January 7, 2022 Lunch - charcuterie salad. Dinner - Poached Salmon, Catalan Spinach, and tomato couscous

January 7, 2022 Lunch - charcuterie salad. Dinner - Poached Salmon, Catalan Spinach, and tomato couscous 

I toasted three slices of baguette and spread blackberry jelly on them and garnished them with slices of Gouda cheese and made a cup of Earl Grey tea for breakfast.

I had a crisis phone call with a client with whom I counseled and then got to the task of filing a lawsuit for another client.

I took a break for lunch and made a salad with 1/2 of a head of romaine, slices of red onion and radishes, diced a tomato and cut several cherry tomatoes in half and diced two slices of ham and three slices of salami and dressed the salad with the eternal Caesar salad dressing.

After lunch I lay down and napped until 3:00.

Then I returned to my office and saw that my filing had been rejected for lack of an arbitration certificate which is a required document.  I prepared the certificate and signed it and scanned it and resubmitted my envelope with the added certificate as Suzette was arriving and suggesting we go to Costco.

We drove to Costco around 3:30 and bought some basics like laundry soap, Bounce sheets, a new 94 point rated Sauvignon Blanc, a new 93 point rated Rioja, a bottle of Kirkland brand scotch, and a bottle of Vodka.

When we returned at 5:00 Todd was still studying.  When he finished at 5:30 we began cooking dinner.  

Dinner

The menu was poached salmon, Catalan Spinach, and Tomato Couscous.

Suzette cooked the spinach and salmon with Todd’s help while I prepped the shallot and garlic for the salmon and onion for the couscous and Todd cut the handful of cherry tomatoes in halves for the couscous.

I fetched a bottle of Pinot Grigio for the poaching medium and heated water for the couscous. Suzette fetched raisins, pinon nuts, and I cored, peeled, and diced a Fuji apple for the spinach.  Suzette rehydrated 1/2 cup of raisins in hot water and destemmed and rinsed about 1/2 bunch of spinach to complete the prep stage.

The Poached Salmon Suzette sautéed the minced shallot and garlic in a deep skillet in 3 T. of melted butter until softened and then added water and white wine to make a poaching medium.  Then she added the salmon fillet and covered the skillet with the wok cover to poach the salmon.

The Couscous 

In a two quart sauce pan I melted two T. of butter and sautéed three oz. of minced yellow onion and a clove of minced garlic.  When that had softened and began to turn translucent I added the cherry tomato halves and cooked them for a couple of minutes.  Then I added a cup of couscous and mixed and coked all the ingredients for a couple more minutes while the water was heating to a boil.  I then added 1 2/3 cup of boiling water and covered the pot to create as much steam as possible. After another minute I turned the heat down to the lowest temp and cooked the couscous for a few minutes so it would absorb all the liquid.  I then opened the lid and fluffed the couscous to loosen it.  I then covered the pan and turned the heat up a bit to create steam again and then turned off the heat to let the couscous stand.

Catalan Spinach 

Since the spinach is the most delicate dish Suzette started it after the salmon was poached and I was finishing the couscous.  She sautéed minced shallot and garlic in olive oil and added a handful of pinon nuts and the 1/4 cup of the rehydrated raisins and then after the pinon and shallot started the brown she added the destemmed spinach and sautéed the dish for another minute or two until the spinach began to wilt and the dish was ready.

I poured glasses of the Pinot Grigio and Todd filled a glass with water and Suzette plated dinner in pasta bowls.  She first spooned a pile of couscous into the side of the bowl and then lay 1/3 of the poached salmon on each pile and then spooned the Catalan spinach beside the pile of couscous.  It was a lovely dish of food.  I fetched a pitcher and she poured the remaining poaching medium into the picture and that became our sauce to season and moisten the salmon.

I really liked this preparation of salmon better than our usual cream sauce prep.  I could taste the salmon flavor more directly rather than have it obscured by a heavy floury cream sauce.  I can hardly wait until Summer when we can add fresh herbs to the poaching medium to enhance the flavor of the sauce to see if that enhances the flavor of the salmon.  Suzette often says less is more and tonight’s salmon dish proved that.

The couscous and spinach dishes were much busier with complex mixtures of flavors.  The couscous was a little wet because I added 1 2/3 cup of water instead of 1 1/2 cup of water to 1 cup of dry couscous.  I prefer it wetter because it continues to cook after the initial serving and will not dry out in the pan and stick to the pan if there is a bit more liquid in the pan.

Todd liked the spinach and added some more fresh spinach to his serving.

I liked the sauce and added it to the salmon and couscous as I cut the salmon into pieces. I was amazed that the salmon and couscous fully absorbed the generous addition of sauce.

It was a successful meal.  There was a fair amount of couscous left so I put the covered pan in the fridge.

After dinner we watched some news and I ate pistachios for dessert and drank a cup of Earl Grey tea.  

Suzette went to bed at 9:00.  Suzette gets tired earlier than I do because she does not take an afternoon nap. She often falls asleep in her chair in front of the TV.

Todd went for another run after dinner and returned at 9:30 as I was downloading my accepted filing of the lawsuit.  Hooray.

Today the market languished most of the day.  My portfolio was down another .4% for a total reduction of about 7% from its high about a month ago.  

I made several investment mistakes that amplified the reduction but hopefully learned my lesson and will let my bets ride in the future as long as the economy is still moving along and seems to be absorbing the interest rate increases and asset sales by the fed.

When Todd returned at 9:30 I went to bed and read until 10:00.

As I write this blog at 4:00 a.m. I feel better after a more moderate day of cleaner, lighter food.

Bon Appetit