December 13, 2021 Lunch - Cured Ham Salad. Dinner - PPI Trout, Spinach, and Cheese Soufflé with Steamed Asparagus and Hollandaise Sauce

December 13, 2021 Lunch - Cured Ham Salad.  Dinner - PPI Trout, Spinach, and Cheese Soufflé with Steamed Asparagus and Hollandaise Sauce 

Suzette left at 4:30 for emergency coverage at the Center.

I slept until 6:45.  I cooked a handful of oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar for breakfast.  

Then I relaxed until 1:00.  The Market started up but Britain’s Omicron announcement seem to take the air out of the sails of the market with my portfolio ending the day down almost 1.8%.  So much for the Santa Claus rally.

I made a Cured Ham Salad with tomato, cheese, radishes, sliced green onions, and dressed it with Bacon Ranch dressing.  I also toasted three small slices of French Baguette and spread them with brie cheese and had a pleasant lunch.

At 3:30 I dropped off the Comanche Empire book at the Library, drove to the bank to deposit a check, and then drove to Lise’s where I bought three small avocados, a head of red leaf lettuce, a gallon of milk, and a 16 oz. container of sour cream.

The traffic was terrible but I arrived home at 4:45 and Suzette had arrived and was resting in front of the TV set after her 12 hour day.

We did not want to cook, so we quickly decided to re-heat the last 1/3 of the soufflé and steam some asparagus.  Suzette suggested making a Hollandaise Sauce to pour over the asparagus and Soufflé, which sounded wonderful. 

 I had not made a Hollandaise in several years, but I checked Mastering the Art of French Cooking and got the proportions; three egg yolk’s whisked, 1 to 2 T. of lemon juice, 1 T. of cold water, and 16 oz. of butter.  I do what I call the direct method.  I make the sauce in one enamel sauce pan.  I beat the three egg yolks and then added the lemon juice and cold water to the egg yolks.  I then turn the heat on to it lowest setting and stir in 16 oz. of cool butter and the stirred the pot alternating low heat and no heat until the sauce thickened, which took about twenty-five minutes.  As I stirred the pot constantly to keep the sauce from curdling, I added a few more drops of lemon juice,n salt, and white pepper to achieve the rich lemony flavor I wanted.

Suzette then snapped and steamed a handful of asparagus and re-heated the soufflé in the microwave just enough to warm it thoroughly but not dry it out.

Suzette plated the soufflé and the asparagus and I poured Hollandaise over both.  The sauce really added a great touch to the meal.

We drank the last sip of the bottle of Falerio wine from Italy and then 1/2 beer to wash down dinner.

We watched the Cardinals v. Chargers NFL games, which, surprisingly, the Chargers won thanks mainly to two interceptions.

Suzette went to bed at 9:00 and I followed at 10:30 after writing this blog and drinking a cup of chai.

Bon Appetit