July 22, 2021 Lunch - Ratatouille on Artichoke Provençale Couscous Dinner - Salmon, Scallop, Kale, and Egg White Noodle Stir Fry

July 22, 2021 Lunch - Ratatouille on Artichoke Provençale Couscous  Dinner - Salmon, Scallop, Kale, and Egg White Noodle Stir Fry

This was a busy day.  I finally did legal work for over four hours.

I walked 1/3 mile with some difficulty at 8:00. When I returned I prepared my go to breakfast to jump start my energy, two eggs over easy, a smoked pork chop, and two pieces of Whole wheat toast spread with orange marmalade.  Sugar, protein, and carbs

After 2:00 I checked my portfolio and it reached a new high again today. Since January my portfolio has increased by 16.66%.  It looks like if the economy keeps reopening my portfolio will increase by 20 to 25% this year. Not quite as good as last year’s 32.5%, but a lot better than my expected normal 10%.

I finally got hungry at 3:00 and heated a plate of the Artichoke Provençale Couscous with chicken covered by several spoonfuls of Ratatouille.  I really enjoyed lunch, especially with the last 3 oz. of. Tavel. I had a Cote du Rhone/Southern France moment.

Then back to work to resolve a conflict between two hearings set for the same time.

By 5:00 I had resolved the conflict and drove to Walgreens to buy the meds for the colonoscopy prep on Sunday.

I was so busy and tired I forgot to meditate.  

I lay down when I returned home and was awakened by Suzette at 6:30. 

She initially said I was failing to fix dinner, but when we went over the dinner choices and finally decided on a salmon and scallops stir fr6 with two types of fresh kale from the garden, she realized I like to plan and cook the meal with her.

The wine

We have fallen love with the new 2020 French Claire Patelin Cotes de Gascogne Sauvignon Blanc that Trader Joe’s is selling for $5.49.  Suzette went yesterday and bought the last 11 bottles of it and chilled a bottle, so tonight we drank Sauvignon Blanc with dinner.  It is slightly sweet and has a smooth fruity finish that we both find appealing.

The Salmon and Scallop and Kale stir Fry

The Prep - I sliced the last 1 oz. of red onion, two large scallions, five asparagus stalks, 1 oz. of ginger root, and three small cloves of garlic and cleaned the last of the white beech mushrooms and cubed 1/4 lb. of fresh salmon and five scallops. Suzette wanted a Japanese style dish without any soy, so I fetched Aji Mirin, Chinese rice cooking wine, sesame oil, and fish sauce.  Suzette went to the garden and picked a basket of two types of kale and de-stemmed the leaves and roughly chopped the kale.

The Stir Fry- We then stir fried the asparagus, onion, ginger, and garlic in 1 1/2 T. of peanut oil and 1 tsp. of sesame oil in my wok.  After about three or four minutes when the vegetables began to soften we added the salmon, scallops and mushrooms. While the vegetables were cooking we soaked a bundle of egg white noodles for 1 minute in boiling water and then added them to the wok.

After another couple of minutes I added about 1 T. of each of Chinese Cooking Wine and Aji Mirin and 1 1/2 tsp. of fish sauce and then the kale and we covered the wok with its lid to steam the kale.

                 The stir Fry before we added the liquids, noodles, and kale

We then turned off the heat and divided the stir Fry onto two plates. It was amazingly delicious and the wine complemented the dish like a good Sauvignon Blanc does lightly sautéed fish.

We watched Rachel and then Midsomer Mystery with a little cognac to complete a normal Thursday night.

Bon Appetit