April 18, 2018 Lunch – Nicoiseish Salad, Dinner – Bobby Flay Chicken Thighs, Roasted Potatoes, carrots, and Onions, and Spinach

April 18, 2018 Lunch – Nicoiseish Salad,  Dinner – Bobby Flay Chicken Thighs, Roasted Potatoes, carrots, and Onions, and Spinach

I started with a bowl of granola, milk, yogurt, and blueberries.

At lunch I decided to make a salad.  I picked a basket of lettuce from the garden and garnished it with two pieces of PPI crisp fried bacon, the small PPI pieces of Aji tuna from dinner, a small handful of PPI haricot vert, ¼ cucumber peeled and sliced,1 sprig of tarragon chopped, and ½ small avocado diced.  I dressed the salad with the usual Caesar dressing to which I added olive oil and tarragon to to refresh it.  The inclusion of steamed string beans and grilled tuna made me think of a Nicoise Salad, but because I was missing the potatoes and eggs, I decided on naming it a Nicoiseish Salad.

It was a lovely day, sunny with light winds so at 1:45 I rode to Montano and back.

When I returned I decided to go shopping at El Super for the Wednesday produce specials.   Soon after I arrived I met Barry and Kylene, freshly tanned and back from their week in San Pancho in Mexico.  They had a great time and recounted some great meals. Coincidentally, we stayed at their house in Taos this last weekend.

It must be the height of the growing season in Mexico.  I recommend you shop at your local Mexican Supermarket.  In Albuquerque, my current favorite is El Super at the corner of Atrisco and  Central.  It seemed like everything except limes was priced very reasonably.  Broccoli, cauliflower, papaya, pineapples, Granny Smith apples, Roma tomatoes, and oranges were $.50/lb. avocados, and mangos were three for $.99.  Radishes, green onions, and cilantro were 4 bunches for $.97.

I filled my basket and then picked up a32 oz. container of yogurt in the Dairy Section for $2.69. My final stop was in the Meat Department where I bought 5 chicken thighs for $.99/lb.

I returned home at 4:50, just in time to unload a few items and turn on the business news at 5:00.  It was an extremely quiet day in the market with the Dow slipping fractionally and yeh other indices gaining fractionally.  I was pleasantly surprised that my portfolio out performed the indices fractionally.  Better a winner than a loser.

I chilled a bottle of 2016 Nobles Rives Marsanne produced by Cave de Tain in the Northern Rhône Valley.  Here is some info and a rating.  I do not recall where I bought it but suspect Costco.  Here is a rating and tasting notes on the 2015.

Cave de Tain 2015 Nobles Rives Marsanne (Crozes-Hermitage)
89
POINTS
 
Reasonably full bodied but otherwise somewhat neutral, this does show hints of marshmallow and meringue, adding just a bit of citrus zest on the finish. Drink now.

PRICE $22,  Buy Now
DESIGNATION Nobles Rives
VARIETY Marsanne
APPELLATION Crozes-Hermitage, Rhône Valley, France
WINERY Cave de Tain








ALCOHOL 13%
BOTTLE SIZE 750 ml
CATEGORY White
IMPORTER Deutsch Family Wine and Spirits

Roasted Vegetables

I started cooking as I watched the news.  I filled a 9 X 13” Pyrex baking dish with peeled and loosely diced potatoes, carrots, yellow and red onions, and cloves of garlic from the garden.  I tossed the vegetables with olive oil and baked them covered for 40 minutes at 350, then uncovered them, tossed them with salt and pepper and cooked them an additional 30 minutes uncovered.  They were a little scorched but tasty.

Bobby Flay Chicken

I cleaned and removed the excess fat from the chicken thighs, placed them in a medium all steel skillet, and dusted them with ground smoked paprika, mustard and cumin. I then placed a skillet of the same size filled with water on top of the chicken.  Suzette arrived at this point and sautéed the thighs until browned and flipped them and sautéed the other side and then put them in the oven to cook with the roasting vegetables.

Mint Sauce

There is a spicy mint sauce that is part of the recipe. When Suzette said, “Let’s make the sauce,” I was thrilled and went to the garden and picked a handful of fresh mint.  I de-stemmed the mint leaves from their stalks and gave them to Suzette.  The only sauce ingredient we did not have was parsley.  We decided to substitute fresh cilantro.  Also instead of Serrano Chile we used Padilla chili, because we are not hard core chili heads.  Suzette puréed all the ingredients in the Cuisinart.

Here is the recipe.

Willy arrived a little after 7:00 and set the table on the patio for our al fresco dinner.

I always like a green vegetable and had brought in a fresh bag of spinach.  Suzette plated three plates first with a small pile of spinach and then lay the hot baked chicken thighs and vegetables on top of the spinach to cook the spinach a bit.

We enjoyed dinner and a lively conversation about what we had been doing the last week.  The Marsanne was delicious, a little acidic with defused fruit and fresh baked bread flavors like a fruit tart.  We all liked it and drank the entire bottle.

Dinner at the table lit with light from Willy’s new camping lantern 

After dinner we cleared the table and went back inside as the sun set and the temperature dropped.

Dessert

We decided to drink the last of the 1990 Rheinhessen  Sheurebe Spatlese Etienne gave me with the last piece of apple pie Etienne made for dessert. Suzette poured the wine into an elegant dessert wine glass and cut the last wedge of pie into three pieces, placed each on a small plate and heated them in the microwave..  She melted slices of cheddar cheese on her piece in the German manner and Willy and I squirted Reddi-Whip whipped cream on our slices in the American manner.

Willy and I made and drank cups of Earl Grey tea while Suzette drank the dessert wine, although Willy and I had a sip of the wine.  It still had its honey flavor and amazing balance of staggeringly
high acidity and sweetness.

                                   Suzette’s pie a la cheddar cheese and glass of dessert wine

I said goodnight at 9:15 after what seemed like a long day, especially after an hour in the bike saddle.

Bon Appetit