June 23, 2021 Lunch - Chez Mamou. Dinner - Mapo Dofu with rice
The simplicity of the food description in the title belies today’s meals’ complexity and wonderfulness.
I woke up around 6:00 again and watched the news until 7:00 when I rode 5 miles north and back. I ate a bowl of granola, yogurt, milk, sliced banana, and blueberries and worked a bit and then showered and dressed so we could leave for Santa Fe at 10:00.
We arrived at T.R. and Linda’s a bit after 11:00 to pick up our palm mats they had brought back from Sayulita. We talked for about 45 minutes and then drove to
Chez Mamou on Palace.
We were lucky to get the next to last table before the restaurant was filled with the lunch crowd. The restaurant was short staffed with only two waiters and one chef in the kitchen so we had to wait for a glass of water and to order. I ordered the duck confit entree with potatoes Au gratin, a baked tomato Provençal, and steamed vegetables. For some inexplicable reason, duck confit always is a leg quarter, which is my favorite. Suzette ordered an entree of Steamed mussels with Pommes Frites (French Fries).
Surprisingly, our food and wine came rather quickly after we ordered. Suzette drank a glass of Sancerre and I drank a glass of Elk Cove Pinot Noir with lunch. There was no bread so our waiter was kind enough to bring us a croissant and butter. Chez Mamou is also a French bakery, so the croissant was indescribably light and fluffy. It made dabbing up the last bits of the shallot sauce in which the mussels were served and the Demi-glacé served on the duck confit truly a gastronomic experience.
My pinot was tight tasting and so I asked the waiter if it was an open bottle and he assured me he had opened a new bottle to pour my glass. With that comment the wine seemed to open up a bit and give off the subtle floral Pinot flavor I expected.
Both of our entrees were delicious. The mussels were plump and juicy in their thickish shallot and white wine sauce with chunks of shallot floating in it.
My duck’s skin was not crisped, but the meat was dark and delicious and the meat literally fell off the bone.
We both loved our dishes and the wine.
There were people waiting for our table so when the waiter brought the dessert tray, I picked two chocolate and ganache and two almond marzipan baked desserts and asked if he could box the desserts and we pick them up and pay the check at the baked goods counter, so we could make the table available for several people still waiting to dine..
We returned to the car with our pastries and drove to Santa Fe Art Auction to pick up the two paintings we had bought at the last auction of works on paper. I bought a Dean Porter watercolor and Suzette bought a Joseph Imhoff print of an Adobe house
When we arrived we saw that the next auction of a collection of Edward Curtis photographs of North American Indians was hung and we became fascinated by them and viewed all the lots from the various books to sets of the entire 20 volume set of books and folios, to plate envelopes that contained a working copy of the photo on the cover with Curtis’ notes.
We had a lot of fun with Gillian, the President, who showed us the various choices subscribers to Curtis’ 20 volume set of the North American Indian had in photos (photo on velum paper, photogravure tissue, or slip sheet photos taped onto the pages) and binding (cloth, cloth and leather, or full leather).
The most exciting experience she shared with us was too take us into the next room to a print cabinet and showed us drawers filled with bags of empty glass plate envelopes each of which contained a copy of the photo on the plate on the envelope with Curtis’ hand written notations identifying the location or title of the image and in which volume the photo was located. I loved the instant provenance and strong connection to Curtis when seeing Curtis’ hand written notations on the photo plate envelopes and so did Suzette.
After we paid for and picked up the art we had bought we drove to Stephen’s Consignment and looked around but did not see anything interesting.
Suzette drove us to the Santa Fe Restore It store. I was tired by now and found a seat to sit on while she looked for shutters for the salt cave she wishes to build at the Center. In a few minutes she had found a perfect pair of shutters for $5.00 each.
She drove us home while I slept. When we arrived home at 4:00 we brought in our paintings and desserts and then collapsed on the bed for a while. Suzette said it had been a difficult drive for her.
I rose at 5:30 while Suzette was still napping and went to the computer and checked my mail and reviewed three deeds and then went to the kitchen to start dinner.
Mapo Dofu
I make a modified form of Mapo Dofu. The only constant ingredients are tofu, eggplant, some form of pork, fresh minced garlic, fresh minced ginger, onion, and dried wood ear. In addition today I added the rest of the Yu Choy stems and leaves, fresh portobello mushrooms, and dried rehydrated shiitake mushrooms.
I took a while to chop all the ingredients and Suzette appeared around 6:30 revived by her nap and ready to help me. So she fetched the wok and started cooking the firmer vegetable ingredients in peanut oil while I butchered and cubed a lb. of meat off two of the four country pork ribs I had bought at El Super on Monday and but the remaining two ribs in the freezer.
Suzette created a new way to cook the meat separately from the sautéed vegetables. She pushed the vegetables to one side of the wok and cooked the meat on the cleared side of the wok. I added a tsp. of garlic chili sauce and then continued prepping, slicing five mushrooms into slices and the rest of the Yu Choy leaves into bite sized pieces.
I removed the tough stem from each of the two dried shiitake mushrooms I had soaked in hot water for thirty minutes and sliced the caps into strips. After the meat was cooked we added the mushrooms, Yu Choy leaves, 1 oz. of rehydrated black wood ear, the shiitake strips, and about 6 oz. of cubed tofu to the wok. Then I added the 2 cups of water I had soaked the dried mushrooms and wood ear in to the wok. This increased the level of liquid in the wok to almost the top of ingredients. I also added 1 tsp. of sesame oil, 2 T. of Chinese Cooking wine, and 1 T. of soy the simmering mass of ingredients in the wok.
I let the mixture stew for ten minutes while I spooned about 2 cups of PPI rice into a Pyrex loaf pan and doused it with some of the cooking liquid in the wok and covered the loaf pan with Saran and put it in the microwave.
Suzette was watching the news and I asked her to fetch two beers from the garage since she had shoes on and I did not.
The liquid in the wok had thickened with the reduction of liquid and from cooking as the mushrooms, and as the wood ear and shiitakes absorbed liquid as they continued to re-hydrate. Furthermore, the rice was rather dry and sticky, so I decided not to thicken further. This was an important decision because I believe the addition of cornstarch imparts a starchy flavor to the dish that obscures the ingredients’ natural flavors.
As soon as Suzette returned with two Modelo Especials, I heated the rice for 1.35 minutes and the we served ourselves rice and Mapo Dofu.
It was marvelous. The addition of Yu Choy leaves and stalks created a wider flavor profile and lightened the dish, as did the omission of cornstarch.
We both liked the dish. I ate seconds and then spooned the remaking PPI Mapo Dofu into the rice pot and returned it to the fridge.
We were both tired and went to bed around 8:45 at the end of the third period with TB and the Islanders tied 2 to 2. I checked later and saw that The Islanders had won, pushing the series to a final game seven.
This is my favorite time of the year for sports with Soccer, NHL Stanley Cup, and starting this weekend, the Tour de France will begin. I am giddy with excitement, especially since Sweden made it into the round of 16 in Euro soccer.
I awakened at 10:45 and wrote this blog.
Another wonderful day of friends, art, and food.
Bon Appetit
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