a bowl of PPI rice and Green Mole with Pork for lunch and ate a bowl of roasted peanuts after that.

After lunch I thawed a 1 lb. package of ground elk meat and called Willy to invite him to dinner.

I ate a dill pickle at 5:30 because I became hungry.

It was lucky I invited Willy because when a Suzette arrived she was too tired to cook and Willy had to take over grilling responsibilities so I could prepare the salad, salad dressing, and sauté the mushrooms, piñon nuts, and onion slices.  I also cut slices of blue cheese to put on top of each hamburger.  Willy added chopped sage, turmeric, salt and pepper, minced shallots, and pressed garlic to the meat and bound the meat and ingredients together by combining a raw egg with the other ingredients.

Suzette helped Willy grill the hamburgers and then she plated our dishes and helped open the wine.  We melted slices if blue cheese on top of each hamburger.

I chose a 2015 Chateau de Seraphins Cotes Du Rhone comprised of 50% Grenache, 40% Syrah, and 10% Mourvèdre. The wine was very smooth tasting, probably due to the reduction of Syrah and addition of Mouverdre.  I now know what they mean by Mouverdre being a good blending grape.

I sautéed mushrooms, onion slices, and piñon nuts in a sauce pan with butter and olive oil and salt and pepper and a dash of sweet Marsala.

I also made a salad with Bibb and romaine lettuce, chopped tomatoes, cucumber green onions, and radishes and made a balsamic vinegar Dijonnaise dressing for it with balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp. of French Dijon mustard, 1 tsp. fresh tarragon, salt and pepper and olive oil.

We heated the PPI ratatouille and served it with the dinner also.

The elk seemed less fatty than beef and had a slightly cleaner taste.  The ratatouille tasted better than the day we made it and I loved the fresh salad.  The Chateau Seraphin was also smoother than Famille Perrin Reserve Cotes Du Rhone.  I am going to buy more of it and make it the house wine as long as it remains $6.99 at Trader Joe’s.

Bon Appetit