September 27, 2021 Lunch - 2000 Vietnam No. 30, Dinner - Mapo Dofu with rice

September 27, 2021 Lunch - 2000 Vietnam No. 30,  Dinner - Mapo Dofu with rice

I awakened at 6:00 and watched the news until 7:00 when I lay down for another 30 minutes.

I then worked until 10:00 and then ate some granola, milk, and yogurt.

I then showered, dressed, and drove to my yoga session that lasted until 12:00.

I then ordered a No. 30 from 2000 Vietnam.

Lunch - 

I picked it up and drove home.  I picked a handful of basil and made a Vietnam coffee and fetched a bunch of cilantro and ate the entire dish and enjoyed the iced coffee.

At 1:00 I watched the PL match between Brighton and Crystal Palace.  It ended 1 to1 with two odd last minute goals one on a penalty kick in the last minute of the first half by Brighton and a goal in the last seconds by Crystal Palace.

After the end of the match I rested and then drove to El Super at 3:30.  I bought a head of celery, a lb. of carrots, 1 1/2 lb. of limes, 3 lb. of onions, two packages of chocolate wafer cookies, and a cantaloupe for $7.41.  Wonderful.

Dinner -

I returned home and rested until Suzette arrived at 5:30.  We decided to make Mapo Dofu and rice.  I made 1 cup of rice with two cups of water, 1/2 tsp. of chicken stock and 1 cup of rice.  

Then I peeled and cubed the two eggplants we grew in our garden, about an oz. each of ginger and garlic, 3/4 of an onion, 1/3 pasilla chili, and 2/3 lb. of pork tenderloin which I cooked in three T. of peanut oil.  I then rehydrated three dried shiitake mushrooms and 1 oz. of dried wood ear threads in hot water.

I then cubed 19 oz. of firm tofu and added that to the mixture plus the rehydrated wood ear.  I destemmed the mushrooms and sliced them into threads and added them.

I added about 1 T. of Chinese Rice Wine, 1/2 T. of soy sauce, and 1/2 tsp. of sesame oil.

I did not add any cornstarch because the stew was naturally thick.

We served ourselves cooked rice and the Mapo Dofu stew after the stew had simmered about twenty minutes.

We shared a beer and watched Antiques Roadshow.

After dinner we ate bowls of ice cream with maraschino cherries, and chocolate syrup.  I added  some rum to mine.

Later we each sipped some cognac.  We drink Chevalier VS cognac that we buy at Trader Joe’s for $19.95.  

We then watched Lawrence O’Donnell and then an American Experience film on William Randolph Hearst.

The Mapo Dofu is a meat and eggplant stew that originated in Szechuan, China.

I did not make it spicy and did not add crushed Szechuan peppercorns and chopped green onions which are traditional.

Bon Appetit