An interesting day, not so much for the food, but rather for wine and my progress toward medical homeostasis.
I ate a biodynamic breakfast, a bowl of fruit, yogurt, and granola.
Then at 11:45 I met Mike at Taj Mahal for lunch. We have eaten so many times that I can almost tell you what Mike and I will choose from the amble buffet before we start. No rice, tandoori chicken, a thigh for me and several drumsticks for Mike, saag (a leafy green vegetable stew) for both of us, grilled onions for me, a vegetable dish such as potato korma for Mike and a liberal helping of chicken tikka masala. I also doused my dish with lots of riata, a yogurt and spice sauce.
Today the chicken tikka masala was wonderful, a rich thick orange sauce enveloping chunks of super flavorful chicken Here is some information about the dish.
Chicken tikka masala is chicken tikka (chunks of chicken marinated in spices and yogurt) that is then baked in a tandoor oven, and served in a masala (spice mixture) sauce.[2] A tomato and coriander sauce is common, but no recipe for chicken tikka masala is standard; a survey found that of 48 different recipes, the only common ingredient was chicken.[3][4] The sauce usually includes tomatoes (frequently as purée), cream, coconut cream and spices. The sauce and chicken pieces may be coloured orange using foodstuffs such as turmeric, paprika, tomato purée or with food dye. The dish shares some similarity with butter chicken, both in the method of creation and appearance.
Chicken tikka masala
When Mike took seconds I did also. Mike’s reason was the lack of needing to eat dinner. I agreed.
After lunch I went home for an hour of work and then went to Kaseman for a consult with an endocrinologist. Things got very interesting. They tested my blood sugar and it had come down considerably from when it was last taken in December. I told Dr. Metha that I had recently discovered the gain in mobility in my joints from eating Gravad Lax. She suggested taking medium chain fats such as palm and coconut oil and a special composition of oils in a carnatine Q10 formulation that I shall get. She said vinegar may not help me and that I should continue to eat a high carbohydrate, low fat diet. But the big secret was exercise and eating in moderation. I felt like my body was finally on the mend and almost floated out of her exam room.
I celebrated by going to Trader Joe’s and buying two large 17 oz. bars of chocolate and a case of wine. That was the second interesting thing of the day. I bought several of my usual favorites, French Belles Vignes Sauvignon Blanc for $4.99, New Zealand Picton Bay Sauvignon Blanc for $6.99, Domaine Du Touch French White Cotes Du Gascogne for $5.99, a Chateau Haut Sorillon French Bordeaux for $8.99 (the cheapest chateau produced Bordeaux I have found in Albuquerque), an French Emma Riechart Rose of Pinot Noir for $4.99, a Hungarian Florian’s Gruner Veltliner for $6.99, and a Chateau Roudier from Appellation Controlee Montaigne St. Emillon for $12.99 ( a really smooth drinking wine).
Then things got really interesting. On an upper shelf where the more expensive wines are displayed I saw a bottle that I had not seen before, a 2012 Appellation Controlee St. Emillon Grand Cru named Chateau Le Grand Faurie for $17.99. I quickly punched in its name into my phone’s safari search function and discovered that Wine Searcher said its average price was $59.00. I went to the shift captain and asked him if it was possible and he said Trader Joe’s was getting better foreign wines because they buy in quantity and pay cash for the wine. He then told me that Trader Joe’s buys really good wine and puts its Private label on it. He then told me there were three grades of private label wines, Reserve, Silver, and Platinum. I told, “My favorite is Pinot Noir. He said, “I think we still have a few bottles of Platinum Pinot Noir.” He then walked me to the Pinot Noir section and pointed to a bottle of Trader Joe’s Platinum Reserve from Russian River, Sonoma County for $14.99 and said, “That is probably a $30.00 bottle.” I added one to my case. I then grabbed a bottle of Cognac Claude Chatelier VS for $19.99, our house cognac, paid for the goods and left a happy man for two reasons. I had several new fancy wines to try and happy in the realization that my diet with moderate amounts of wine with food seemed to be a healthy life style.
It was a warm day so when I arrived home at 4:45, I sat down and drank two glasses of cool water and watched the business news at 5:00. Another day of modest gains in the Market thankfully.
When Suzette came home at 6:00 she said she did not wish to cook and heated up some of the PPI Pork and Sauerkraut and the ate a bit of clafoutis. I was not hungry. I could still feel my Indian food lunch in my stomach, so at 9:00 p.m. I drank two cups of chai with ½ tsp. of sugar in each. Suzette went to bed at 9:00 and fell asleep. I lay in bed and blogged about my interesting day. I shall ride my bike tomorrow, weather permitting.
It seems axiomatic that as your palate develops you gravitate to better quality food and wine. That is starting to happen for me. Thankfully I have put my two sons through college, so I have a little extra disposable income to buy a better bottle of wine occasionally. As Mike said at lunch when I kidded him about spending $20.00 several days a week for lunch at Taj Mahal. His response was, “I have a very simple life and can afford it.”
Thank god I also can say that.
Bon Appetit
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