April 4; 2018. A strange day of food Bbreakfast – Oatmeal
Lunch – Mapo Dofu Dinner - Grilled Eggplant and Lamb Chops, Tzatziki, steamed broccoli, and sautéed baked Potato
Today was a very unusual food and activity day. I changed breakfast, by making oatmeal with 1/2 diced apple and a handful of raisins.
I wanted to ride and then take a shower, so I rode into a head wind to Rio Bravo and back at 10:00 which made me quite tired. When I returned home I heated the pot of Mapo Dofu and rice and ate a pretty large plate of it. I took a shower, but still felt weak, so at 12:30 I drove to El Super for the Wednesday specials, which were abundant. I bought mangos, avocados, and ears of corn for 3 for $.99, 5 cucumbers for $.99, Persian cucumbers for $.69/lb., 3 lb. of red onions and carrots for $.99, Mexican Squash, Braeburn apples, Roma tomatoes, oranges, Pasilla Chilis were 2 lb. for $.99, a head of celery was $.59. Broccoli crowns were $.69/lb. cauliflower was $.79/lb.. Green onions were 4 bunches for $.97. The only item that was expensive was limes at $1.49/lb.
After loading my basket in the produce area, I bought a 1 lb. container of crema for $2.29 and a 32 oz. container of yogurt for $2.69 in the dairy section. I then went tip-off the meat section where I bought five chicken thighs for $.79/lb., four smoked pork chops for $2.99/lb. and 1 ½ lb. of 36 count head off shrimp for $4.99lb.
I counted this a good day of food shopping, mainly because the Mexican produce is reaching its peak of maturity, which means ripe produce at low prices.
I then went to the bank and post office and finally returned home around 3:00.
At 4:30 I added several Persian cucumbers to the bottle of dill pickles and made a bowl of tzatziki.
Tzatziki
I diced three Persian cucumbers and ½ of a regular cucumber and sprinkled salt on the cucumbers. I then went to the garden and picked a couple of oz. each of dill and mint, which I chopped and put into the bowl of cucumbers. I drained the accumulated liquid from the cucumbers and added a cup of yogurt, 1 tsp.of white balsamic vinegar, a dash of white pepper two finely minced cloves of garlic, and the juice of ½ lemon.
Suzette came home around 5:00, while I was picking dill. We discussed a green vegetable and decided to steam some of the broccoli. I sliced the eggplant into ½ inch thick slices and de-flowered the broccoli and heated water in the steamer.
Suzette salted and peppered the lamb chops and put them and the eggplant slices on the grill at 5:50.
I decided I wanted a sautéed baked potato, so I cut two baked potatoes in half lengthwise and sautéed them in a skillet in two T. of butter for about ten to twenty minutes.
I opened a bottle of 2015 Domaine Autrand “Mosaique” ($16.99 less 20% at Total Wine). It is the first Appellation Vinsobres Controlee I have tasted. It was a dark purple color with a rich dark fruit, even jammy flavor with a good balance of tannins vs. preserved fruit jammyness.
Vinsobres is an appellation for the red wines of the parish of Vinsobres, in the southern half of France's Rhone Valley wine region. Located about 19 miles (30km) north-east of the town of Orange, Vinsobres is clustered together with several other key wine-producing villages.
The climate here is of Mediterranean type, with hot, dry summers bringing excellent ripening potential to the Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre grapes that make up the majority of the appellation's rich, full-bodied red wines. Mourvedre requires a particularly hot, dry climate to ripen completely and it flourishes in the intense, long-lasting sunshine that bakes the slopes around Vinsobres in the summer. Mourvedre is rarely grown north of Montelimar – the town that marks the theoretical boundary between the cooler northern Rhone and the hotter, drier south of the region. Syrah, by contrast, is at its best in the coolest of the Rhone's mesoclimates, as it is more susceptible to heat damage. The vineyards of Vinsobres are protected from the cold mistral wind and other alpine influences by the presence of the foothills to the east.
High-quality vineyards surround Vinsobres, running for nearly six miles (10km) on the south-east-facing limestone slopes that mark the beginning of the Alpine foothills. These slopes climb to 1650ft (500m), peaking at the summit of a limestone ridge that stretches from Venterol to the wine-producing village of Visan. The soils here are rocky and rich in limestone, but there are also patches of sandy soil. Lower down, in the west of the parish, rocky alluvial soils are found on the flatter plateau.
Vinsobres was classified as a named village under the Cotes du Rhone Villages appellation in 1967. In late 2005, its red wines were granted full appellation status as AOC Vinsobres. Since then, the village's whites and rosés have been sold under the generic Cotes du Rhone title
Willy arrived at 6:00 and we ate around 6:15. I enjoyed the dark jammy Vinsobres with the lamb. As the review says Vinsobres may be the optimum place where all three grapes, Syrah, Grenache, and especially Mourvèdre reach their maximum maturation on the vine, which makes for a fruitier, less acidic wine (i.e. jammy).
Todd arrived at 7:30. Willy left and Suzette joined us for a twenty minute meditation.
Then he ate dinner of grilled lamb and eggplant.
When Todd left I had several glasses of cognac mixed with Grande Marnier and ate an orange.
Bon Appetit
