January 23, 2022 Brunch - lax, goat cheese, red onion, and bagel. Dinner - Romaine Lettuce Salad with grated Parmesan and mushed Avocado dressing, Boeuf Bourguignon with Celeriac Mashed Potatoes, Bunt cake with Huckleberry ice cream

January 23, 2022  Brunch - lax, goat cheese, red onion, and bagel. Dinner - Romaine Lettuce Salad with grated Parmesan and mushed Avocado dressing, Boeuf Bourguignon with Celeriac Mashed Potatoes, Bunt cake with Huckleberry ice cream

I awakened at 7:30, just in time to see my favorite team, Leicester City lose its 1 goal lead to Brighton and tie 1 to 1.

Then I watched Chelsea beat Tottenham 2 to 0.  

After the match I toasted three slices of bagel, spread them with goat cheese and garnished them with slices of red onion, Gravad lax, and capers.

I drank hot chocolate with my two slices and Suzette drank rose wine with her slice.

At 12:00 we started getting ready to go to the Blaugrunds at 1:00 to cook dinner.

The plan was for us to replicate the menu of Boeuf Bourguignon and celeriac potatoes we had cooked for our last dinner party, but this time for Nancy and Elaine (“the girls”) to assist in the cooking and gathering ingredients.

As usual, I chopped and Suzette took control of the stove. Nancy had already cleaned two pounds of white mushrooms.  Wayne and Elaine arrived just after us at 1:10 with 4 pounds of Prime beef shoulder and salad fixings and two pints of artisanal huckleberry ice cream.

Suzette and the girls sliced 1/3 lb. of thick cut bacon into lardons and cut the root nibs off 1 lb. of pearl onions.

I butchered the shoulder meat by removing the fat and silver skin and the cutting the meat into 1 inch chunks.

Suzette alternated cooking bacon and then beef until all the beef and bacon was cooked was sautéed.  Suzette then chopped an onion and a carrot and I chopped a second carrot and those sliced vegetables were sautéed in the remaining bacon grease and added to the meat. Then flour was added to the pot and baked the oven at 425 degrees for 4 minutes and stirred in and cooked another 4 minutes to coat everything in flour and cook the flour.

Beef broth was made with better than beef bouillon extract and the bottle of Murphy Goode Pinot Noir was opened and I think 1 1/2 cups of each were added to the pot.  Then the pot was placed in a 325 degree oven and cooked 2 hours from 3:00 until 5:00.

While the stew was cooking the girls sautéed the mushrooms and onions were sautéed in butter and Olive oil with a minced shallot and boiled the cubed celeriac and potatoes.

Suzette then mashed the potatoes and celeriac and adjusted the liquid in the stew by adding water.

Cliff and I watched the last half of the LA vs. Tampa Bay game that ended in an exciting game winning field goal by L.A.

While the stew was cooking Nancy brought out a cheese board filled with wedges of Italian Toscana, brie, English pepper cheddar, apricot Stilton, and Gouda with a bottle of Guigal Cotes du Rhone.  We talked and watched the beginning of the K.C. V. Buffalo playoff game.  

At 5:00 Wayne and Elaine returned and at 6:00 they served a lovely Romaine salad with shredded Parmesan and a mushed avocado dressing with warm slices of French baguette. I ate two bowls of it.

Then Nancy served the Boeuf Bourguignon and Celeriac mashed potatoes.

After dinner Nancy served Bunt cake with an artisanal huckleberry ice cream that Wayne and Elaine brought with decaf coffee.

Near the 2:00 minute warning  I became interested in the game and watched as it got closer. The lead shifted back and forth three times in the last two Minutes and finally with less than 5 seconds left, KC kicked a field goal to tie the score and send the game into overtime.

Overtime was like some form of preordained magic. KC received the kick off and marched the ball down the field and scored to win the game in four or five plays.

We wrapped up our gear and drove home. We watched half of All Creatures Great and Small and then an episode of Vienna Blood and went to bed.

I really like the period feel of feel of Vienna Blood and that a Jewish family is at the center of the plot.

Bon Appetit