February 19, 2023 Brunch - Blueberry Almond flour Pancakes with Bacon Lunch - Steak, Racalette, and chili Relleno Quesadilla Dinner - Grilled Lamb Chops, Quinoa, and Tossed Salad

February 19, 2023 Brunch - Blueberry Almond flour Pancakes with Bacon Lunch - Steak, Racalette, and chili Relleno Quesadilla   Dinner - Grilled Lamb Chops, Quinoa, and Tossed Salad

Today I felt like we were back on our usual excellent, creative diet.

Willy came over around 9:00 to watch the Tottenham v. West Ham PL fixture and Suzette made us a terrific breakfast of almond flour pancakes dotted with blueberries, and drenched with maple syrup, and served with slices of crisp fried bacon and a glass of fresh orange juice.  Willy made me and him a cup of Earl Grey tea with a splash of milk, also.

After breakfast and Tottenham’s victory, I took my first walk outside.  I walked with Suzette and Willy using my walker about 1/2 block and back without difficulty aided by their cheers of encouragement.

Willy left after we returned to the house and I worked at my desk several hours on an affidavit.  Then around 2:00 Suzette made a quesadilla by filling a flour tortilla with slices of steak, French Racalette cheese, and slices of the uneaten 1/2 of the chili Relleno and beans from La Cocina in El Super supermarket, laying a grilled flour tortilla on top of the ingredients and grilling both sides.

I then lay down and rested until 6:00 when Suzette came to fetch me to start cooking dinner. We had invited Mike to join us for dinner at 6:30.

Mike was bringing salad, Suzette was grilling the lamb chops and I was cooking the quinoa.

Quinoa -

With Suzette’s help we boiled water, filled a pot with 1 cup of quinoa and two cups of hot water and brought the quinoa to a boil and then lowered the heat to low and simmered the pit for 15 minutes and then let it stand covered for five minutes.

I then made a salad dressing with 1 1/2 T. of Fiorello’s fig balsamic vinegar we bought in Suisun Valley near Green Valley, California, 1/2 tsp. of prepared German mustard, 1/4 cup of Olive oil flavored with herbs de Provence, and small cubes of French blue cheese. I whisked the dressing into a thickened emulsion.

Mike arrived with a bowl of lovely crisp salad mix he had made of spinach, torn lettuce, and sliced celery, radishes, and cucumbers.

We discussed the wine and Mike agreed with my suggestion of a Cotes Du Rhone.  I instructed him where to find the bottle in the basement wine cellar and also where to find a bottle of Maison Serrene Cognac and Mike soon returned with the two bottles and opened the bottle of Model Cotes Du Rhone. Suzette fetched glasses and Mike poured glasses of wine for each of us.

Soon Suzette brought in the grilled lamb chops and plated three plates with two lamb chops each laid on a pile of quinoa.  We decided to use a separate plate for salad, so she fetched three salad plates.

We had a lovely dinner, but I became sore after I finished my dinner and half my salad and moved to the big chair and swiveled it around to face the dining table.

Soon Mike and Suzette joined me in the TV viewing area of the room.

I imposed on Mike again and asked him to fetch glasses and pour cognac, which he did. We discussed films and music streaming services and finally settled on Stanley Tucci’s Searching for Italy series.  I was able to find the episode on Piedmont, that none of us had seen, and we watched it.  It was fabulous starting in Turin, the first Capitol of a unified Italy in 1861 and ending high in the Alps at the border with Switzerland in sight of Mont Blanc, where Tucci sampled an Italian form of fondue made with fontina cheese made in the high Alps of Italy. I also learned that Barolo wine is made exclusively from the Nebbiolo grape grown almost entirely in a small area of Piedmont named Lethe, located south of Turin. 

After the episode we talked for another 45 minutes and then said goodnight.

I gave Mike the remaining 2/3 of the bottle of cognac we did not drink.

The most creative dish of the day was the Quesadilla Suzette made for lunch utilizing leftover steak, some Racalette cheese,  and the chili Relleno and beans from my lunch on Friday at El Super.  I loved the warm combination of chili, beans, Racalette cheese, and steak between two toasted flour tortillas. Racalette is one of the melting cheeses for French fondue.

Bon Appetit