October 15, 2015 Lunch – Mary and Tito’s, Dinner – Tuna, Tofu, Yu Choy and Noodles.

October 15, 2015 Lunch – Mary and Tito’s,  Dinner – Tuna, Tofu, Yu Choy and Noodles.  

I made gravad lax (3/4 cup of sugar, nearly 1 cup of salt, about 1/2 tsp. of black pepper, and 3 oz. of dill) at around 9:30 and d and placed it in the new fridge to cure.

Rita and Ken came in from San Antonio for an appointment and lunch today.  They wanted authentic New Mexican food, so I suggested Mary and Tito’s for it authentic atmosphere and excellent red chili with meat.  You have to ask for meatless red chili.

Ken ordered a smothered burrito stuffed with carne adovado and Rita ordered blue corn enchiladas with red chili, her usual.  I ordered my usual, a stack of three enchiladas with beef and with red chili with onions and extra garnish.  The chili was just at the limit of what I can handle.  They loved it.  Rita grew up in Albuquerque and Ken is a foodie.

  Ken's smothered burrito 

   My Enchladas 

Suzette drove to Santa Rosa today after going to court for a no license traffic ticket, so she did not get home until almost 8:00.  I had planned to grill the tuna steak I bought at Sprouts on the 14th for $5.99/lb. and stir fry some of the Yu Choy with it.  I started peeping at 6:00 by cutting up six stalks of Yu Choy and separating the stalk white pieces from the green leafy pieces and then rinsed the pieces in our new sink with the new faucet’s sprayer setting, which worked well.  I called Suzette around 7:00 and found out she had just passed Moriarty and would be home in 45 minutes. I abandoned my idea of grilling and decided to make a noodle dish, since I did not want rice and the noodle dish could be cooked in one wok, which would save Suzette having to grill the tuna.

I thinly sliced ½ onion, three portobello mushrooms, two cloves of garlic, about 1 oz. of fresh ginger sliced, three oz. of tofu and the tuna steak and put the onion, tuna, ginger, and garlic with the hard stalks to be cooked first and the mushrooms and tofu with the leaves to be cooked second.

I then made a thickening sauce of chicken stock with Knorr dehydrated chicken stock and hot water from the kitchen faucet and added sesame oil, Chinese rice cooking wine, soy sauce, and corn starch to the sauce so I could simply stir fry the ingredients and the add the thickening sauce to quickly finish the dish. 

The only tricky part was cooking the noodles.  I chose the remaining two round flat wheat noodle bundles plus lots of broken pieces and put them in a pyrex bowl and covered them with water and a dash each of soy, sesame oil, and rice cooking wine. I then cooked them in the microwave for 5:55 minutes at a power of 70%, I think.  It cooked them to just beyond al dente, which is what I wanted because I intended to stir fry them into the dish after I cooked the other ingredients.

When Suzette arrived she was hungry.  She was able to light a burner on the new stove with a match, so I was able to cook on the new stove for the first time.

I put the hard ingredients and tuna in first and cooked them until the tuna turned from red to gray.  I then added the soft ingredients and cooked them for a minute or two until they mixed into the hard ingredients.  I the added the thickening sauce and told Suzette we were one minute away from being ready.  She found out two large soup bowls and I added the drained noodles after another minute or two as the sauce began to thicken.  The liquid in the noodles thinned the sauce a bit so I stir fried the noodles and other ingredients together for another minute or two and then scooped the thickened mixture into the soup bowls with the wok spatula.

We ate our pile of noodle and sauce with chop sticks.  Suzette drink her scotch with dinner and I drank a ginger beer, which enhanced the ginger flavor of the dish.

Suzette loved the dish.  I told her, “This is what I fix for lunch many days in the winter.”  (A soup made with some combination of meat, vegetables, and noodles). 

The sauce had thickened further in the wok, so I poured the liquid left  from cooking the noodles into the wok and made a noodle soup for my breakfast tomorrow.

Suzette packed and I retired to bed with the last of the bottle of XO Calvados and two Ferrero Rochers and read the Book Club selection for this month, “A Slight Shift of the Mind” about an imagined elderly Sherlock Holmes by Chris Mullins.

Bon Appetit 

October 14, 2015 Lunch – Café Trang, Dinner – Tuna and Calamari Sashimi

October 14, 2015  Lunch – Café Trang,  Dinner – Tuna and Calamari Sashimi

I had a medical procedure until about 10:30 in the morning, after which I went to Trader Joe’s to buy artichokes.  There were no artichokes, but I did buy four of my favorite inexpensive wines, Chateau Haut-Sorillon 2012 Bordeaux Superiore ($7.99), La Granja Tempranillo/Grenache blend ($4.99), Monte Ducay Reserva 2011, and Guetano Di Aquino 2011 Riserva Chianti ($5.99).

I still wanted some fresh vegetables and meats, so I then drove to the Sprouts Academy store with the expanded meat department and found thee types of salmon on sale.  I bought 3 lbs. of the fresh wild caught salmon for $5.99/lb. and then bought two pieces of Aji Tuna also on sale for $5.99/lb., one chunk for a sashimi dinner tonight for me and a larger .8/lb. steak for Suzette and me to split for tomorrow night.  I also bought a 3 oz. container of fresh dill to make Gravad lax, two bunches of asparagus for 1.48/lb. and portobello mushrooms for $3.99/lb.

I went home, but soon was called by Karim to help him complete a real estate transaction no form a company to hold title.  I agreed to meet him and Nizar for lunch at Café Trang.  While I was completing the company formation paperwork, I received a call from Richie, another of my long time clients, who told me he was selling his business and wanted me to help him.  Suddenly, my corporate/ business/real estate practice seems to be picking up.

At 1:00 I met Karim and Nizar for lunch at Café Trang.  They split a bowl of tofu and vegetable soup, which is essentially what I had for breakfast because I ate the PPI miso noodle soup with halibut and shrimp, so I ordered a No. 56, which was a fried wheat noodle dish with beef, chicken,and vegetables.  It looked great and tasted great when the fried noodles and vegetables and beef were bathed in the puddle of light brown gravy on which the nest of fried noodles were laid on.

After lunch I went across the parking lot to Talin to buy a daikon for my sashimi dinner.  I went to the fish department looking for boiled octopus.  There was no octopus but there was three or four types of calamari, so I let my favorite fish monger suggest one.  He picked the largest size, so I took one of them.  Then I bought a replacement bottle of Hoisen sauce and went to the vegetable department, where I bought beautiful shallots ($1.49/lb.), a daikon ($.99/lb.), and a bag of Yu Choy ($.99/lb.).  

I drove home happily with lots of ingredients for two tuna meals, gravad lax, and lots of fresh vegetables.

At 5:30 I sliced the smaller tuna steak and sliced the larger end of the calamari and part of the daikon and ate them with PPI wasabi and tamari and PPI pickled ginger that had over-fermented in the fridge in the last year. 

I then went to meditate at 6:45 and had a good meditation because we turned out the overhead light and only had the light of the alter candle and a Japanese lantern, which was enough.

Suzette was celebrating her birthday with her girl’s group at Seasons.

I also called Peter Eller and made a lunch date to take him to Le Toquet on Friday.

Bon Appetit 

October 13, 2015 Lunch – Le Troquet Bistro Francais, Dinner – il Vicino

October  13, 2015  Lunch – Le Troquet Bistro Francais, Dinner – il Vicino

Aaron and I worked a bit this morning and then went to lunch at 11:30.  We started to walk from our parking spot at 7th and Central to Anatolia but by the time we passed 5th St. I recalled that a new French restaurant had opened in the location of the old Crrepe Michel at the corner of 3rd and Gold. I recalled seeing an ad in the Alibi for a three course meal for $12.95.

Aaron agreed to go, so we walked to Le Troquet.  When we arrived and were seated at a window table I was pleased to see that the table was set with linen napkins for lunch and a linen tablecloth.  I have just discovered that the restaurant is owned by Jean Pierre, who is the longest serving French chef in Albuquerque and that Le Troquet was the  location of one of his earlier restaurants, according to the Business Journal 

http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/blog/real-estate/2015/04/le-troquet-bistro-francais-makes-downtown-debut.html

I did not know this when I went to lunch today, so I was pleasantly surprised by the excellent quality of the food.  I ordered the $12.95 lunch, with a cup of French  Onion soup, Calf’s Liver with Onions, and Chocolate Mousse.

Everything was impeccably prepared.  The onion soup was as traditional as it could be, a crouton covered with Gruyere baked in the oven.  The Calf’s Liver was cooked to medium rare and sauced with a legitimately wonderful Balsamic and Demi-glacé sauce finished with butter that showed there was someone in the kitchen who knew what they were doing.  The onions were perfectly sweated to beyond tender but without destroying the onion slice’s integrity.  And the Chocolate mousse was perfectly adequate, garnished with a dense congealed chocolate sauce, a dollop of whipped cream and a sliced strawberry. The meal came with the choice of iced tea or hot coffee.  I took iced tea.  This lunch was the best food value in Albuquerque for a full three course meal.  If the mousse was worth $8.00 and the soup was worth $5.00, then the entrée and drink were free.

I am sad to see Claus leave, because I loved his regional Danish menu items, but I am even happier to see Chef Jean Pierre arrive, because he is the longest serving French chef in Albuquerque and a wonderful chef.

Cynthia and Ricardo had extra tickets for the Nick Cave lecture at UNM’s Rodey Theater, so we met them at 5:45 at the Fine Arts Building.

I enjoyed the lecture, although we both were sad to be missing the Democratic Debate from Las Vegas.  Nick Cave is an African American dancer and artist who danced with Alvin Ailey and then went to art school who now teaches at the Chicago Art Institute’s Art School, who makes elaborate sound suits and performs in them.

The images of his performances shown during the lecture reminded me of the costumes and performances made at the Bauhaus in Dessau, Germany in the 20’s or, more appropriately, African ceremonial costumes and dance, which was mentioned during the lecture, as a source for his work.

After the lecture Ricardo suggested going to Il Vicino because, “It is close, good, and cheap.”

Suzette and I split a Cesar Salad and a Lasagna Bolognese and we each drank a glass of Chianti. Cynthia and Ricardo ordered Spinach salads with Gorgonzola and the Daily Pizza special. The food and wine were delicious and we enjoyed discussing Nick Cave’s work with Cynthia and Ricardo, as Ricardo has studied and danced African dance. 

As Suzette said, “It is fun to go out for an evening.”

The electricians spent the day connecting our sink, disposal, dish washer, refrigerator, and stove.  We finally have a functioning kitchen and Suzette met her estimated completion date of October 15.  

After dinner we went home and looked at all our new appliances and then had a cognac and Ferrero Rochers and watched the Democratic Debate on Youtube.  We both decided we were still fully supporting Hillary.  We loved the comparisons made by the Democratic candidates of the difference in positions between the Democrats and the Republicans on so many issues of importance, such as immigration, police violence, reform of the criminal justice system, health care, climate change, and inequality of income, to name a few.

What a fun day and evening of activity, progress on the kitchen, and good food, without having to cook.

Bon Appetit 

October 12, 2015 New Recipe Sautéed Brussels Sprouts Hash with Shrimp and sliced Avocado and tomato Salad, Lunch – Noodle Soup with Halibut, Shrimp, Sugar Snap Peas and Tofu

October 12, 2015 New Recipe  Sautéed Brussels Sprouts Hash with Shrimp and sliced Avocado and tomato Salad, Lunch – Noodle Soup with Halibut, Shrimp, Sugar Snap Peas and Tofu 

I decided to make a noodle soup for lunch.  I filled a medium sauce pan with water and added about 1 tsp. of dehydrated dashi, 1 Tbsp. Chinese cooking wine, two rounds of wheat noodles and 1 clump of bean thread noodles.  Then I sliced and added 2 mushrooms and a handful of sugar snap peas, a sliced Thai chili, and a small piece of seaweed.

After getting the soup going on the Cajun Cooker, I added 6 heads on shrimp and about 4 oz. of diced firm tofu and 2 green onions, sliced. I forgot to add miso, so the soup ended up a thin broth without much flavor, but still filling and delicious.

Things got even stranger for dinner.  I had bought 2 lbs. of heads off shrimp on Sunday at Ranch Market.  I thought of boiling them with sugar snap peas and serving them with cocktail sauce, but when I mentioned that we had a small bag of Brussels Sprouts to Suzette, she suggested slicing them in a food coma processor and sautéing them with the Shrimp?  We decided to add ¼ red bell pepper finely diced, ½ of a small onion finely diced, and 1 large clove of garlic and salt and pepper and 20 shrimp.  Suzette cut the tough ends off the Brussels Sprouts and shredded them in the food processor and sautéed them with the other vegetables and the partially thawed shrimp, while sliced up a large avocado I had bought at Ranch Market for $.99 and two tomatoes from our garden.  I made a Mayonnaise dressing for the sliced avocado and tomatoes by adding Portuguese olive oil the PPI mignonette mayonnaise sauce I made yesterday and drizzled it on the avocado and tomatoes, which I had arranged on two plates. Then Suzette piled the Shrimp and Brussels Sprouts hash onto the plates.

  The Sauteed shrimp and Brussels Sprouts Hash 

 I grabbed the PPI bottle of Christian Salmon Sancerre and Suzette grabbed silverware and napkins and at 6:30 we went to the table under the gazebo in the garden and at dinner.

We loved the new Brussels Sprouts hash, which was particularly delicious with bits of avocado and tomato dipped into the mayonnaise dressing. Sort of a warm and cool shrimp Louie hash at the same time.  The wine was incredibly delicious with the seafood meal.

At 7:00 we went back inside and watched the third session of the Albuquerque production of the Antiques Roadshow.  After dinner we re-filled our wine refrigerator with the better wines I had removed from it on Saturday.  Little by little kitchen is coming into shape.  Reuben came and drilled the roof penetration and installed the hood exhaust today for the hood he installed the other day.

After dinner we ate small bowls of chocolate and vanilla bean ice cream with cherries and chocolate syrup.  The Marashino cherries are almost gone so I added a couple of handfuls of dehydrated cherries from Costco to the remaining sweet syrup in the bottle. No added rum to my ice cream. 

Later we watched a new series on PBS, “I’ll Have what Phil is Having”, which was a very funny food tour of Paris. Next week Phil goes to Hong Kong.  Phil is Phil Rosenthal, who is this funny, geeky Jewish guy, who happened to be the creator/writer for “Everybody Loves Raymond” and probably made enough money on that series to self produce this series.

There was even a couple of minutes of Phill talking to his parents on the phone on split screen a la Woody Allen. Funny in a very cute sort of way, with incredible food.  I particularly like the inclusion of  Chez L’Ami Jean, which seems to be championing a new popular style of more casual dining called Gastronomic.  Here is a websites identifying a number of casual dining places in Paris;

http://www.timeout.com/paris/en/restaurants/the-50-best-dishes-in-paris

It was an evening filled with delicious quickly cooked foods.

Bon Appetit 

October 11, 2015 Microwave Breakfast Burrito, Dinner – Vichyssoise, Dungeness Crab, Sugar Snap Peas, on Avocado

October 11, 2015  Microwave Breakfast Burrito,  Dinner – Vichyssoise, Dungeness Crab, Sugar Snap Peas, on Avocado 

I made a breakfast burrito with the PPI steak, cheese, bacon, and potatoes from yesterday's Brunch by chopping 2 Tbsp. of onion and the bacon into a pyrex bowl and heating it in the microwave for 3:00 minutes and then adding the rest of the PPI ingredients to the bowl and stirring in two eggs and heating that mixture another 3,to 5 minutes until it was thoroughly cooked and then heating a fresh tortilla for 15 seconds to warm it.  Then I simply cut the round mass of cooked ingredients into two pieces and stuffed them into the warmth tortilla.

I drove Suzette and her tent, tables, and goods to the Hubbell House for Annual Fall Festival at 9:45 and picked her up at 3:45. 

The electricians were working in the kitchen and installing the speakers of in the den for the surround sound for the TV and moving the stove, dishwasher and refrigerator into the house and the wine fridge from the basement to the kitchen today. The plumbers will likely come on Tuesday to make the final connections and we will have a fully functioning kitchen.

After I dropped Suzette off at home a little after 4:00 I went to the Ranch Market and purchased lines ($.67/lb.), two large avocados ($.99 each), a gallon of milk ($2.50), a dozen large eggs ($1.99), and 2 lbs. of medium heads off shrimps ($5.49/lb.). 

I had bought a Dungeness Crab on Friday at Costco ($7.99/lb.) and a quart of heavy cream, so at 5:30 I brought the bucket of soup we made last Tuesday at Susan and Charlie's house into the patio and Suzette added enough cream to bring the flavors into balance.  It still is lacking a bit of white pepper I suspect but it is very close to wonderful.  We ladled small bowls of vichyssoise, I cracked the crab into halves and cleaned the crab, cut and peeled and cut one of the avocados in half, Suzette quartered a tomato from the garden and I lay a bed of Bibb lettuce leaves on two plates and placed the other ingredients on the plate and the took the 

mignonette mayonnaise sauce - I had made yesterday evening with mayonnaise, a minced shallot, a spoonful of capers, a spoonful of horseradish, and two minced Thai chilis from the fridge and divided it into two ramekins.  I toasted pieces of Fano baguette and  poured glasses of a bottle of Alfred Moriconi Selection, which is Total Wine's exclusive label Christian Salmon Sancerre (Total Wine $14.99 less 15%) I had chilled during the day and we ate a beautiful cool dinner in the garden.  It actually warmed into the 80s today so it was still pleasantly warm at 6:00.  The Sancerre is a legitimately wonderful Sancerre and worth every penny of the $12.74 it cost. 

After dinner we moved into the house and watched the new Masterpiece Theater series, Home Fires and an episode from the Indian Summer series with several Ferrero Rocher and glasses of cognac for Suzette and Trimbach fruit brandy for me.

At 9:00 we went to bed.

Bon Appetit 

October 10, 2015 Brunch – Breakfast Burrito, Lunch – Matanza, Dinner at Cynthia and Ricardo's Pernil (Puerto Rican Roasted Pork Shoulder), Calabacitas, and a Spinach, Bibb lettuce, blue cheese and fresh Pear Salad

October 10, 2015 Brunch – Breakfast Burrito, Lunch – Matanza, Dinner at Cynthia and Ricardo's Pernil (Puerto Rican Roasted Pork Shoulder), Calabacitas, and a Spinach, Bibb lettuce, blue cheese and fresh Pear Salad

I woke around 7:45 and by 8:00 I was on the bike path north to see the balloons aloft.  Unfortunately, the winds aloft must have been blowing from the South because there were very few balloons in sight even when I peddled to Paseo del Norte.  It was a hard ride north because there was a constant 10 mile per hour breeze out of the north at ground level that created a headwind.  Of course that made the return trip home very easy.  All I had to do was keep my feet moving.

I returned home and Suzette and I made breakfast burrito with the PPI rib steak, PPI potatoes, onions, bacon, eggs and red chili wrapped in the fresh flour tortillas I bought Thursday at Costco.

At 12:00 I went to Birdland to finish and sign the Sub-Lease documents for the new medical marihuana dispensary. 

At 2:00 Paula and Jay and I walked to the Wellesley end of the block to eat at the new Matanza Restaurant.  The restaurant has a very open floor plan because it is dwarfed within what used to be a large furniture store space it occupies.  We sat by the window with a view of Central.  The menu included an interesting mix of vegetarian and meat dishes.  I chose the blue corn duck tamale with a mole sauce, which seemed to be the most interesting dish on the menu. Jay and Paula are non-red meat vegetarians.  Paula ordered the Vegetarian Blue acorn enchiladas filled with sautéed kale, mushrooms, and onions. Jay ordered a West Sider from the weekend brunch special section of the menu, which was a flatbread made with whole wheat pizza dough garnished with cojita cheese, shrimp and pickled sliced red onion.

  The blue corn duck tamale 

  The blue corn vegetarian enchiladas 

  They West Sider flatbread with shrimp, red onions and cojita cheese

The dishes were imaginative Mexican fusion recipes made with good ingredients priced at the top of the middle range of $12.00 to $15.00.

 The sides dishes were not at such a high standard.  TheT included re fried black beans,  a wild rice mixture, and Calabacitas.  I tried the Calabacitas and wild rice.  The Calabacitas seemed to be made by throwing a few slices of zucchini into a bucket of canned corn kernels.  The corn was decidedly canned in character.  The wild rice was the medley of three types of rice with broken pieces of wild rice that cooks into the medley rather than flaking and bursting with its own flavor after 1 ½ hours of cooking.  Two rather unpleasant short cuts.

 

Suzette called to find out where I was and asked me to bring her something to eat for lunch, so we put the leftovers into styrofoam boxes and I took them to Suzette.

Then I went to Quarters to buy some more of the Nesso Albariño and ginger beer.  There were 33 bottles of Albariño left and they had been marked down another dollar to $3.99/bottle.  I bought them all, plus a bottle of Bardolino Amontillado sherry and another case of ginger beer ($9.99) for a total cost of $153.00 after an 8% case discount on the cases of wine.  This is the cheapest price I have ever paid for Albariño anywhere.  I usually pay $12.00 to $15.00.  The Albariño should last us for several years.  I see lots of Seafood Paella and Albariño in the future.

When I got home I watched the Clinton Adams segment on Colores at 4:00 and later the PBS and BBC news and then I fetched the pear slices, the blue cheese, Bibb lettuce and a bottle of the nely we drove to Cynthia and Ricardo’s house.  

When we arrived we were greeted by a whole pork shoulder roast and a large skillet of Calabacitas.  Cynthia was sautéing large fresh okra she had breaded in corn meal in a skillet with about 1/3 inch of oil.  I added the pear, blue cheese and bibb lettuce to the bowl of baby spinach, sliced red onion, and sliced celery Cynthia had prepared.  We poured glasses of white wine and ate the platter of fried okra at the kitchen table and admired the pink sunset through the new southern facing clerestory windows of the kitchen’s newly raised roof.  

We then went outside to the patio table for dinner.  Cynthia dressed the salad and Ricardo sliced the pork shoulder and put them on the kitchen table.  When all was ready we took our plates to the kitchen and served ourselves.  

Ricardo told us that this was his mother’s recipe and he had used capers and olives for a more Caribbean flavor besides the garlic and oregano.  Here's a recipe for Roast Pork (Pernil) Puerto Rican Style from Food.com: http://www.food.com/recipe/roast-pork-pernil-puerto-rican-style-316839?nl=email_share

We talked about how we acquired our palate for fine food and our respective introductions to communal dining that included our cooking for groups of people.

Ricardo opened a bottle of the lovely Pinot Grigio chiaretto from Total Wine and we all agreed it was a lovely rose.

The Cynthia brought out vanilla Bean Haagen Daz ice cream and a bag of toffee cookies she had bought at the Farmer’s Market this morning and we enjoyed bowls of ice cream and cookies.

At 9:30 we all began to get tired and said goodnight after seeing their newly framed watercolor given to them by their artist friend in Maine.

Bon Appetit 

October 9, 2015 Lunch – Polish Dog Deluxe, Dinner – Three Course Dinner at Greenhouse Bistro, Cesar Salad, Lasagna Alfredo with Penne Pasta and fresh Turnip Greens, and fresh Apple Pie with Whipped Cream

October 9, 2015 Lunch – Polish Dog Deluxe, Dinner – Three Course Dinner at Greenhouse Bistro,  Cesar Salad, Lasagna Alfredo with Penne Pasta and fresh Turnip Greens, and fresh Apple Pie with Whipped Cream

Today I went to Costco for lunch.  My favorite fast, inexpensive lunch is a Polish Dog with Lemonade for $1.50 at Costco.  I load it up with chopped onions, relish, catsup, and deli mustard.  Here is a picture.  

     I use a knife and fork for this 

As I was cranking onions out of the onion dispenser a  gentleman waiting for me to finish stated, “I see you are having an onion dog.”  He was partly correct. 

After lunch I bought a quart of heavy cream ($5.79), a Dungeness crab ($7.99/lb., and Kirtland Greek yogurt, which as close to labini as anything other than the real thing at a Middle Eastern market, I have found in Albuquerque.

I then went home and filed two motions in the Lower Rio Grande Adjudication.

At 3:00 I rode to Rio Bravo and back.  It was one of those cloudy/sunny days and the sun light breaking through the cloud cover illuminated the Sandias beautifully.

At 4:00 I drove to The Center for Ageless Living for a dose of agelessness; a facial by Rosemary and the weekly Three Course Dinner at the Greenhouse Bistro.  The dinner this week included, a Cesar Salad, aLasagna Alfredo, and fresh Apple Pie with a pile of fresh Whipped cream.

The Cesar Salad was very interesting because the chef had blended the Parmesan cheese into the dressing and tossed the salad to coat the lettuce and freshly made croutons with the dressing, which gave the lettuce an attractive pebbly cheesy coating.

The lasagna was even more interesting.  It was filled with layers of fresh mustard greens from the Center’s own garden.  Here is a picture of the mustard greens.  When Chef Alex served the lasagna he said, “I read that there is lots of beneficial nutrients in the stems, so I left them in the dish.”  

    Chef Alex 

As soon as I got used to cutting the long stringy stems, I really liked the dish.  It made me think of what one might be served in an Italian farmhouse where the motto was “Waste not, want not” culinarily speaking.

Suzette said, "Do you want to go see the mustard greens? 

I replied, "Yes." 

So went out to the gardens next to the restaurant.  Here pictures of the bed of mustard greens and some red chard growing in the walkways.

   The mustard greens

      The red chard 

The apple pie was made with the free Pink Lady apples Suzette had bought at the Farmer’s Market last Saturday.  It had a lovely pastry crust and was topped with a large dollop of fresh whipped cream.  It seems that all the three chefs at the Bistro are superb bakers.  We had pieces of fresh focaccia baked by Chef Alex that were wonderfully delicious with a hint of thyme and olive oil and the apple pie crust baked by Chef Darran was a pastry confection in itself, simply augmented by slices of fresh baked apple and vanilla flavored fresh whipped cream. 

The lasagna,  served on a bed of penne and peas and drizzled with a heavenly creamy Alfredo sauce, was more than we could eat, so we took home a quantity sufficient for another meal.  

We both drank glasses of a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc that was almost too fruity, so I added a bit of an Italian chiaretto rose.  For more information about chiaretto I suggest you read http://thewinesleuth.co.uk/2011/03/23/chiaretto-italian-rose/  

There were only three other customers while we were at the restaurant and I was torn between feelings of envy that we were the focus of the staff’s entire attention and creativity and the ting of pain that there were so many people who would love this exceptionally good food who were not at the Bistro to enjoy the food with us.

Bon Appetit