February 23, 2020 Brunch – Chorizo and bacon burritos with Guacamole. Dinner Party – Los Poblanos Appetizers, qSandy’s fresh green salad, our Boeuf Bourguignon and Mashed Potatoes and Celeriac, and Susan’s Lemon Mousse with chocolate wafers

I slept until 7:45 and watched Fareed Zacharia and then the Arsenal v. Everton match, which was very competitive.
Willy arrived at the start of the second half bearing a container of guacamole he had made.  After the match Suzette started brunch by frying the last three pieces of bacon and two Spanish chorizo sausages.  I chopped an onion and several cloves of garlic and ½ onion.  Suzette sautéed the sausage with the onion and garlic and then added four eggs and scrambled them.  She heated whole wheat tortillas on the comal and stuffed them with the bacon and the sautéed sausage, onion, and eggs.  We added guacamole, hot sauce and crema and enjoyed a great brunch.

During the morning I butchered the 4.3 lb. of chuck roast I had bought at Smith’s on sale for $3.49/lb.  it took a while to remove the fat, tendon and silver skin running through the meat. We followed the Julia Child recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  Here is the recipe.

Since we were doubling the recipe.  I cut 6 slices of 5hick cut bacon into ¼ by 1 ½ inch lardons and then boiled them in water as the recipe directed.  I peeled and finely diced 2 carrots, four cloves for garlic, and 2 onions that Suzette sautéed in the bacon grease after she had sautéed the lardons and removed them from the large Le Crueset  casserole.  She then sautéed the beef, then added three cups each of beef stock and red burgundy and thyme and a crushed Bay leaf and salt and pepper.  We baked the beef for four hours and then at 3:30:we destemmed and quartered 1 2/3 lb. of portobello mushrooms and I sautéed them in two batches with four cloves of garlic, about 1 tsp of fresh thyme, and 4 oz. of shallots in butter. When the mushrooms began to brown we added them to the stew at about 5:00 p.m.  Suzette Braised two bags of pearl onions in beef stock until the stock thickened and added them to the stew which by now had expanded to our two Le Creuset enameled casseroles we cooked the stews on low heat until they were served.

I then cubed about a dozen Yukon Gold potatoes I had bought for $.99 for bags filled with about 2 ½ lb. each and then peeled the celery root and cubed it also.  Suzette cooked both until they softened and then added butter and milk and whipped then in the Kitchen Aid mixer until smooth and put them in a large bowl and placed them in the oven with the stew to keep warm and meld their flavors and textures.

Suzette also sliced and wrapped sections of baguettes and put them into the oven to heat.

At 6:00 everyone showed up.  Charlie and Susan first with the dessert, a large soufflé dish filled with lemon mousse, chocolate wafers and blueberries that we put on the back patio to keep cool.

Then Penny and Armin with a large platter of appetizer, Pate’, prosciutto, a fish terrine, an assortment of salamis, an assortment of olives, a wedge of cheese, some red pickled and deviled eggs Penny  made, and strips of fresh vegetables plus crackers and toasted and slices of baguette dabbed with herb seasoned butter thanks to the chefs at Los Poblanos.

Soon, Tim and Sandy arrived bringing a large bowl of lovely salad of greens from Whole Foods with a Whole Foods lemon dijonnaise dressing that they put on the dining room table.

We gathered in the living room around the platter of appetizers and I poured glasses of either an Austrian Gruner Vetliner or 2016 Dundee Hills De Ponte Pinot Noir.

After a bit when it appeared that all had eaten as many appetizers as they wished we moved to the dining room table for dinner and we passed the salad and warm bread around the table. I loved the salad of fresh greens and micro asparagus.

We then cleared salad plates and Suzette served plates filled with a scoop of potatoes and celery root and a scoop of BoeufBourguignon and a spoonful of her cranberry sauce.  I poured more wine and we enjoyed a lovely meal with great conversation.

After we finished the entrée and several more glasses of wine, Susan served her dessert in parfait glasses.  Suzette served cordial glasses filled with crushed ice and her homemade limoncello with dessert to those who wanted to taste it.

Suzette set the table with her wrought iron silverware and Francoma ceramic plates and glasses for an all Texas table setting.

Sandy and Tim left after dessert at 8:30 to relieve their baby sitter and everyone else left around 9:30.

We cleaned up and went to bed by 10:30, although I spent much of the night reading The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek and feeling stuffed from a very lovely dinner party.

Every course was first rate because I requested that each person prepare a course that I knew was their speciality.

Bon Appetit