December 21, 2017 Lunch – Vietnamese Miso Noodle Soup. Dinner – PPI Brat and Sauerkraut This day passed leisurely on vacation from the normal regimen of work. I ate yogurt, milk, blackberries and granola for breakfast. Then at 11:15 I started making Vietnamese Miso Noodle Soup. I filled to ¾ full a three quart pot with water to which I added 1 tsp. of dehydrated chicken, 1 tsp. of dry dashi concentrate, and 1 cube of Pho seasoning. I then added 1medium diced shallot, a handful of de-stemmed snow peas, about 1 cup of PPI Bobby Flay roasted chicken, three kinds of noodles 30 mm. rice squares, wheat noodles, and a bundle of bean thread noodles), 1 large white mushroom thinly sliced, four leaves of Napa cabbage and 2 T. of red miso, a dash of Chinese Cooking wine and a dash of sesame oil. The result was more like a ramen bowl than a soup. On a cutting board I thinly sliced three green onions into a pile and placed a pile of mung bean sprouts and a bundle of cilantro that Willy and I added to our bowl of soup. After lunch I took the two frozen ducks out of the freezer and put them into the sink to thaw. Aaron came over in the afternoon to work on a letter. After we finished we decided to try several wines. I opened an Italian rose’ of Pinot Grigio that was a $6.50 bottle that we agreed was not very good. I removed the Gravad Lax from the fridge while Aaron watched me wash the curing ingredients from the salmon filets and we then tasted it and both agreed it was delicious. Curing salmon with salt and sugar in the Swedish manner extends the period of optimal consumption of the salmon from three days to three or four months in my opinion. I then fetched and poured us glasses of 2008 Wellington Mohrhardt Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon that blew Aaron away. I poured an extra glass for myself and gave him the rest of the bottle. I recall paying $25.00 for the bottle with my wine club membership. Alas, I think Wellington is no longer an independent winery. I then made myself 7 or 8 canapés of a multigrain cracker smeared with the lovely chicken liver paste that Carole made for her Hanukkah dinner garnished with a slice of fresh cucumber. When I lived in Copenhagen as an exchange student in the Summer of 1968 we would be served Danish open faced sandwiches for lunch in the dining room at of the Hansa Insurance on Holmans Kanal. You could order as many as you wished but generally there were only 8 different types. They included Danish classics such as sliced roast beef with a slice of pickled beet, shrimp in an Italian salad made with mayonnaise and cream with green beans, smoked salmon with a mustard dill sauce, and my favorite, liver paste with a slice of fresh cucumber. As I remembered those lovely days in Denmark I enjoyed watching the business news while nibbling the canapés and sipping cab. I must tell you that Wellington almost always make me think that Wine is a gift from the Gods. It has a clarity, immediacy, and vibrancy that is hard to describe. I feel like I am standing in the sunlit field among the grapes as I sip the wine. About ½ hour after finishing the canapés and cab, I decided to eat the PPI Brat and Sauerkraut left from Tuesday’s dinner and drink the last ½ of the Modelo Especial from last night’s meal. The dish of simple fare was filling as I filled my fork with a mound of sauerkraut and speared a piece of sausage and dipped it into a mixture of horseradish and Dijon mustard. The food today made me realize afresh the joy of eating good food and drinking good wine and how it can deeply affect you both culturally and personally. I guess I more strongly feel such food memories at Christmas when we are cooking many of these favorite dishes. After two days with no nap, I collapsed after dinner and got into bed a little after 7:00. Suzette came home a little later but I stayed in bed and soon fell asleep, not to awaken until around 11:30. The serious cooking will commence tomorrow. Bon Appetit

December 21, 2017 Lunch – Vietnamese Miso Noodle Soup. Dinner – PPI Brat and Sauerkraut

This day passed leisurely on vacation from the normal regimen of work.

I ate yogurt, milk, blackberries and granola for breakfast.

Then at 11:15 I started making Vietnamese Miso Noodle Soup.  I filled to ¾ full a three quart pot with water to which I added 1 tsp. of dehydrated chicken, 1 tsp. of dry dashi concentrate, and 1 cube of Pho seasoning.  I then added 1medium diced shallot, a handful of de-stemmed snow peas, about 1 cup of PPI Bobby Flay roasted chicken, three kinds of noodles 30 mm. rice squares, wheat noodles, and a bundle of bean thread noodles), 1 large white mushroom thinly sliced, four leaves of Napa cabbage and 2 T. of red miso, a dash of Chinese Cooking wine and a dash of sesame oil.

The result was more like a ramen bowl than a soup.  On a cutting board I thinly sliced three green onions into a pile and placed a pile of mung bean sprouts and a bundle of cilantro that Willy and I added to our bowl of soup.

After lunch I took the two frozen ducks out of the freezer and put them into the sink to thaw.

Aaron came over in the afternoon to work on a letter.  After we finished we decided to try several wines.  I opened an Italian rose’ of Pinot Grigio that was a $6.50 bottle that we agreed was not very good.

I removed the Gravad Lax from the fridge while Aaron watched me wash the curing ingredients from the salmon filets and we then tasted it and both agreed it was delicious.  Curing salmon with salt and sugar in the Swedish manner extends the period of optimal consumption of the salmon from three days to three or four months in my opinion.

I then fetched and poured us glasses of 2008 Wellington Mohrhardt Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon that blew Aaron away.  I poured an extra glass for myself and gave him the rest of the bottle.  I recall paying $25.00 for the bottle with my wine club membership.  Alas, I think Wellington is no longer an independent winery.

I then made myself 7 or 8 canapés of a multigrain cracker smeared with the lovely chicken liver paste that Carole made for her Hanukkah dinner garnished with a slice of fresh cucumber.  When I lived in Copenhagen as an exchange student in the Summer of 1968 we would be served Danish open faced sandwiches for lunch in the dining room at of the Hansa Insurance on Holmans Kanal.  You could order as many as you wished but generally there were only 8 different types.  They included Danish classics such as sliced roast beef with a slice of pickled beet, shrimp in an Italian salad made with mayonnaise and cream with green beans, smoked salmon with a mustard dill sauce, and my favorite, liver paste with a slice of fresh cucumber.  As I remembered those lovely days in Denmark I enjoyed watching the business news while nibbling the canapés and sipping cab.

I must tell you that Wellington almost always make me think that Wine is a gift from the Gods.  It has a clarity, immediacy, and vibrancy that is hard to describe.  I feel like I am standing in the sunlit field among the grapes as I sip the wine.

About ½ hour after finishing the canapés and cab, I decided to eat the PPI Brat and Sauerkraut left from Tuesday’s dinner and drink the last ½ of the Modelo Especial from last night’s meal.  The dish of simple fare was filling as I filled my fork with a mound of sauerkraut and speared a piece of sausage and dipped it into a mixture of horseradish and Dijon mustard.

The food today made me realize afresh the joy of eating good food and drinking good wine and how it can deeply affect you both culturally and personally.  I guess I more strongly feel such food memories at Christmas when we are cooking many of these favorite dishes.

After two days with no nap, I collapsed after dinner and got into bed a little after 7:00.  Suzette came home a little later but I stayed in bed and soon fell asleep, not to awaken until around 11:30.

The serious cooking will commence tomorrow.

Bon Appetit