We awakened at 7:00 and walked 1 mile at 7:30 in 35 minutes. Not great but a walk. I then at breakfast of granola, blueberries, milk and mango yogurt.
I took a shower and dressed and went to the office. I worked until noon and the re-heated a piece of PPI egg sausage casserole and the PPI Chinese mixed vegetables from Thursday’s lunch.
I took two rib steaks from the freezer after lunch to thaw.
At 3:30 I drove to the bank and took Suzette’s bike to the bike coop to get repaired and then drove to Lowe’s and purchased powdered sugar for Clafoutis, Club soda, and Tonic Water.
When I came home Suzette had arrived. We watched the Nightly Business Report and discussed eating early. I ate a bite of PPI Clafoutis and Cole slaw. I was hungry, so was thrilled when Willy came at 6:00.
Artichokes with dill sauce
Everyone was willing to eat, so I went to the garden and picked some dill and a few sprigs of basil and chopped them finely and mixed them with 2/3 cup of mayonnaise and the juice of ½ lemon to make a dill dipping sauce. Suzette cut three Artichokes I had boiled two days ago in half and drizzled the six halves with olive oil. The Artichokes are the small ones sold at Trader Joe’s in a plastic four packs for $2.49.
Chard Couscous
Willy went to the garden and picked a handful of Chard and then went for a short ride in the bosque on Luke’s road bike. I removed the central stem and cut each half leave into two or three bite sized pieces. Then Suzette rinsed and spun the Chard pieces to clean them.
I melted three oz. of butter in a sauce pan and added a cup of Couscous and cooked it for couple of minutes and then added 1 ½ cups of hot water and the Chard and covered the Couscous and cooked it over low heat for five to ten minutes.
The bread
I cut a six inch long piece of a French baguette I bought at Trader Joe’s last week and drizzled it with olive oil and cut a clove of garlic in half lengthwise and placed the two halves on the olive oil and wrapped it in aluminum foil and we heated it in the oven.
The steaks
Suzette asked if I wanted any mushrooms with the steak and I replied, “Yes and onions.” So I sliced four large white mushrooms and five thin slices of yellow onion while Suzette salted and peppered the thawed steaks. She tried to grill them but the propane gave out and she had to sauté the steaks, onion, and mushrooms in one large skillet and the six Artichoke halves in another large skillet on the stove. She added butter to the steak skillet and later I opened a bottle of Amontillado sherry and doused the mushrooms and onions in the steak pan with about 2 oz. of sherry.
The wine
I asked Suzette whether she wanted to drink Pinot or Cabernet, she said Cabernet, so I went to the basement and fetched a bottle of Wellington 2010 Mohrhardt Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon. I opened it and poured three glasses of it for dinner. It is my favorite cab for the money. I bought two cases when the winery was sold several years ago, so we still have some bottles in the basement cellar.
When everything was ready Suzette plated each plate with two sautéed halves of artichoke, and a pile of Chard Couscous while I sliced the steaks she had laid on the cutting board on the work table. Each of us selected our steak slices and garnished them with sautéed mushrooms and onions from the steak skillet.
I put the artichoke dipping sauce and heated baguette on the table and we commenced a hearty dinner as we watched the Antiques Roadshow. They were vintage shows from 2005, so it was fun to guess whether the items increased or decreased in value before the 2015 price was projected on the screen. Several times we were surprised by either a decrease or an increase. I also tried to guess the increased value of Art, such as a small bust by Frederic Remington that went from $30,000 to $50,000 or whether some items were reproductions.
We did not drink all the wine, so I ate a few bites of Port Salut, Saint Andre, and Brie on each of three slices of warm bread to finish the wine.
Then I poured a small amount of Calvados into a sniffer and sipped it as I ate two chocolate covered peanut clusters for a proper finish to a proper French dinner.
Willy left after the Roadshow shows ended at 9:00 and Suzette and I soaked in the hot tub that Suzette had cleaned and re-filled with clean water and bromine yesterday. It was a lovely soak after which we fell into bed.
I awoke at 1:30 to drink two glasses of water and finish this blog as I digested dinner.
Bon Appetit
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