October 9, 2021 Breakfast - Sausage Burritos. Lunch - Pommier. Dinner - PPI Smoked Trout and Quinoa with Kale and tomato
Suzette made us sausage burritos with the leftover merguez sausage from last night’s meal at Vara, some fresh Jimmie Dean sausage, a diced Yukon Gold potato, and egg in a toasted flour tortilla we were given at the Grand Tasting at the Wine and Chile Fiesta several weeks ago.
Then we gassed up at Costco and drove to Santa Fe. The clouds were beautiful today as we drove north and in Santa Fe.
We first stopped at the big Madera Estate sale in one of the abandoned spaces in the nearly abandoned Santa Fe Outlet Mall. Suzette purchased two mirrors that could be put on a door in the resident’s room for $25.00 each, an approximately 1 1/2 inch thick by 15 inch wide by 48 inches long slab of granite for $75.00 and a lovely glass approximately 24 inch round glass tray for serving hors d’oeuvres.
I found a copy of the hardback of Hard Scrabble by John Graves for $3.00.
After the helper loaded everything into Suzette’s Highlander we drove in on Cerrillos to Congeries. I stayed in the car and listened as Texas was ahead of Oklahoma by 18 points in the the biggest game of the year in Texas. Oklahoma changed its quarterback before the half to a highly rated freshman and went on to win the game 55 to 48 while we went to lunch with Amy and Vahl.
After Congeries we drove to Peyton Wright to see the Peter Miller show.
We both agreed that some of the animal paintings were nice but in general she mimicked Miro and Dali in most of her New York 30’s and 40’s surrealist works. The reason why John is showing her work is because she moved to New Mexico on a property adjoining San Ildefonso Pueblo in her later years.
We then drove to Amy and Vahl’s house at Eldorado and I watched some of the Texas v. Oklahoma game and sipped the best American Viognier I have tasted grown and produced by Opolo Vineyard in the Central Coast near Paso Robles. It had an intense citrus fruit flavor joined with good acidity.
We then drove in their new Rav 4 to Pommier in the Eldorado commercial center. Pommier is a new French restaurant opened by a couple in the space that was formerly a Salvadoran restaurant that Amy and I once ate at. The wife is American, the husband is French and the chef. We wish them luck because the kitchen is producing impeccable French Cuisine.
I ordered a plate with three slices of duck liver Pate’ sliced from a terrine, a side salad, a wedge of quince jam, and three toast points. I chose to eat the pate on the on-premises buttered lovely fresh French baguette brought to us in baskets. Suzette ordered steak tartare which came assembled in a heavy sauce of mustard, olive oil, pickled chopped shallots, and capers with a pile of French Fries and a small mound of horseradish (her favorite condiment) that she immediately stirred into the tartare. Suzette loved the dish and ate it with the buttered baguette slices.
Vahl ordered the Quiche Lorraine that was served with a side salad, which he liked very much. Amy was the only person disappointed with her meal, a roast beef sandwich with fries.
I loved the terrine of foie gras, which was all duck liver interspersed with globs of duck fat, as traditional and as fresh as it ever gets. It was $24.00 and I would order it again and again. I was transposed to France for a moment or two. Suzette and I traded a slice of foie gras for a small pile of tartare. The tartare was excellent but rather too mustardy for my taste.
After our entrees we ordered a chocolate torte, a deeply dark chocolate mousse baked in a thick pie crust that was also delicious.
We did not linger over dessert because the workmen Inclosing the carport at Amy and Vahl’s house had finished for the day and called Vahl to inspect the work.
So we said goodbye around 3:00 and drove back to Albuquerque on the back side of the mountains by way of Lamy, Galisteo, Cerrillos, Madrid and Cedar Crest to view some of the changing color of the cottonwoods.
When we arrived in Albuquerque, we drove to TaLin, where Suzette bought seven packages of a special shaped Italian pasta made for Cento that the Bistro is using for the Pasta in Ragu sauce dish on its menu. We also bought two bags of fresh dill for more gravad lax and perhaps deviled eggs, a container of soft tofu, and a bag of Yu Choy.
We then drove to Trader Joe’s where Suzette bought 9 chocolate bars for the Bistro and I bought an almond and milk chocolate bar, a bottle of Chatelier VS cognac, a bottle of Amontillado sherry for $5.99, two chateau bottled Bordeaux reds for $5.99 each, a bottle of 2018 Chateau Rodier for $13.99, and a bottle of Barolo di Asti for $6.99.
We then drove to Total Wine. First, we sought help with the app for selecting coupons similar to the one utilized by Kroger, where coupons are linked to your Smith’s card so when you insert your card you automatically get the discount. Total Wine’s is slightly different. It links the discount to your phone number, which is your member identifying number and when you punch in your telephone number at the check out counter it automatically enters your discount. Today we utilized a $5.00 off on any bottle of wine, a 25% off on six bottles of French wine and 15% off on spirits. Suzette bought two bottles of her new favorite scotch and I bought six bottles of French wine, an Alsatian Riesling, two bottles of a highly rated Sancerre for $24.99 less 25%, two bottles of Appellation Ventoux reds at $12.99 less 25%, and a bottle of Cotes du Gascogne white for $11.99 less $5.00.
I prefer Trader Joe’s for it remarkably inexpensive prices that are very drinkable and Total Wine for its immense variety of choices of fine wines. Total Wine’s prices are higher until you reduce them by the discount. For example Trader Joe’s offers a French Sauvignon Blanc that is not produced in Bordeaux for $5.99, but offers no Sancerre. Total Wine offers about ten Sancerres at around $25.00 a bottle. We like Sancerre so we are willing to pay $19.71 for a bottle of good Sancerre on sale, which is produced from the Sauvignon Blanc grape instead of drinking Trader Joe’s Bordeaux Sauvignon Blanc bottle at $5.99 occasionally. Similarly, we also drink Picton Bay New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc that sells for around $6.00 a bottle at Trader Joe’s, but occasionally I buy a Mohua New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc at Costco for $11.99, which has more complexity.
I feel blessed to have a bit more income these days that allows us to enjoy better ingredients and wines.
When we finally arrived at home we were tired. Suzette immediately opened one of the bottles of scotch and drank a cocktail and watched a home decorating show about an Arkansas couple of remodelers who beautifully fixed up a house for her parents. At the end of the show the five siblings and 20 grandchildren all celebrated the remodel with family togetherness. It was the best remodeling show I have seen in a while.
I brought in the alcohol, labeled the bottles with the price, where purchased, and date of purchase and stored them.
Suzette was not hungry so at 7:00 I heated and ate the PPI Smoked trout and some of the lovely PPI quinoa, tomato, and kale for dinner.
After dinner I fetched a new bottle of Grand Marnier and made a 1/3 Grand Marnier and 2/3 cognac after dinner drink to wash done the slightly dried out trout.
Between watching Father Brown and Death in Paradise I fetched the new 1/2 gallon of Blue Bell Pistachio Almond ice cream and we each ate a small bowl of it. I drank a cup of chai with mine and Suzette drizzled chocolate syrup on her ice cream.
Later I ate four chocolate wafer cookies with another cup of chai.
I went to sleep during Death in Paradise, after which at 10:00 we went to sleep.
I awakened at 1:00 to blog and was able to watch TCU beat Texas Tech, but could not find the Texas V. Oklahoma game.
What a day full of estate and food and wine shopping, Great French food, and football!
Bon Appetit
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