October 7, 2019 Lunch - Amerasia. Dinner - Bobby Flay Chicken with Mint Sauce and Vegetable Couscous

October 7, 2019 Lunch – Amerasia. Dinner – Bobby Flay Chicken and mint sauce with cauliflower Couscous

I had a busy morning at my desk and then showered and dressed at 10:00 and ate one of the lovely ripe pears I picked out of the discards at El Super as the produce man was adding new hard unripe pears to the pile of pears for $.67/lb. the other day.

After my appointment I went to Costco to deliver my prescription to the pharmacy and while it was being filled I shopped for a few things we needed such as toilet paper and Kleenex and saw a few specials that seemed appealing, such as the six pack of Dare French crackers on sale.  I also chose three cheeses, a brie, a semi-soft German beer cheese and a wedge of German Cambozola brie style blue cheese.

I then became interested in liquor and wine and went to the liquor department and found a special holiday pack of Grand Marnier with two sniffers for $29.99 while the bottle alone was priced at $31.99.  I looked around and found several bottles of red that had garnered ratings of 93 or 94 points in Wine Spectator or Wine Enthusiast, such as Primus’ The Blend and bought three bottles plus a bottle of Gruet Brut for $10.99. I also bought a package of Parma Prosciutto for the melon and 1 lb. of white lump crab meat for $21.99 for a crab soufflé for a grand total of $204.

I then drove to the closest Smith’s to Costco on 4th St. just north of Osuna, but it was closed due to some incident for which the police had barricaded it,  I drove toward home but was diverted to 12th St., so I drove to Aaron’s house and drove him to lunch at Amerasia.  We ordered five small dishes of dim sun, spicy rice for Aaron, stuffed tofu for me, and three plates with three dumplings each, one of fried dumplings stuffed with beef and ginger, one steamed stuffed with pork, and one of rice paper steamed and stuffed with chicken and water chestnut.

We both loved our lunch and celebrated the current success of Earn re, the new company Aaron is starting for which I am serving as corporate counsel.

After lunch I drove to Smith’s at University and Lead and bought, 18 eggs for $1.89, Dreyer’s ice cream 2 1 ½ quarts containers for $5.00, milk, Blueberries for $1.25 for 6 oz., and bananas for $.49/lb.

I finally returned home at around 3:30.   I checked my mail and then listened to Cramer on Mad Money.  It sounds like the Market has the jitters and is moving almost daily based on news of the Chinese trade talks and tariffs and other destabilizing news of U.S. foreign policy, such as what will surely be an aborted attempt by Trump to pull troops out of Syria, which will open the gates of hell for the Turks, the Syrians, and Russians to attack the Kurds using the noble cover of freeing Syria from Kurdish control.  Surely no one has forgotten that the Kurds with support from the US drove ISIS out of Raqqa. It seems like you can predict every Trump diplomatic move by simply answering the question, “What would the Russians want?”.

We decided to cook the six chicken thighs by the Bobby Flay method, which is a three step process of first rubbing the thighs with a spice combination of paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, and salt and pepper.  Luckily, Suzette had received a bottle of spices with that exact combination of spices from Southwest capital bank when she got her last loan, so she simply dumped some spice into a freezer bag with some extra smoked paprika and shook the bag to coat the thighs after we had rinsed and dried and butchered the excess skin and fat from the thighs.

Suzette then performed the second and third steps. She pan seared the thighs in some canola oil

weighted down with a pan of water for about fifteen minutes and then placed them in the oven to roast for about 20 minutes until done.

While the chicken was cooking Suzette gathered the last of the string beans, some asparagus, and the small cauliflower I bought at El Super last week.  She cut the asparagus and beans into 1 inch sections and deflowered and then pulverized the cauliflower into small pieces about the side of cooked Couscous and the sautéed all three vegetables in a large skillet with olive oil and butter.

Mint sauce – we could not find the Bobby Flay recipe for mint sauce but we found a recipe that was similar on the internet that combined a green chili, mint, parsley, honey and olive oil.  I went to the garden and picked a handful of mint and rinsed them and stripped about a cup of the leaves from the stalks and chopped them.  I then chopped ½ cup of parsley tops and Suzette puréed them with a diced green chili and some honey in the Cuisinart. We discussed a wine and finally decided upon a sweet white because of the spice in the chicken and the chili in the mint sauce. I picked the bottle of 2016 Chateau de La Roulerie Coteaux de Layon that Pierre has given us.  Coteaux de Layon is typically a sweet wine made in the Loire Valley with Chenin Blanc grapes and this bottle was no exception.  It was a smooth balance of sweetness and acidity.  Thank you Pierre. The wine was perfect for our doubly spicy dinner.

Here are the pictures of the dishes.

The mint sauce 

Since I picked a lot of mint,  Suzette also made mint infused simple syrup by heating equal parts of sugar and water and when it came to a boil and the sugar dissolved, turning off the heat and adding fresh mint.

We watched the Antiques  Roadshow and Rachel Maddow and then Lawrence O’Donald’s Last Word.  The federal court decision rendered today ordering the President to turn over his tax returns and the House Committees’ interviewing the two whistleblowers appears to be the beginning of the end of Trump’s  cover ups and collusion and the real beginning of his impeachment.  He is calling it a coup, but is one sanctioned by the Constitution for high crimes and misdemeanors.  His surrogates are saying that there were no crimes, but that is not true.  Lining one’s own pocket by ordering VP Pence to stay at one’s resort in Ireland at the taxpayers’ cost, ordering US planes to refuel at the small airport near one’s resort and the airmen to stay at one’s resort at a much higher cost to the taxpayers than staying at a U.S. airbase in Europe are violations of the emolument clause of the Constitution and withholding funds voted for Ukraine until they agree to dig up dirt on a political opponent is a violation of the election law. Abuse of power, refusing to honor a subpoena issued by Congress, covering up facts, such as conversations with foreign leaders, and collusion are all high crimes and misdemeanors.

The writing is on the wall and it is plain to see and it does not look like Trump will be able to pull a rabbit out of the hat to make these facts go away. This is what happened to Nixon in 1973.  Trump is correct about a deep state.  There is a broad swatch of civil servants who have devoted their lives to upholding the Constitution and laws of the US and they are blowing the whistle of Trump’s illegal behavior.   His only hope is to divert attention, such as starting a war, which scares people in a Washington to death.  That is why today’s top story was the senators’ reaction to Trump agreeing to Erdogan’s request to remove troops from Syria.

After dinner Suzette and I ate bowls of ice cream with chocolate syrup and said goodnight to Willy.

We went to bed a bit after 9:00.

Bon Appetit

October 6, 2019 Brunch – Eggs and Enchiladas and Carne Adovado. Dinner – French Onion Soup

October 6, 2019 Brunch – Eggs and Enchiladas and Carne Adovado. Dinner – French Onion Soup

This was a day of rest.  I watched the news shows.

Then we made brunch by heating the PPI Enchiladas m carne adovado, red Chile, and Posole from our lunch at the Shed yesterday and added three eggs and covered the skillet until the steam cooked the eggs in a couple of minutes.

I drank camomile tea and Suzette drank water.

Suzette then made goat cheese and worked in the garage and I rode south ten miles to Rio Bravo and back, which for some reason made me tired.

I showered and dressed and we met Willy and Julia and Gene at the Candy store to talk about their plans and the lease and things that need to be done.

Willy has just finished playing soccer so after the meeting he went to eat.  We returned home and I lay down and watched the Cowboys lose to Green Bay after removing a package of pork tenders from the freezer.

At 4:00 I made a snack of the last two slices of Port Sakplud on crackers and drank the last of the Barbera de Assisi and Suzette made popcorn.

Suzette did not want to cook tonight so at 6:00 we decided to heat the PPI French Onion Soup.  She fetched it from the garage and we heated the casserole on the stove.  I sliced slices of Jarlsberg cheese and pieces of Ciabatta bread and fetched the two brown French Soup crocks.  Suzette filled them and I lay the slices of bread and then cheese on top of the hot soup and we toasted the cheese in the oven. I poured out the rest of the 2015 Chateau Roudiers Montaigne-St. Emillon Controlle and we ate a lovely light dinner as we watched The Durrell’s in Corfu.

We then watched Poldark and the last of the Kansas City v. Indianapolis game and went to bed by 10:00.

Bon Appetit

October 5, 2019 Lunch – The Shed. Dinner – Le Troquet

What an interesting day of food and adventures.

We awakened around 7:30 and Suzette made breakfast burritos by frying bacon and scrambling eggs and toasting a fresh flour tortilla I bought at El Super yesterday, which we ate with a dash or two of hot sauce and our respective cup of coffee for Suzette and a cup of camomile tea with honey, and lime for me.  We watched the Balloon Fiesta on TV but the balloon ascension was delayed due to fog.

A little after 9:00 we drove to the building to pick the color of paint for the doors that were recently installed and then drove to Santa Fe.

We had received notices of estate sales of two luminaries, the American Indian painter, Allen Houser, and Murray Gell-Mann, the Nobel Prize winner in Physics for his research and discovery of Quarks, the subatomic particle, in all matter, who had spent his latter years at the Santa Fe Institute.

We were amazed by both houses.  Houser’s was a small 1200 square foot tract home in south Santa Fe near Zia Rd. In the middle of a suburbia that could be an entry level home anywhere.  We did not buy any of his extensive and expensive Indian Jewelry.  Instead Suzette bought a large and small galvanized steel wash bucket for $15.00 and a small pony bit.

We next drove to Stephen’s Consignment to pick up the wrought iron coat rack, suzette had selected on our last visit.  After we paid and loaded it, we got directions to the big Estate sale at Murray Gell-Mann’s
House, which was on Museum Hill near St. John’s University.  Tell-Mann’s house was at the other extreme of society, a large rambling approximately 6000 to 7000 square foot contemporary adobe style house with an indoor swimming pool, connected casita with two guest rooms, patios, several bedrooms and sitting rooms and two large libraries for all of his books with lots of bird prints and Oceanic art.

We looked at everything and bought a heavy duty furniture dolly for $25.00 and a 5 gallon plastic gasoline storage container for $8.00 that was new and  marked $12.99 from the retail store it had been originally purchased at.

We were amazed that from these two sublime mentors of science and culture we were interested only in the most functional and uninteresting goods.

As Suzette about the buckets, “You can always use a bucket.”  And at Gell-Mann’s House, “We need a good dolly and a gasoline container.”  So for our morning function won out over form.  But that changed completely after lunch.

It was noon and we drove to Owings Gallery and parked and walked through Sena Plaza to The Shed.  It was crowded with lots of balloon tourists, but we were willing to wait for 45 minutes on a park bench in the restaurant’s patio in the warm sunlight in the 60’s degree weather.  Suzette drank a margarita and then some water and I drank a Negra Modelo.  The beer tasted particularly good for some reason.

When we were called we took a table under the canopy that shaded part of the patio next to the restaurant’s entrance .  Suzette ordered a carne adovado plate with a rolled blue corn cheese enchilada and double Posole and I ordered my usual, No. 5; rolled blue corn enchiladas filled with ground beef and sauced with red chili and cheese with double Posole and sour cream and two more Negra Modelo beers.  We ordered a bowl of cold raspberry soup,  but our waiter forgot that part of the order.  Given the massive crowd, we did not mention the oversight and he apologized and when he brought us our plates of food hot from the oven, because he had helped us decide a big issue..  I asked him to put in an order for a mocha cake for dessert, so it would thaw while we ate.

While we were trying to decide what to order after we were seated we had argued about whether to order the raspberry soup as an appetizer and the dessert and had decided to order the soup and no dessert.  But now, our waiter had made that decision for us, since we were served our entrees it was easy to add the dessert to the end of the meal.  Suzette did suggest trying the soup as a dessert, but I rejected that idea.  Next time we will find out if the raspberry soup would have been a good choice for dessert, but not in this maelstrom of activity.

I requested sour cream and chopped onions and was brought them immediately.  This waiter is one of my favorites and felt great about the meal.

Both the Shed’s red Chile sauce and the mocha cake are béchamel sauces.  For example, the red Chile sauce is constructed by heating red chili powder in oil and then adding tomato juice or water to emulsify the sauce.

The recipes are available on the Internet, but here are the recipes:

Red chili sauce

 Ingredients

2 Tbsp canola oil
2 Tbsp flour
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup Shed New Mexico red chile powder
2 cups water
1 tsp salt

 Directions
1. Heat oil in pan.
2. Add flour and garlic and brown.
3. Add chile powder and mix.
4. Add water and stir until lumps are dissolved.
5. Add salt.
6. Simmer 10 to 15 minutes, minimum, on medium heat. Let it simmer at least 45 minutes to let flavors blend well.

 Good on huevos rancheros, enchiladas, tacos, or simply as a garnish.

Makes approx. 2 cups.

THE SHED MOCHA CAKE
From: Santa Fe restaurants - The Shed and La Choza

2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup strong coffee
3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
5 eggs, separated (pasteurized)
1/2 cup and 3 tablespoons sugar, divided use
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate wafer crumbs

Work butter and cornstarch together into a smooth paste. Add coffee and melt the butter mixture in the top of a double-boiler. Add semi-sweet chocolate and melt, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Meanwhile, beat egg yolks, adding 1/2 cup of sugar. Gradually add chocolate mixture and continue beating until blended. Return the entire mixture to the top of the double-boiler and cook for 7 to 10 minutes until the mixture is thick and smooth. Stir in vanilla and allow to cool.

Meanwhile, beat egg whites and salt until thick and frothy. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons sugar gradually and beat until mixture holds a point. Fold egg whites into chocolate mixture until well-blended; set aside.

In a butter-greased 8-inch pan, sprinkle 1/3 cup wafer crumbs, coating the bottom evenly. Pour over half of the chocolate mixture, spreading evenly. Layer another 1/3 cup wafer crumbs, add the remaining half of the chocolate, and top with the remaining 1/3 cup of wafer crumbs.

Cover and freeze for a minimum of 1 hour (2-4 hours is preferable).

To serve, cut in squares and top with whipped cream.

Source: The Best from New Mexico Kitchens by Sheila McNiven Cameron and the Staff of New Mexico Magazine, 1978
THE SHED MOCHA CAKE

12 oz. bittersweet chocolate chips
2 tbsp. instant coffee
2 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. water
7 eggs, separated (pasteurized)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
8 1/2 oz. chocolate wafers, crushed (or use Oreo pie crust, if you cannot find plain wafers)
Whipped cream, for serving

In a double boiler, melt together the chocolate chips, coffee, sugar and water; allow to cool.

Add egg yolks to the chocolate mixture along with vanilla; set aside.

Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into chocolate mixture.

Spread crushed chocolate wafers in the bottom of an 8- or 9-inch square pan. Cover with half of the chocolate mixture and another later of crumbs. Freeze for 15 minutes.

Add remainder of chocolate mixture and top with another thin layer of crumbs. Cool.

Serve with whipped cream.

Makes 6 servings

The Enchiladas were better than ever with lots of red Chile and Posole.  Suzette ate about ½ of her lunch and I ate a little more of my enchiladas and less of the Posole and red chili. We boxed about ½ of our food for breakfast tomorrow with fried eggs and a fresh warm flour tortilla.

When we finished lunch a few minutes after 2:00 we walked the 1 ½ blocks to the Fine Arts Museum to see the Agnes Pelton exhibit, Desert Transcendentalist.  It was the best exhibit I have seen in years, and I have seen a lot of exhibits.  The reason why was she was a member of the Russian Theosophical group associated with Agni Yoga founded by Nicolais Roerich and Helena Roerich, which I am attracted to.  Let me quickly trace the connection.  Nicola is Roerich was the Minister of Culture for the Czar and was forced to leave Russia in 1917.  He first moved to Paris and designed sets for Diagalev’s Ballet Russe working with Stravinsky and other Russian emigres. Roerich then went to England and then New York where he established the first integrated arts school.  He hired Emil Bisttram as a teacher at his school in 1920?.

In 1919 Roerich I think visited Santa Fe and in that same year I think was commissioned to design sets in Chicago were he created a small art society of those who painted from the the heart and became friends with Raymond Jonson.  The Roeriches must have been magnetic personalities.  They left adherents to their way of seeing the world wherever they went. Agnes Pelton was also a friend/follower of theirs, as evidenced by the portraits of Nicholas and Helena Roerich in the exhibit.  In fact it appears to me that she most clearly embodied their form of Theosophical Agni Yoga iconography in her work.

       Suzette loved the exhibit also.  That shared spiritual bond is probably one of the reasons I love Suzette.

At 3:00 Suzette drove us back to Albuquerque, while I slept.

We showered and dressed and at 5:30 drove to the symphony.

The symphony was wonderful. The starSpangled Banner and then a wonderful Tchaikovsky violin concerto with an amazing young violinist and after intermission,  Tchaikovsky’s 4th Symphony.

After the symphony, we met Cliff and Nancy at Le Troquet at 3rd and Gold for dinner.  Le Troquet is owned by Jean Pierre, who has had French restaurants in Albuquerque for over 40 years.  He is a fabulous cook in the classical tradition of French Cuisine.  You will never be surprised or unsatisfied by his food.

Tonight was no exception.  Suzette and I shared a house salad of Bibb lettuce and red onion slices dressed with a light vinaigrette.  Cliff and Nancy shared an endive, walnut and mandarin orange salad.  We then all shared an appetizer of French smoked cured herring pieces on slices  of potato, again with thin slices of red onion and a vinaigrette dressing.

We had spoken to Jean Pierre and he had recommended the fresh Halibut and a bottle of white Bordeaux from Graves.  We took his suggestion and both couples ordered the Halibut that was split onto two plates with extra vegetables and a wild rice and white rice medley.

The Halibut sauced with an exquisite beurre Blanc with capers was amazing.  The julienned carrots, celery, and eggplant and Brussels sprout and two thick asparagus were cooked and sautéed superbly.

The complexity of the wine perfectly complimented the meal.

Nancy and Cliff told us about their latest trip to Mackinaw Island in Michigan.

Cliff’s showed me his sketches of the area, which were lovely.

We paid and said goodnight after discussing our next dinner date, which probably will be in December.

A lovely day of activity and food.

Bon Appetit

October 4, 2019 Lunch – Chirashi at Azuma. Dinner – French Onion Soup

October 4, 2019 Lunch – Chirashi at Azuma. Dinner – French
Onion Soup

I ate my usual breakfast; granola, milk, yogurt, and blueberries.

I walked a mile and forgot t take a sugar pill and it made my muscles sore all day long.

At 12:30 after filing a motion in one of my appeals I tried to regain my strength by eating an entire Chirashi Donburi at Azuma.  I regained my stamina but my muscles were still sore.

I then drove to the NM Tax and Rev office at San Mateo and Central and showed them my assessment and payment of my CRS tax for August.  The lady said it appeared to be an error in the batching and they would investigate and get back to me.

I then drove to El Super and bought six chicken thighs for $.89/lb., five Smoked Pork chops for $3.49/lb., a papaya, limes, Roma tomatoes, and Gala apples for $.89/lb., a pineapple, Persian cucumbers for $.50/lb., red onions for $.33/lb., a cauliflower for $.79/lb., 2 ½ lb. of flour tortillas for $3.29, a bunch of parsley for $.33, a block of Monterrey jack cheese for $2.99/lb., and lemons for
$1.49/lb.

I returned home at 3:45.  Both Suzette and Loyda were at home.

Suzette made us a snack,  a black bean and cheese quesadilla with two of the flour tortillas and PPI black beans and some cheese melted inside the quesadilla.

I then started cooking at 5:30.  I decided t make French Onion Soup with the three PPI beef bones.  We covered bones with water and Suzette added two stalks of celery, one half onion, and two carrots diced and simmered those ingredients thirty minutes to make a beef broth.

 I sliced 4 ½ onions or about six cups of onion.  I then adjusted the recipe, which called for 4 ½ cups of onions and sautéed the onions covered in an enamel casserole at low heat in 4 T. of butter and two T. of olive oil instead of 3 T. of butter and 1 T. of oil.

While the onions were cooking I seeded, peeled and diced four chayote that I had bought last week at El Super for $.99 and cooked them in a sauce pan with the last of the beef broth and the mirepoix used to make the beef broth.

I also cooked the two artichokes that we had undercooked on Tuesday.

So a lot of cooking going on.

It was only about 60 degrees today so the first good soup day.

After about 25 minutes Suzette checked the pot and the onions were cooked and turning translucent.  We added the salt and sugar and 1 ½ T. of flour instead of 1 T. of flour and she stirred it and then she
added 2 quarts of the beef broth we had made and I added about another quart to reflect our adjustment of the recipe.

We then cooked the soup over low heat for another 30 minutes.

I fetched brown onion soup crocks, toasted four slices of Ciabatta bread, and sliced about ten slices of Jarlsberg cheese. I filled the crocks with soup and lay the toasted slices of bread on top of the soup and then lay the slices of cheese on top of the bread and placed the crocks on an aluminum cookie sheet and baked the crocks in a 350 degree oven for about ten minutes until the cheese was melted and toasted a light brown.

We opened and poured glasses of Barbera di Asti (Trader Joe’s $6.99) because it is a smooth red wine. It had little character, so we did not finish our glasses.

We got a call from Diane to go to Barb and Ernie’s to look at wrought iron outdoor tables, so as soon as we finished our soup we walked over.  There were several but none that was long enough for Willy’s patio. I did see a print by Gustavo Montoya that looked a lot like my Mexican muralist style painting of a little Indian girl by Emil Bisttram from 1933, that Bisttram painted while he was studying with Diego Rivera in Mexico.

Gustavo Montoya was a new and fascinating Mexican painter for me. Here is a link to a Wikipedia bio on him. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustavo_Montoya

We came back home and Suzette went to bed at 8:00 and I followed at 9:00.

Bon Appetit

October 3, 2019 Lunch – Pho #1. Dinner – Grilled rib steak, baked Potatoes, Sautéed Mushrooms, and roasted String beans

October 3, 2019 Lunch – Pho #1. Dinner – Grilled rib steak, baked Potatoes, Sautéed Mushrooms, and roasted String beans

I ate my usual breakfast and then rode the short circle about three miles.  Then I worked until 11:45 when Peter picked me up and drove us to Pho #1 on San Pedro between Central and Zuni.

Spoiler alert, Pho #1 specializes in Pho, a hot soup made with a beef broth enriched with aromatic herbs and spices plus thin vermicelli noodles and a selected assortment of cuts of beef.  We each ordered number 46, with rare beef, brisket and tripe.  We ordered large bowls for $8.95 each plus an appetizer, Central Vietnam egg rolls that used tapioca flour for the fried wrappers and were stuffed with marinated grilled pork, shrimp and noodles with a fish sauce dipping sauce. ($5.95).  We each also ordered iced Vietnamese coffee.  They were brought to us already made in a plastic cup with a lid and a straw.  They used high octane espresso coffee , which Peter loved, butvwhich I found a bit too caffeinated for me.

The soups were served with a small mountain of oriental basil and mung bean sprouts.  We enjoyed our lunch but we found ourselves devoted to Vietnam 2000, or more specifically its Bun Cha Gio with the fried egg rolls.  We are not pho folks yet.

After lunch I worked until 4:30 and then went to the bank and then to meditate at 5:00.

When I finished meditating at 6:00 I returned home.  Suzette had baked three russet potatoes.

I started by slicing six portobello mushrooms and a shallot and three cloves of garlic and de-stemming a tsp. of fresh tarragon leaves whileSuzette snapped the ends off the three types of string beans, purple, yellow and large flat green pole bean that we had bought at the Farmers’ Market.  She then steamed the beans covered in a Pyrex baking dish and then doused them with butter, olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted them on the grill in the Pyrex baking dish with the steak, as she did the carrots last night.

I then opened the bottle of 2015 Chateau Roudier from Montagne-St. Emilon Controlle that I bought on Monday at Trader Joe’s for $12.99.  It is one of our favorite wines for steak.  The newly released 2015 does not have the concentration and character of the earlier vintages, but it is a well constructed wine with great smoothness. Perhaps I will buy six more bottles and age them for a year or two.

While Suzette was grilling the beans and steak, I sautéed the sliced mushrooms, shallot, the fresh tarragon leaves and garlic in a medium skillet with three T. of butter at medium high heat, because Suzette said, “the steak will be ready in three minutes.”. In three or four minutes the color of the mushrooms turned darker as they began to absorb the butter. Then I doused the mushrooms with two T. of Amontillado sherry and after a minute turned down the heat as Suzette was carrying in the grilled steak.

I quickly sliced the six or seven chives into thin rounds and fetched the crema from the fridge.

Suzette had charred the steak on the outside but the inside was rare to medium rare, which is the way we like it and the string beans were tender except for the thicker Eastern Pole beans, from which we could only eat the small beans inside.

Suzette fetched the pitcher of Béarnaise Sauce from the fridge and sliced the steak.

We served ourselves slices of steak, a baked potato filled with butter, sour cream and chives, string beans, and garnished the steak slices with sautéed mushrooms and dabs of Béarnaise Sauce and I poured glasses of red wine.  We enjoyed a lovely dinner.

This is a type of dinner that we often make, so we are very familiar with how to make it quickly, including knowing and accounting for the fact that that dishes such as the steak or mushrooms continue to cook after they are taken off the grill or the heat is reduced and we include that two or three minutes of cooking time consciously or unconsciously.

After dinner I toasted four slices of ciabatta and spread butter on them and slices of brie or a scoop of goat cheese and washed them down with a bit more wine.

Suzette was craving dessert, so she found the last three Swedish Punchroller in the freezer. Punchroller are my favorite Swedish dessert.  I buy them at IKEA.  They are a roll of coconut and chocolate filling wrapped with pistachio flavored marzipan and cut into two inch long pieces and the ends are dipped in dark chocolate to seal the ends.  I heated one for Suzette in the microwave for 20 seconds and poured her a sniffer of cognac and she enjoyed her dessert as we watched an episode of Doc Martin on PBS.

At 9:00 after she went to bed I heated the last two and ate them with a small glass of German pear brandy and a cup of chai while I watched the Eleventh hour news program with Brian Williams.

Suzette went to bed at 9:00 and I went to bed at 9:45.

I wakened at 3:00 and wrote this blog during a thunder storm.  The rainy season has come late or the winter storms are starting early this year.

I realize that since I have been reading books for the book club, I read the New Yorker less and don’t listen to NPR radio, so have become fixated on the TV news cycle.  My rationalization for this is that this is a significantly historic period, as we are witnessing perhaps the first American President to ever be convicted of impeachment by the Senate but I miss the balance between cultural and political history.

Bon Appetit

October 2, 2019 Lunch – Salmon Donburi. Dinner – Grilled Lamb Chops, carrots, and Artichokes and Chard Couscous

October 2, 2019 Lunch – Salmon Donburi.  Dinner – Grilled Lamb Chops, carrots, and Artichokes and  Chard Couscous

I ate my usual breakfast, granola, milk, yogurt, and blueberries and then went a doctor’s appointment.

I then worked until 12:30.

I tried to replicate Donburi , a Japanese dish that includes eggs, a meat, rice, and green onions.  I had PPI brown rice, vegetables, and green onion.  I made a broth of dashi, dark soy and white soy. Then I heated the bowl filled with rice, vegetables, dashi and soy.  Then I whisked two eggs and added those to the bowl and cooked it for about 4 minutes.  The egg firmed but in solution.  I had changed the recipe from pre-cooking the eggs until almost firm to making the eggs part of the sauce.

The dish was still delicious but lacked that delicate egg custard consistency that pre-cooking the egg would have achieved.

I have some rice and vegetables and salmon left and will try again and this time follow the recipe more closely as to the proportion of ingredients and preparation of the eggs.

Here is the recipe

Here is a picture of the result today.

After lunch I worked on my water case.  I drafted the order of the Court’s decision yesterday and a form of bond and sent it to the State for comment.

Suzette arrived at 5:00.

When I finished working around 5:15 I cleaned the carrots she picked from our garden, which were tiny, and the larger but still small carrots we had bought at the Farmers’ Market Saturday a week ago.

I then went to the garden and picked tarragon, chives, topped some basil, one plum tomato, and picked about a dozen Chard leaves.

I first de-stemmed the Chard leaves and cut them into bite sized pieces.

I then rinsed them in a colander.

Next I made the dipping sauce for the Artichokes. I combined the juice of ½ lemon with 2 tsp.. of tarragon, a few basil leaves, and ¼ cup of thinly sliced chives.

Then I added
2/3 cup of mayonnaise and the juice of ½ lime, which Suzette handed me thinking it was a lemon.  The lime juice actually gave the sauce a lighter flavor.

Willy arrived at 6:00 and Mike at 6:30.  Mike brought wedges of Port Salud and a German Blue Brie and super crisp crackers.  He opened the bottle of 2012 Origon Spanish Gran Reserva ($5.99 at Trader Joe’s) and made a little cheese plate and we drank red wine and crackers smeared with cheese as appetizers.  Suzette prepped 8 lamb chops and started them grilling, while I started prepping the Couscous.

Suzette put the carrots into a Pyrex baking dish and covered the dish with Saran and blanched them with a bit of water in the microwave.

Then she put the pyrex dish into the propane grill and roasted the carrots in the grill atmosphere with the Artichokes and lamb.

I diced about 2 T. of red onion, 1 clove of garlic, and the two small tomatoes from the garden.  I then melted 3 T. of butter in a sauce pan and added the onion and pressed the garlic into the butter. I heated water in the kettle and added 1 cup of Couscous to the sauce pan.  After a couple of minutes, the ingredients started to brown, so I added another T. of butter.  Then Suzette added 1 ½ cups of hot water and I added the Chard.  The hot water hitting the hot ingredients created steam. We covered the
pan with its lid and kept the heat on at medium, because Suzette said the chops were almost ready.  When she brought in the chops a couple of minutes later the Couscous has not scorched. In fact it was perfect.  I must think about this new quicker way of cooking Couscous that takes about five minutes instead of fifteen.

We served ourselves buffet style.  Everything was terrific, except the Artichokes, portions of which were undercooked and tough. I attributed this to the fact that we had boiled them for 45 minutes rather than the usual time of an hour.

The carrots and Couscous were sensational, world class. The carrots were as good or better than at Audrey’s in LA. Perhaps the moral to this meal is to eat your carrots whenever you have fresh ones from the garden.

I brought out the cheese plate Mike had created with the four remaining slices of ciabatta bread Suzette had wrapped in aluminum foil and heated on the grill with the rest of the two cheese wedges and another bottle of Origon.  We each ate a slice of bread with cheese and sipped more wine.  The evening air was lovely, cool and refreshing so we talked and sipped wine and nibbled cheese.  Willy went in and cut more slices of bread and heated them and we did another round of cheese and bread and finished the second bottle of Origon by 9:00.

We said goodnight to Willy and Mike and Suzette went to bed and I worked a bit longer on correspondence and went to bed at 10:00.


I don’t think anyone missed the dessert.  A very French or Mediterranean dinner.

I wakened at 4:00 and wrote this blog and went back to bed at 6:00.

Bon Appetit

October 1, 2019 Lunch – Teahouse. Dinner – Hotdog at Costco

I ate granola, milk, yogurt and blueberries for breakfast.

Patty, Steve, Bill, and Sally picked me up at 9:00 and we drove to Santa Fe for a hearing at 10:30.  It lasted until noon and luckily I won the hearing.

Bill suggested we eat lunch at the Teahouse at the corner of Canyon Rd. and Palace.

I had never eaten there so I was intrigued. There is both indoor and al fresco dining.  We took a table outside.  The weather has been lovely lately,  cool and clear with lots of puffy clouds.

I ordered an Italian meatloaf plate, a rectangle of meatloaf on a rectangle of polenta garnished with a light marinara sauce  served with a green salad.

I liked the meatloaf because it seemed to be dotted with bits of mushroom and the soft baked polenta was delicious also.

Bill and Patty ordered BLTs.  Patty really liked her BLT because of the toasted thin whole wheat bread, which appeared to have be house made, and super crisp bacon.

                                                       Patty eating her BLT sandwich
Sally ordered a chicken quinoa salad and Steve did not eat.

                                                        Sally’s Quinoa Salad
1
After we finished our entrees, Sally ordered a dessert of almond  shortbread garnished with lots of slices of fresh peaches and whipped cream, which we shared, although I passed on dessert.

I liked my dish and the menu, with its daily specials, and the casual dining atmosphere of the Teahouse and would go back.

After lunch we drove back to Albuquerque.  I was tired from lack of sleep last night as I got ready for  this morning’s hearing, so I went to the bank and worked at my desk until Suzette called and said she was going to Costco and Shamrock, so I went with her on her weekly shopping run.  When we arrived at Costco I went to the food court and ordered a hot dog and enjoyed it while she shopped.  I have a special way of garnishing and eating the $1.50 hot dog at Costco.  I open the bun to expose the bun and then cover half of the bun with a line of onions and relish on each side of the hot dog and deli mustard and catsup on the hot dog.  Then I cut the hot dog in half lengthwise to create two open faced sandwiches.  Today I removed the exposed one-half of each bun not covered with relish to reduce the carbs.  I drank lemonade.  When I finished eating, Suzette was checking out so I joined her as she checked out to push the cart.  After loading the groceries into the car we drove to Shamrock.  I stayed in the car and read the New Yorker article on Allen Dershowitz while she shopped, but became engrossed by the beautiful sunset on the Sandias, so got out of the car and took a picture of them bathed in the golden pink light of the sunset.  Is this pinkish glow what prompted the Spanish Conquistadors to name this small mountain range, Sandia or Watermelon.

We got home in time to see a bit of a Rachel Maddow and most of the new episode of the Durrells in Corfu that we saw bits of Sunday night while we had cooked.

Suzette made a melted cheese sandwich with the last of the Port Salud cheese and I toasted a piece of Fullkorns bread and buttered it and lay thin slices of red onion and Jarlsberg cheese on it and melted it in the microwave for 30 seconds to warm it and melt the cheese and cook the onion.  We shared the rest of the PPI bottle of Los Alamos Chilean Malbec I had opened for Willy several days ago, which had gotten smoother and more drinkable, we agreed.

Suzette went to bed at 9:00 and I at 10:00 after a bit more news.

The increased pace of activity triggered by Nancy Pelosi’s announcement that the House has initiated an impeachment inquiry of Trump has put the news channels into overdrive with bits and pieces of new information coming from all directions.

Bon Appetit