June 5, 2022 Brunch - Meatloaf Sandwich with Dill pickles. Dinner - Sautéed Halibut with a Cherry, asparagus and Lovage salsa with Chard couscous

June 5, 2022 Brunch - Meatloaf Sandwich with Dill pickles. Dinner - Sautéed Halibut with a Cherry, asparagus and Lovage salsa with Chard couscous 

This was a day of cooking.  I watched the news programs and Nadal win his 14th French Open and 22nd Grand Slam to make the history books.

At 10:15 I quickly ate a Peanut butter and honey sandwich and worked with Suzette for 1 1/2 hours in the back yard.

At noon Suzette made Meatloaf Sandwiches with a slice of meatloaf, a slice of tomato, a lettuce leaf, and Mayo on whole wheat sandwich bread.

I drank an apple cider with mine.

At 3:00 Willy arrived and make pot stickers and I ate a few of those.

Then at 4:00 I made ratatouille. I diced 1 onion, 1 eggplant, three cloves of garlic, 2 medium zucchinis.  I forgot to add the bell pepper. Suzette picked a bundle of oregano and I chopped it and added the cup of oregano. Then I diced five tomatoes and we added them. We cooked for about an hour and the vegetables started to soften.

We turned off the heat under the ratatouille when we started dinner at 6:30.

Suzette made a cherry, lovage, asparagus and tomato salsa for the halibut by combining pitted and sugar dusted cherry halves with about 1T. of finely minced lovage, a cup of steamed and diced asparagus, and two tomatoes diced.  The result was a pleasant salsa with that haunting lovage after taste.  The lovage taste will dissipate over night so it needs to be added fresh to the salsa.

We made chard couscous. Suzette picked a basket of chard, de-stemmed it and tore it into bite-sized pieces.

                                                  Fresh chard from the garden

I minced 1/2 shallot.  I sautéed the shallot in 2 1/2 T. of butter in a sauce pot and added 1 cup of couscous and sautéed than for a few minutes while water was coming to a boil.  I then added. 1 1/2 cups of boiling water to the pot and covered it and reduced the heat and left it cook for several minutes and then fluffed the couscous and it stand for a couple of minutes.

 While I was making the couscous Suzette sautéed the halibut in the good olive oil.

She then plated a pile of couscous and lay a slice of sautéed halibut on it and added a pile of salsa at the edge of the halibut.

We opened a bottle of Italian Pinot Grigio that was a perfect complement to the meal, crisp and fruity.  We ate on the patio.

Willy left and we went to bed at 9:00.

We decided that the halibut dish was a very California Cuisine style dish with the natural flavor of halibut complemented with the fresh cherry and lovage salsa that also had its unique flavor.