March 31, 2020 Lunch – PPI Provencal Scallops and Spinach Fettuccine Dinner – PPI BBQ Pork Ribs with Cottage Fries and Salad

March 31, 2020 Lunch – PPI Provencal Scallops and Spinach Fettuccine
Dinner – PPI BBQ Pork Ribs with Cottage Fries and Salad

As we hunker down, we stop going to the grocery store to shop and the larder becomes more bare and the variety of ingredients diminishes.

We made a great dish last night, Provencal Scallops with Spinach Fettuccine.  There was a bit left so I heated it for lunch and drank a glass of Famille Perrin Reserve Cotes du Rhône.  It was just a wonderful as it was last night and I loved the white wine that was a blend of four different Rhône white grapes, Grenache Blanc, Roussanne, Marsanne, and Viogner to make a wine that has character, body, and a hint of fruit.

I actually ate a great breakfast, whitefish on two slices of toasted bagel spread with cream cheese and onion slices.

After lunch I put on rubber gloves and a mask and drove to Office Depot to replenish yellow legal pads and buy hand sanitizer.  I had watched a lecture by Dr. Price about how to prevent Covid Virus.  He said the best way to avoid infection is to sanitize your hands after every suspicious touch and to avoid touching your face.

I am trying to prepare hummus from the dry garbanzo. I soaked them for a day and then cooked them
today but that turned into a partial disaster as I let all the water evaporate and burn the bottom layer
of beans which I discarded.  I guess it will be charcoal grilled hummus.

Suzette brought home the liquor inventory from the Bistro, which is now shut down.  There were ten cases of wine and beer, so I  helped Suzette unload them, which was my exercise for the day. Although we did walk through the garden and yard to inspect Aaron, the yard man’s efforts today and discuss next steps for the yard and garden.  Weather permitting we will begin planting our garden tomorrow.

We then sat and had a drink and discussed dinner plans while we watched the news until after 6:00, when we started dinner.

We had decided to heat the ½ rack of Pork ribs Suzette had thawed instead of cooking. We also decided to cook the remaining Yukon Gold potatoes.  This is one of the things I love about Suzette.  As I sat peeling and cubing the potatoes to prep for mashed potatoes for tomorrow night’s meal with Willy, Suzette said, “Please give a few potatoes and I will make Cottage Fries.”

So I peeled the four best looking potatoes and gave them to her and she sliced them thinly and sautéed them in a large skillet in butter and olive oil.

She then tore up the last ½ head of butter lettuce and placed it in the salad bowl and I finished the salad prep by cubing a tomato and slicing the last 1/3 of a cucumber.  Suzette suggested dressing the salad with the pomegranate dressing she made for Valentine’s Day, which we have become very fond of.

Suzette heated the freezer bag filled with thawed ribs in the microwave and I sliced the slab into individual ribs and we served ourselves a pile of ribs, or more accurately a pile of meat, as the meat
had literally fallen off the bones in many cases, and a pile of golden browned Cottage Fries.

Suzette added croutons to the salad and put the Salad on the table.

Here is a picture  of the leftovers of our fabulous rib meal.

I drank my gin and tonic and Suzette drank a Negra Modelo.

After dinner Suzette tried to turn the old decaying bunch of asparagus into cream of asparagus soup by cooking diced pieces of asparagus with PPI Serrano ham we froze after Christmas.  We added some old Albariño wine from an old bottle I opened and finally heavy cream but the soup had a rather harsh taste, which I attribute to the wine.  We decided to add some honey and I took the casserole full of soup to the garage fridge.  We shall see if its flavor improves with a day or two of aging.

That seems like the downside of cooking in this period of corona virus. You provision less often so keep ingredients beyond their period of maximum freshness and then are challenged to create a dish with less than ideal ingredients.

That is why I am trying to make hummus from dry garbanzos, to utilize traditional methods of prep.

Also here is a picture of what looks like a liquor warehouse but is actually the liquor inventory from the Bistro at the Center for Ageless Living, now stored in our house.


I am less afraid of going to the grocery store now that I know how to protect myself and especially since many stores have early shopping hours for seniors.

Tomorrow our first delivery of food arrives, which will tell us whether food delivery can keep us properly provisioned.  I suspect not, but we are trying to avoid any extra out of the house activity, if
possible.

The number of confirmed cases in NM rose to 391 today and 5 deaths, so it does not seem to be bad yet.

I fear for Luke, living in New York City, which has become the epicenter of infection in the world.

After dinner I had a sip of Calvados and a chocolate covered cherry and then ate two chocolate chip cookies with a cup of chai tea.

We went to bed at 9:30.

Bon Appetit