April 13, 2021 Lunch - Pho Dinner - Grilled Hamburger and Asparagus and Baked Potato

 April 13, 2021 Lunch - Pho   Dinner - Grilled Hamburger and Asparagus and Baked Potato

Another day that I was diverted by the Market as it marched upward to a new S and P record close.  The Dow went down about 68 points, the S and P went up about $12.00 and the NASDAQ went up about 147.

I am heavily invested upon the NASDAQ so my portfolio also reached a new all time high, with many of my big tech names rising.

I ate tropical fruit salad with yogurt and granola for breakfast.

Then at 10:00 I started making a beef broth for pho.  I filled a 2 quart pot with water and added, the leftover grilled steak, Knorr dehydrated beef bouillon, a cube of beef broth, and I filled a tea ball with pho seasoning and added that to the broth to give it pho seasoning.  At 11:30 I started adding other ingredients, including sliced portobello mushrooms, sliced bok Choy, onion, garlic, 4 oz. of tofu diced, Chinese rice wine, and red miso.  Then I added thick mung bean noodles, rice sticks, and a bundle of wheat noodles and cooked everything for 20 to 30 minutes more until the noodles had absorbed much of the broth.

I chopped parsley and two green onions to garnish the top of the soup and added Sriracha and hoisin sauce to flavor it further. I could smell and taste the pho seasoning and enjoyed two bowls of the soup so full of beef and pho flavor.

After lunch I thawed two hamburgers and waited for the market to close and was thrilled that it showed strength into the close with Apple rising over $3.00.

I napped from 3:00 until 4:00 and then walked my usual 1/2 mile at 4:30 after cleaning and putting three russet potatoes into a 365 degree oven to bake, I chose not to eat any sugar pill because I had had a hearty lunch.

Suzette returned shortly after I returned.  We decided to start dinner early after Suzette’s cocktail and an inspection of the yard to make sure the lawn care fellows had done what they were supposed to do. I toasted a biscuit and buttered it and spread honey for a snack. 

Then at 6:00 we started cooking.  I sliced6 or 7 small portobello mushrooms, 1/2 shallot, 4 cloves of garlic.  I went to the garden and picked five or six sprigs of tarragon and 12 or 13 chives.  I stripped the tarragon leaves and chopped them.  

I also sliced the chives and put the slices in a small bowl.

I then melted two T. of butter and added 2 T. of olive oil and added salt and white pepper.  Then I added the minced shallot and then the garlic, tarragon, and mushrooms.  I tossed the mushrooms to coat them with butter and oil and cook them.  

Suzette snapped the stalks of a bunch of asparagus and tossed them in a freezer bag with balsamic vinegar and olive oil and salted and peppered the hamburgers and put them on the grill.  After a few minutes she brought the asparagus in wrapped in aluminum. I added 2T. of amontillado sherry to the mushrooms. 

Suzette sliced slices of Jarlsberg cheese and put them on the hamburgers.  In another few minutes she brought in the hamburgers and plated a potato, a hamburger, and half of the grilled asparagus on each plate and I added sautéed mushrooms to the hamburgers. The asparagus were slightly crisp with a bit of crunchy texture that was very appealing.

I poured glasses of 2016 Chateau Roudier Saint Emillon/montagne red wine and I put butter and sour cream besides the sliced chives on the table and we ate a great meal.

This is one of my favorite meals, perhaps because it is one we used to eat a lot when I was growing up.

My parents would buy a side of beef usually about 300 lb. and besides some steaks and roasts it would be processed into mostly hamburger.  So we ate a lot of hamburgers.

After the meal  Suzette drank a cognac and I drank two small glasses of Calvados and two cups of chai to try to settle our stomachs.

I watched the Frontline documentary on the organizations that took part in the January 6th insurrection.

Bon Appetit