December 23, 2019 Lunch – Taj Mahal. Dinner – Japanese Donburi Chicken on Eggs

I ate granola with blueberries, milk, and yogurt for breakfast.

I did not work today but caught up on mail from friends that had gone unanswered during the weekend. This was an auspicious day because it is the day that news of Ram Dass’ death reached me.  As I noted in my blog, today Ram Dass officially entered the cosmos.

Dee sent me Ram Dass’ obituary and two things stood out.  First, his father was one of the founders of Brandeis University and president of the New Haven RR.  Second Ram Dass was at the first psychedelic experiment on March 5, 1961, with Timothy Leary at Harvard; the day that the Beat Generation ended and the psychedelic era began

At around 9:00 I made the pouring custard or crème anglais that complements the chocolate dessert.  I have adjusted the basic recipe to a more Mexican flavor by scalding the milk with ¼ cup of Mexican coffee beans to infuse it with coffee flavor and added a tsp. of vanilla extract.  Here is the basic recipe, which I followed except for using 2 cups of milk and ½ cup of heavy cream, which made the custard thicken more quickly.

 At 1:00 Willy, Luke, and I decided to go to Taj Mahal to eat lunch.  We all love Taj Mahal.  I tried to not eat too much, but drank three or four cups of chai instead.

After lunch Willy drove me home and Luke drove to Cedar Crest to see a friend.

When I returned home I made negres for the Mulled wine, this time I turned up the heat to a rolling boil and used 3 cups of sugar to 1 ½ cups of water.  The smaller amount of water seemed to speed the thickening of the syrup.  In previous years I have simmered the syrup for over a hour and it did not thicken. Today it thickened in about ten minutes at a rolling boil.  Voila.

Here is the recipe from Joy of Cooking:

My job was done with ease.  I fetched three magnums of Patch Block Pinot Noir produced in France by George Deboeuf, which I bought several years ago.

Here are the winemaker’s notes from Wine.com

This luscious Pinot Noir has abundant flavors of ripe cherries and raspberries enveloped in a silky body with hints of toasted bread and subtle, smoky notes.
Pair it with planked salmon, Peking duck or dark chocolate and fresh berry trifle. Or, be adventurous and pair with a grilled pineapple salsa swordfish.

It seems to pair with lots of different types of food, so should be drinkable with the Serrano ham or the seafood paella or chocolate dessert and I love Pinot Noir with cheese.

When Suzette came home she did not want to cook and suggested we go out.  Willy supported her, but I said I would cook a good dinner instead.  I have really gotten infatuated with Japanese Donburi or Chicken and Egg on Rice. Here is the recipe from Japanese Cooking, the simple art p. 282/283.  I have cooked this dis several times and each time it gets better.  Tonight I prepared it with short grain brown rice, which is my favorite, but which Suzette does not prefer.  I made the broth with 2 ½ cups of dashi using dehydrated dashi and 9 T. of regular soy sauce.  I also added kombu seaweed strips to the rice.  The dish is magical. You cook the chicken cubes in the broth and add sections of scallion and  then the whisked egg. The egg cooks into clouds and attaches to the green onion and chicken for a sort of Japanese floating island on a clear broth instead of crème anglais.

I drank green tea with the dish. Suzette liked it grudgingly, but Wily liked it when he ate a bowl after he came home from the gym after 8:30.

This is good because I shall be making it more often since I have become more proficient at cooking it.

It is a simple inexpensive dish to make.  I thawed out 1 chicken thigh and added about 3 oz. of PPI
salmon from last night and used four scallions, so the ingredients are minimal. Suzette said it was egg drop soup and I guess, in a way, it is.  But to me it is a sophisticated egg dish.

I served it with our never ending Japanese pickles.

I felt full after one bowl and did not crave a dessert.  In fact at 11:30 as I write this blog post I feel great.  I love raw rice.

Bon Appetit