May 30, 2022 Lunch - Dim Sum at Ming Dynasty. Dinner - Teriyaki Cedar Board Grilled Salmon with Sushi Rice and salad with sugar snap peas and snow peas

May 30, 2022 Lunch - Dim Sum at Ming Dynasty.  Dinner - Teriyaki Cedar Board Grilled Salmon with Sushi Rice and salad with sugar snap peas and snow peas

I ate a bowl of granola with milk and blueberries and a diced strawberry, and yogurt at 9:30 and then prepared teriyaki sauce by heating 1/3 cup each of soy sauce, sake, and mirin plus 1 T. of sugar.  Japanese food uses a surprisingly large quantity of sugar, not unlike Scandinavian cuisine, due to the fact that it is a climate that does not support the production of green herbs.

Then I worked until 11:00.  At 11:30 I drove to Ming Dynasty to meet Aaron and Alexi for dim sum for lunch.  They had already chosen 8 to 10 items, most of which I would have chosen.  We shared the bounty, but could not finish lunch, so I took a box home.

As other restaurants close, Ming Dynasty keeps going.  It reminds me of those huge dim sum restaurants in San Francisco or San Diego.  It has that old established feel to it.

After lunch I drove back home and rested until 4:00, when I went to the kitchen and made a Béarnaise Sauce for tomorrow’s dinner at the Palmer’s.

I expanded the recipe from 1/4 cup each of white wine vinegar and white wine to. 1/3 cup each and added garlic scapes to the first reduction of shallot and tarragon with the wine and vinegar.  The result was very pungent and had a vinegar bite at the finish that I am pretty sure will go away when used to sauce the beef and asparagus tomorrow.

Suzette came home at 6:00 and and at 7:00 we began cooking.  She snaps a handful of peas and picked and we de-stemmed the four snow peas from out garden and she spun the beautiful lettuce she picked in her garden in Los Lunas.

I heated some of the sushi rice I made yesterday.

Suzette cut and soaked a 1 x 6 cedar plank and when the propane grill heated she lay the marinated salmon fillet on the board and grilled it.

Suzette made a wonderful dressing by mixing some of the balsamic vinegar and olive oil we bought at I Fiorello olive farm in Suisun Valley in Fairfield, Calif. and adding crumbled Gorgonzola to it.

We opened a bottle of 2006 Norton Reserva Malbec from Argentina.  It was one of the best Malbec’s I have ever tasted.  It had great character and a lot of dark Cherry flavors.

We ate dinner on the patio and then drank the rest of the bottle as we talked until almost 9:00.

After Willy left we watched the CNN special documentary on Julia Child.

Bon Appetit