I am still building my strength so I ate ½ of a toasted everything bagel with cream cheese and onion and Lax slices and capers with a cup of green tea.
Mike called at 11:00 and we met at East Ocean for lunch. He ordered his usual of Kung Pao Chicken, which looked wonderful. The prices have been raised about $2.00 for lunch items on average, but it seems the kitchen has responded by increasing the volume of lunch orders. The Kung Pao Chicken now costs $7.50. I ordered my new usual, Fried tofu with Mixed Vegetables. I love this dish. Squares of fried tofu mixed with a pile of eight or nine different vegetables, some of which are fresh like bok Choy, onion, carrot, broccoli flowerets, and celery and others that are canned like water chestnut slices, mushrooms, baby corn, and bamboo shoot slices. All of the vegetables were tossed in a dark Mandarin sauce of thickened chicken stock flavored with soy sauce. A dinner portion that filled a platter to the edges was $7.95 and is served with a bowl of steamed white rice.
I ate a plate full and packed up the rice and vegetable dish and took them home. They will be enough for a dinner.
Aaron came over around 1:30 and we tasted two new 2017 Bogdan rose wines. The Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir blend won a gold medal in Paris this year. The other was a Fenesca Negra and Syrah blend. We like both. The darker Fenesca Negra and Syrah blend went particularly well with rice crackers dipped in BBQ sauce.
After Aaron left I worked until 4:00. I called Suzette and she said she would be late, so I decided to cook the 6 small chicken thighs I bought at El Super yesterday using the Bobby Flay method. Here is the recipe.
I rinsed the chicken thighs and trimmed some of the extra fat off of them. Then a dusted them with smoked paprika, ground cumin, a touch of Japanese dried mustard, and salt and white pepper. Then I sautéed them in a couple of T. of olive oil for about 30 minutes pressed down by a second skillet filled with water. I called Suzette and she instructed me to lay the thighs on a tray and put them into a 325 degree oven for an additional 25 minutes.
Both Suzette and I are a little frazzled from over work, so I tried to keep dinner simple. I decided to heat the remaining PPI roasted root vegetables from our last pot roast and make a salad.
After placing the thighs in the oven I went to the garden and picked a large basket full of lettuce.
I spun and chilled the lettuce in the fridge to crisp it. Then I sliced a Roma tomato, an avocado, two green onions, and ½ of a cucumber and let the reconstituted Caesar salad dressing come to room temperature.
Suzette arrived a little after 7:00 and took the chicken from the oven. I microwaved the root vegetables and filled pasta bowls with the salad ingredients.
We drank the PPI Bogdan 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir Rose. I noticed that as it warmed toward room temperature it tasted better and better. The flavors were most integrated and fully pronounced at around 58 to 60 degrees. It was a great rose. I can see why the French liked it.
We are hoping to import it into the U.S.
We were hungry. We each ate three of the small thighs and all the vegetables. Suzette did not eat all her salad, so I finished her salad plus mine.
I was tired so went to bed around 8:30.
Bon Appetit
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