October 19, 2019 Brunch – Sautéed Hamburger, Onion, Pasilla Chili, Tomato, and Potato on corn tortillas with Fried Eggs. Dinner – Crab Soufflé with Steamed Asparagus

October 19, 2019 Brunch – Sautéed Hamburger, Onion, Pasilla Chili, Tomato, and Potato on corn tortillas with Fried Eggs. Dinner – Crab Soufflé with Steamed Asparagus

I awakened around 7:00 and watched PL soccer until 9:30 when we prepared brunch.  Suzette diced the PPI hamburger with mushrooms and onions from last night’s dinner and I added to it ½ pasilla chili diced finely, a tomato diced, a PPI baked potato diced, two slices of red onion diced.  We heated 5 blue corn tortillas that I had wrapped in paper towels and moistened in the microwave for 45 seconds. I grated monterrey jack cheese and Suzette fried three eggs.  Then she lay the tortillas on plates and ladled the sautéed ingredients on top of them and then lay the fried eggs with some grated cheese on top for a sort of huevos rancheros construct.  It was a lot of food, but we both finished our portions with glasses of the lovely fresh squeezed apple juice Cyndy brought us Wednesday evening.

We then went shopping at El Super.  We bought jicama and tomatillos for Suzette’s Center and Napa Cabbage, limes, sugar, yellow onions, zucchinis, Crema, eggs, corn chips, green onions, and avocados.

We then drove to Sprouts on Coors where we bought a basil plant and a thyme plant for Willy’s apartment plus ground beef, milk, yogurt, blueberries, and granola.

Suzette still needed some items so we drove to Walmart. I stayed in the car while she shopped, but she did not find what she needed, so we returned home..  we put up the groceries and fetched the 1 lb. container of crab meat and bunch of asparagus from the garage fridge and went to the basement and fetched a bottle of Gruet 2012 Blanc de Blanc and a bottle of Gruet Blanc de Noir and put them into the kitchen fridge.  Then we napped until 4:30. At 5:00 we walked in the bosque.  When we returned home at 6:00 we started to cook dinner.

Crab Soufflé

We had planned a simple dinner, crab Soufflé and steamed asparagus with champagne.  I picked it for dinner because it is an elaborate dish that lends itself to a team effort, which is perfect for a date night in the kitchen resulting in a very satisfying and special meal to be enjoyed for the team effort as well as the amazingly flavorful  result.

We used Julia Child’s recipe for Fish Soufflé on page 268 of Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  Here is the recipe.

I minced a medium shallot and went to the garden a picked a handful of oregano and de-stemmed about 1 tsp. Of leaves and finely minced them.  The biggest issue was finding tomato paste.  We thought we had frozen some but could not find it, so I fetched a new can of it from the pantry.

Suzette washed and dried a Soufflé dish and I buttered it and coated the butter with grated Pecorino-Romano cheese.  Suzette grated some Jarlsberg cheese in the Cuisinart that she put on top of the Soufflé to create a melted cheese topping before placing the Soufflé in the oven.

Suzette then sautéed two T. of shallots in three T. of butter for several minutes.  Then we added 3 T. of flour to the shallots and cooked that for 3 minutes, then added 1 cup of  hot fish stock, oregano, 1 T. of tomato paste, and a cup of crab meat and stirred that to mix it and when mixed removed it from the stove to cool a bit.

Suzette had separated three egg yolks from their whites.  I added the yolks to the mixture while she whipped the egg whites into firm peaks in the Kitchen Aid bowl.

We then folded in the egg whites to the mixture and ladled it into the Soufflé dish and garnished with the grated cheese.

Suzette cooked the Soufflé in the steaming oven for about 20 minutes.

 

While the Soufflé was cooking Suzette Steamed about ½ lb. of asparagus in our steamer for about 6
or 7 minutes and I opened and poured glasses of the Gruet 2012 Blanc de Blanc champagne.

The 2012 Blanc de Blancis my favorite Gruet wine.  It is all chardonnay and has a rich mellow flavor that lingers yet is light and full of small bubbles. It is a wonderful champagne.

The remains Soufflé after dinner showing the inside 

When the Soufflé was golden brown we removed it and spooned about ¼ of it onto each plate and added the asparagus and spooned bits of béarnaise sauce onto the asparagus and ate our elegant dinner by candlelight as we watched the Houston Astros win their post season series with the Yankees. At 8:00 we switched the TV to Father Brown and then divided and shared the last three petit fours of the dozen Melissa brought last Wednesday evening with a cognac and a cup of chai for me.

We then watched Death in Paradise sipping the last of the champagne and Suzette went to bed at 10:00.  I stayed up until 12:00 watching football.

I awakened at 2:30 and blogged until 3:30 and returned to bed.

What a special day of cooking great food.

At dinner we decided to make crab cakes and drink a bottle of Gruet Blanc de Noir for Sunday brunch.

Bon Appetit