May 23, 2021 Brunch - a Spinach, mushroom, brie cheese, and green onion Omelet. Dinner - Artichokes a la Barigoule with rice

May 23, 2021 Brunch - a Spinach, mushroom, brie cheese, and green onion Omelet. Dinner - Artichokes a la Barigoule with rice 

Today I woke up at 6:45 and watched the news programs until 9:00 when the last day of P L soccer began.

My favorite team, Liecester City, was playing Tottenham in a match that meant a lot to each team. 

Leicester would finish fourth in the PL with a win and Tottenham needed to win to hold its position in the Europa League.

Willy came by to watch the second half and we switched back and forth between this match and the Chelsea vs. Aston Villa match. After a thrilling match in which Liecester led two times Tottenham substituted Garret Bales into its line-up and he scored two goals to give Tottenham the win and Chelsea fourth place.

I was saddened but toward the end of the match started prepping brunch.

I decided to cook a Spinach, mushroom, brie cheese, and green onion Omelet.

Suzette made a Bloody Mary and I drank lime juice flavored Clamato juice.

Willy drank tea.

We ate at the table garden with a view of all of the colorful plants in the garden and saw a road runner walking through the garden, perhaps hunting lizards.

After brunch, Willy left and we lay down to rest.

When I awaken around 4:00 Suzette was in her office completing her billing.

I put on my Rose gloves and grabbed the pruning shears and went to the garden to cut the dead heads off the Rose bushes.  After I finished I brought five roses in and put them in a vase.

It was after 5:30 when Suzette finished her work and wanted to plant the six plants we bought yesterday at the farmers’ market; 4 tomato plants, a cucumber, and an eggplant plant.

We cleaned one of the six gardening beds, harvested mint plants that Suzette will sell at her farm stand at the Center in Los Lunas, and planted the six plants by 6:30.

We started preparing dinner when Willy arrived around. 7:00.

I chopped sweet onion, pimiento, fennel, thyme, chicken, garlic, carrots, sugar snap peas, lion’s mane mushrooms, chicken, and white mushrooms.

Suzette cooked the ingredients in a large French copper sauté pan.

Suzette first braised the hard vegetables in olive oil.  Then she added the sugar snap peas. She then added a cup of dry white wine ( Spanish Verdejo) and then added the mushrooms and artichokes and 3/4 cup of homemade chicken stock.  She then covered the pan with aluminum foil  to simmer the vegetables until the carrots were soft.

                                                      The reduced final sauce

Then she plated the ingredients in the pasta bowls to be used to serve the dish.  She then and added 3 T. of butter and whisked it in and reduced the liquid somewhat to make a thin sauce, which she then poured over the vegetables. 

We heated PPI rice and I toasted and buttered pieces of French baguette to accompany the dish.

The recipe says this is a favorite Spring dish in Provence.  I can not imagine any better way to cast off the lack of vegetables during winter than a bowl of fresh spring vegetables cooked in a light wine broth enriched with butter.

This dish is an instant favorite that we will add to our heart healthy diet.

Willy loved the dish also and said he would come for dinner any night we were serving this dish.

We opened a bottle of Herman Wiemer 2019 Riesling to drink with dinner and kept it chilled in an ice bucket filled 1/3 full of ice and water.

The most exciting thing that happened during dinner was the Cooper’s hawk flew onto the bird bath while we were eating dinner and drank from the bird bath for several minutes until flying off. This is the first time the hawk had stayed on the bird bath while we sat under the gazebo approximately 30 feet away from it.

It seems like we are living in a semi-wild kingdom.

Bon Appetit