February 21, 2021 Brunch – Lax, Red Onion, and goat cheese omelet Dinner – Grilled Lamb Chops and Asparagus and Potato, Tomato, and Onion Tart.

 February 21, 2021 Brunch – Lax, Red Onion, and goat cheese omelet   Dinner – Grilled Lamb Chops and Asparagus and Potato, Tomato, and Onion Tart.

Sundays we usually eat only two meals and sometimes a snack.

Today I was thrilled again because Leicester City won its game and went into second place in the PL.

At 9:30 Suzette decided to make a Lax, Red Onion, and goat cheese omelet.  I sliced 3 oz. of red onion and about the same amount of lax cubed and a clove of garlic.  Suzette opened a fresh tube of goat cheese and made the most wonderful omelet I have eaten in a long while.  If was crisp on the edges and soft in the center due to the creamy fresh goat cheese.

 

When we returned home, we zoomed with the family until 3:00 and then started cooking.  Suzette first made the dessert, a gluten free Clementine cake. She had boiled five or six clementines in simple syrup on Saturday and today she made the cake with almond flour and bake it in a spring form pan.  Then we heated ½ lb. of  Guatemalan chocolate Luke sent us plus butter, water, and Karo syrup to make a glaze for the cake. Here is how the finished cake looked.

We then made the Potato, tomato, and onion tart/ I sliced three Yukon Gold potatoes, two large slicing tomatoes, and two Texas Sweet onions, while Suzette made a pastry dough for the crust and fitted it into a tart pan.  She baked the tart crust in the oven.  We roasted the tomatoes in the oven and sautéed the onions to soften then and caramelize them in a skillet.  I cooked the potatoes for about 5 minutes in the microwave, which was not enough to soften them to the softeness of the onions and tomatoes.  Then Suzette made crème fraiche by mixing heavy cream with sour cream and then added the goat cheese and an egg and I whisked it into a smooth creamy sauce. She layered the tomatoes, onions and potatoes into the tart shell and added the crème fraiche sauce and then baked the tart in the oven for 40 minutes to cook and congeal the ingredients.

We had invited Mike Verhagen and Willy.  Mike arrived with 8 lamb chops at 6:15.

I had chilled a bottle of 2015 Casa Avril Tempranillo Rose and had freshened up the hummus by adding olive oil and fresh chopped Italian broad leaf parsley plus a bowl of pita chips as an appetizer.

We sat in the living room and drank the sweet Rose.  I had expected the rose to be dry, but it had turned a bit toward sherry and sweetened, which was an interesting aperitif. 

After a glass of wine Suzette grilled the lamb chops and asparagus and poured the crème fraiche sauce over the tart and baked the tart.

I had brought up three bottles, a 2010 Wellington Syrah, a 2012 Cote du Rhone, and a De Ponte Pinot Noir.  Willy chose the Syrah, which what I would have selected.  Wellington made wonderful Southern Rhone wines. I had not tasted the syrah, but it was every bit as wonderful as a Hermitage red, definitely as smooth as any I have ever tasted.  I am saddened that Wellington is gone as an active winery.

Suzette plated our dishes and I poured glasses of Syrah and we all enjoyed the lovely grilled lamb chops and asparagus and slices of the tart that broke apart because the crust dough had not been chilled and allowed to set and thus crisp.

After dinner, Suzette served slices of Clementine cake soaked in the chocolate sauce.  All in all it was a great dinner. I served cognac and Calvados and made tea

To go with the dessert.  Willy left and we retired to the living room for another sniffer of calvados and a bit more conversation until 9:30 when Mike left.

We enjoyed one of our first days of food and family and entertaining friends.

 

Bon Appetit