April 22, 2022 Lunch - PPI Egg Foo Young and rice. Dinner - PPI grilled Steak Sautéed with Shishito peppers, creamed macaroni, and Spinach

April 22, 2022 Lunch - PPI Egg Foo Young and rice.  Dinner - PPI grilled Steak Sautéed with Shishito peppers, creamed macaroni, and Spinach

Today I finished filling the larder with produce and replenished our every day wine supply.

I also think I have regained my stamina from the bout of turista.

I started by going to Tricore for a fasting blood draw at 9:30.  When I returned home I ate the leftover Miso Noodle soup with the addition of an egg at 10:00 and hoisin sauce.

Then I began the process of renewing my notary public by ordering a stamp that complies with the newly enacted law and bought a surety bond.

At 2:00 I ate the last few bites of Egg Foo Young from East Ocean with the leftover rice from my lunch with Peter.

Then at 3:00 I checked in with Willy and told him I was going to Trader Joe’s and offered to buy him a Korean BBQ marinated steak and Kimchi.  I then drove to Trader Joe’s and bought the BBQ stuff plus a milk chocolate bar and a box of prepared Chicken Tikka Marsala.  I then went to the wine department, where I bought 17 bottles of wine, all under $8.00 per bottle, all wines we have drunk and enjoyed before, to replenish our everyday wine stock and two bottles of cognac to replenish our cognac.

I was finished at Trader Joe’s by 4:00 so I then drove in heavy traffic on I-40 and Rio Grande and Central to El Super where I bought oranges, lemons, limes, a papaya, two mangos, onions, celery, carrots, parsley, Roma tomatoes, garlic, 12 lovely Shishito peppers, and a head of Romaine lettuce.

This took almost an hour and tired me but I made it home by a few minutes after 5:00

After Suzette helped me unload and then I drank a glass of root beer to get a little sugar into me and rested for a few minutes.

Suzette, who had been working since 5:00, drank a scotch and we sat and watched the news and discussed dinner.  We definitely wanted something simple.  I finally decided to use the PPI Grilled steak and creamed elbows to make a one dish dinner by sautéing Shishito peppers, onion, and garlic and adding fresh spinach and the steak and macaroni. My menu idea was to emphasize the pleasing combination of steak and sautéed fresh shishitos.  

Suzette must have liked the idea because she jumped up and went to the kitchen and started chopping onion and garlic and sautéing them with six Shishito peppers in the new premium olive oil we were given for Christmas and some butter, while I de-stemmed a pile of baby spinach leaves. When the sautéed ingredients were cooked we added the diced PPI grilled steak, macaroni, and spinach.

I opened the bottle of 2016 Izadi Spanish Rioja we had in our wine rack.  It had a rather pungent anise after-taste so we added ice to eliminate the after-taste.  Soon, Suzette had heated all the combined ingredients and plated dinner.

We loved the combination of sautéed onion, garlic, and Shishito peppers with the steak, creamy macaroni, and spinach.  In fact, we both agreed that we had created a new tapa and new recipe to add to our favorite recipes.  Drinking a good Spanish Rioja Tempranillo seemed perfect for the newly created tapa dish.  Izadi rates 3.9 on Vinvino and is priced around $18.00 per bottle, so a good wine for a good meal.

After dinner Suzette opened the box of chocolate hearts the Blaugrunds gave us at the Boeuf Bourguignon dinner and we opened one of our newly acquired bottles of Chevalier VS cognac and watched the last episode of The Last Kingdom, where the four kingdoms are united under Alfred’s son’s rule with the help of the Danes and Ufred is made Lord of North Umbria, one of the four kingdoms. The four main kingdoms in Anglo-Saxon England were:

• East Anglia.
• Mercia.
• Northumbria, including sub-kingdoms Bernicia and Deira.
• Wessex.

Suzette then found a new episode of The Marvelous Miss Maisel that we watched.

We went to bed by 9:30, happy after a long day of work and a new exciting dish with a good wine.

Having just bought a pile of good rib steaks this week and discovering fresh shishitos at El Super, I can see that we will be cooking this dish often this summer.

Bon Appetit