October 7, 2021 Lunch - Kitsune Dinner - Crab Soufflé, sliced tomatoes, and steamed Asparagus

October 7, 2021 Lunch - Kitsune  Dinner - Crab Soufflé, sliced tomatoes, and steamed Asparagus 

Today was a big food day.  At 8:30 I ate granola, milk, yogurt, a 1/2 of one of the apples from our tree diced.  

At 1:00 I ate a small salami sandwich and then drove to Lowe’s to buy milk.  I also bought  bananas, 1/2 gallon of Blue Bell pistachio almond ice cream, a package of creme sandwich cookies, a container of blueberries, a head of lettuce, and a gallon of milk.

When I returned Johal called and said his plane had landed so I drove to the airport and picked him up and we drove to the Tap Room in Old Town.  There was a mechanical breakdown in the kitchen which delayed their opening until 4:00.  First, Mohan and I sat at the bar and tasted bourbon, vodka, and gin.  Then Mohan ordered a lager and I ordered an orange flavored apple cider.  When Karim called and said he had gone to the new Candy Lady store I gave him instructions on how to find us and we went outside and sat at a table beside the gate so he would find us.  Soon Karim arrived at 2:30 and we talked until 4:00 when we ordered snacks, a late of Korean Fried Chicken and a plate of Bo-Samm, Pulled Pork and pickled red onion on a pile of fried potatoes.  I liked both dishes and may never order a plate with less meat and rice for more money again. 

The pork if shredded and tender and without any spiciness, the red onions were even better, soft and not terribly sour.  

I love the Korean Fried Chicken sauced with the flavorful gochujang sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds.

Kitsune’s food is well cooked, flavorful, creatively conceived, and appealingly presented.

At 4:30 Willy arrived and we said hello and then we left, because I had to go home to meditate.

Suzette arrived during meditation, so at 5:45 we discussed dinner.

We had planned to make a crab soufflé and had asparagus and a fresh tomato from our garden, so our menu was easy, crab soufflé, steamed asparagus, and slices of tomato.

I had fetched two bottles of Finger Lake Riesling, a Buttonwood and Lamoreaux and chilled the Lamoreaux because it has a lower amount of residual sugar (drier), which I prefer with the richness and elegant lightness of crab, eggs, and cream sauce in crab soufflé.

 Bbb b bb

At 6:00 we went into motion. I prep ingredients and Suzette cooks and while Suzette made the cream sauce, I grated Jarlsberg cheese to be combined with the cream sauce and eggs and minced 1 T. of shallot to be sautéed in butter with the crab meat and whipped egg whites that were folded into the egg yolk, cream sauce, and sautéed crab to give the sauce added lift.

I also buttered and grated cheese to coat the soufflé dish.

When Suzette completed making the cream sauce, flour, butter, and milk, she stirred in the egg yolks and 1/2 cup of grated cheese and then added the sautéed crab, vermouth, and shallot and then we folded in the stiff egg whites and poured the mixture into the buttered soufflé dish.

Suzette filled the water container and set the steam oven’s temperature and timing for soufflé.

I opened the Lamoreaux Riesling and poured us a taste.  It was delicious, light fresh fruit balanced with a not too high level of acid.  A very pleasant drink.

I snapped about twenty stalks of asparagus and Suzette steamed them and I sliced the tomato.

After twenty minutes at 370 degrees of steaming the soufflé was ready and we plated the tomato slices, asparagus, and a wedge of soufflé and I filled the glasses with Riesling.

We loved dinner.  The soufflé exceeded my expectations. I think the 1 1/2 cup of crab sitting in a container in the fridge for two days may have helped it develop a deeper crab flavor, which I found better at standing up to the cream, cheese, and egg flavors.

Suzette mentioned that she wanted to replace the French Rose served at the bistro with a French Riesling because her customers are requesting a sweeter wine than the dry Rose.

After dinner Suzette drank a glass of limoncello with a couple of Godiva chocolates.  

I drank another glass of Riesling with a couple of Godiva chocolates. The sweetness of the wine combined with the sweetness of the chocolate was overwhelming in its intensity of flavor.

A really fabulous day of food.

We watched Midsomer mystery and then went to bed at 9:30.

The market went up again today.  Volatility is still in the market.  On July 27 my portfolio had increased by 16% this year.  It then started on a strong surge to 24% until about two weeks ago and then dropped by half to 12% and then in the last three days has risen back to 16%.  That is pretty extreme volatility. 

Bon Appetit