October 14, 2020 Lunch – 2000 Vietnam No. 21. Dinner – New Recipe, Creamed Pumpkin Ancho Soup

 October 14, 2020 Lunch – 2000 Vietnam No. 21. Dinner – New Recipe, Creamed Pumpkin Ancho Soup 

I was awaken by the garbage truck passing the house at 7:30.

I worked until 10:00, showered and grabbed a cookie on my way out the door to my podiatry appointment at 11:00.

After the appointment I drove to Trader Joe’s and waited in line to get in. I bought a 1 lb. bar of Belgium milk chocolate with almonds, six wheat bagels, and 12 bottles of wine.  I then drove to Total Wine and bought six more bottles of Famille Bougrier Vouvray and two bottles of Cotes Du Rhone (a 2019 Saint Cosme and a 2016 Coudoulet de Beaucastel).   

I guess shopping- for wine and food is my way of dealing with depression 

 Here are some of the wines I bought.

 

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    While I was talking on the phone Suzette found a new recipe for pumpkin soup and then modified to the following recipe:

 Creamed Pumpkin Ancho Soup 

 3 dried ancho (Padilla) chilies soaked in hot water to rehydrate

1 T. of Knorr Tomato chicken powdered stock dissolved in 1 cup of hot water.

2 T. of butter plus 2 T. of flour to create a roux

Then add the bouillon and destemmed  and de-seeded rehydrated chilies and 2 tsp. of smoked paprika.

Purée sauce with blender or emulsion hand blender

Add 1 ½ cups of pumpkin purée plus 1 cup of half and half and 1 T. of Worcestershire sauce and heat for 45 minutes.

Garnish with diced avocado and Powdered pipian.   

  We ate the soup with toasted buttered flour tortillas.

Suzette made it clear that she adapted the recipe to the available ingredients.  For example, the recipe she chose called for chipotle chili’s, which are dried jalapeño chilies but what she Tuesday’s were ancho chilies, which are the milder more flavorful dried Padilla chili.

We now have a contest to see who can create the best dish.  Suzette has started with a super creative effort that used the PPI puréed pumpkin.

My effort will be to create a dish with the 2 PPI Duck Breasts. I am thinking of combining them into a stew with winter vegetables.

We drank a very interesting wine, with dinner; a 2006 GV Cellars Estate Merlot Blanc from Solano County Green Valley.  We visited this winery many years ago when we would visit the land I had an interest in in Green Valley which in the next valley to the west from Napa near Fairfield, CA.  In fact it is right across the road from our land, so we could see it from our land.

 

It is rather sweet so was perfect with the slightly spicy nutty flavor of the soup.  An amazingly perfect pairing.

After dinner we watched Rachel Maddie’s interview with Kampala Harris, drank a cup of chai and a chocolate chip cookie, and then lay down.  I read until 9:00 and then watched Trevor Noah with Suzettec  cc ccc cc cc cc cc cc and went to bed.

The market faded a bit today. My portfolio was down about .6%.  If the news st 11:00 p.m. is correct that the WH and Pelosi have failed to reach agreement on a stimulus package, then the market may fall far further than a slight fade in the next few days and weeks.

This reminds me of the final days of the Bush presidency in 2008 when the administration gave up dealing with the economy and the wheels went off the market.

Bon Appetit