July 6, 2020 Lunch – Beef Green Chili Enchiladas. Dinner – Roasted Duck Leg quarter with Orange Sauce and Sautéed mixed Vegetables

July 6, 2020 Lunch – Beef Green Chili Enchiladas. Dinner – Roasted Duck Leg quarter with Orange Sauce and Sautéed mixed Vegetables

This was a slow day as I reintegrated int wotk.  I ate a toasted slice of bagel spread with cream cheese and garnished with red onion rings and smoked white fish with a cup of chai for breakfast at 7:00 then at 7:30 I rode 5 miles with 1 sugar pill.

When I returned I rested and then showered and dressed.  I caught up on mail and then at 11:30 I was hungry.  I decided to make green chili enchiladas again. I diced 4 oz. of rib steak, 1/3 onion, I grated 1 cup of Jarlsberg cheese, and fetched the sour cream.

I softened five corn tortillas in a skillet filled with Tomatillo enchiladas sauce and olive oil.  I spread a layer of Tomatillo sauce on the bottom of a pasta bowl and then a softened tortilla.  Then diced beef, cheese, and onions, the two softened tortillas and a layer of sour cream and onions. Then finally two more softened tortillas topped with the rest of the beef, cheese, onion, and Tomatillo sauce.

I baked the dish in the oven for about 20 minutes until the edges bubbled and then I heated it in the microwave for an additional 2 minutes and 34 seconds.

I drank most of a beer with it.  There’s enough left for breakfast with a fried egg.

We thawed out a chicken for Tuesday evening and I thawed out two duck leg quarters for tonight’s meal.

In the afternoon I worked on preparation of my 2019 tax return.

Suzette came home at 5:15.

Suzette checked the vegetable bin in the refrigerator and found several bags of vegetables in varying degrees of decay.  Her response was to throw them out and clean and sanitize the Bin with Clorox water.

Vegetable Medley

Suzette decided that we should sauté 1 ½ zucchini, a potato, and a small bag of green beans after she washed off the green beans.  I halved and sliced the squashes and sliced and a potato.  She then sautéed the squash and potato pieces in butter and olive oil and after they browned a bit I added the green beans.

Roast Duck

There were only two smaller quarters so Suzette decided to cook them in the Bobby Flay manner.  First, she fricasseed them in a skillet with butter weighted down with another slightly smaller skillet filled with water for about twenty minutes.  Then she lay them on a cookie sheet and baked them in a 375 degree oven in which she reduced the heat to 275 / after five minutes and cooked the duck legs for twenty more minutes.

Orange sauce

I followed Julia Child’s recipe for Orange Sauce in Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

I cut out one step and combined two steps by cooking the orange zest and chicken broth together, but otherwise followed the recipe. Also I cut the recipe in half.

I zested the peel of two navel oranges and put the zest in a 4 cup enameled sauce pan to which I added 1 cup of water and enough Knorr dehydrated chicken stock to make a strong broth and heated it to cook the threads of zest.  While the zest and chicken stock was cooking I added 1 to 1 ½ T. of red wine vinegar and 1 ½ T. of sugar. I then peeled and sectioned the two oranges and added that to the sauce.  I then blended ½ T. of cornstarch with1 ½ T. of Madeira and added it (I should have used

1 T. of cornstarch or arrowroot).  I did not want to alter the flavor of the sauce and the sauce failed to thicken properly.  We boiled the sauce but it still did not thicken, so I added 1 T. of Grande Marnier to finish the sauce and we had a runny sauce instead of a thick sauce.  The flavor was still fabulous.

Dinner - When the vegetables, sauce, and duck were cooked we served.

                     As you will note, it is impossible to add too much Orange sauce to the roast duck

The wine -

I prefer red Cotes du Rhône with roast duck so in the afternoon I fetched and chilled a bottle of 2012 
Cotes du Rhône Villages produced by Pierre Henri Morel for Total Wine’s Winery direct program. It is generally of better quality.  It is produced in Chateauneuf du Pape and instead of the usual cheaper Grenache and Syrah blends it is a more full bodied blend with the addition of 5% each of  Mourvèdre and Carignan juices to 60% Grenache and 30% Syrah.  I like this wine blend a lot and often buy it as I did this bottle when it is offered at a 20% discount to its usual price of $14.99.  Its  Chateauneuf big  brother with more of the 13 grapes blending grapes allowed in Chateauneuf du Pape included in the blend starts at just under $30.00, so this the poor man’s Chateauneuf du Pape.

We have chilled every bottle of red wine we drank this summer and this one was no exception, especially on a hot day such as today when the temperature reached 100 degrees, although this wine tasted better as it warmed to closer to cool room temperature.

The duck was a bit tough but that issue was moderated by bathing bites of duck in sauce.  The sautéed vegetables were wonderful especially when paired with Julia’s traditional orange sauce r  I found it a delightful dinner in this time of less than perfectly fresh ingredients.

We all have our favorite birthday meal and mine one of two broiled lobster or roast duck with Orange sauce.  I remember the years of my childhood when Mother would ask me, “Robbie, what do you want for dinner on your birthday?”  It was hardly worth asking because the answer was always, “Duck L’ Orange.”  Mother cooked the Julia Child recipe so it is genetically embedded in my taste memories.

The only difference between then and now is the addition of a superior bottle of Cotes Du Rhône.

We watched the Women’s Addition of Antiques Roadshow as we ate, but after it ended we soon tired and went to bed.

I did manage to finish my traditional birthday meal with a bowl of chocolate ice cream doused with chocolate syrup, and my adult addition of rum and Kahlua.

I awakened at 1:30 to finish the blog.

Tomorrow, roast chicken for dinner and if Suzette’s naturalist enthusiasm is to be believed , a visit to the beaver pond at 6:00 a.m.

One extra note. If you want to follow any Julia Child’s recipe, they are all on the Internet.  Just google her name and the name of the recipe.  This one is Caneton l’Orange or Duck in Orange Sauce.

Bon Appetit

 

July 5, 2020 Breakfast – Salmon and Goat cheese Omelet. Snack – Pho Noodle Soup. Dinner – Steamed Halibut wrapped in Chard with Lemon slices

July 5, 2020 Breakfast – Salmon and Goat cheese Omelet. Snack – Pho Noodle Soup. Dinner – Steamed Halibut wrapped in Chard with Lemon slices

We awakened at 6:00 again as the sun rose at the East end of the long valley that adorns our view from the front of the cabin perched high on the west wall of the valley above Mechem Rd. And the cemetery.

Suzette made a wonderful omelet with the PPI teriyaki salmon and garnished it with slices of avocado.  We drank the bottle of Sparkling wine from Saumur de Bussey, a rose of the typical style blending Cabernet Franc red grape juice with Chenin Blanc white grape juice.

After drinking the rose we usually find in America that blends Pinot Noir with Chardonnay the saumur version tastes different.  It tastes earthy from the Chenin Blanc  and more assertive from the cabernet franc.  So a different taste profile.

The omelet was superb.  It seems we had had superb meal after superb meal over the last few days.  I don’t know if it is the desire to push the envelope for my birthday with our focus on drinking good bottles of wine or just the luck of good ingredients matched with good wines, but the result has been admirable.

I also have been feeling better. It seems it has taken 1 ½ years to reach this point that I would say is 95% recovery.

For example today after we left Ruidoso we drove north and took State 55 to see Gran Quivira Pueblo, the largest and most easterly of the three Salinas Pueblos.  It was very large because it was the trading center between Pueblo settlements and plains Indians.  It is only partially restored and sits on a high mount on the eastern side of a salt playa to the north.

To make my earlier point we were greeted by a ranger who told us the leisurely path through the ruins was ½ mile long and we took off on the hike without a murmur and I made it in good shape.

So I am no longer hindered by the prospect of walking distances of less than a mile by pain.

We drove home by way of the back side of the Manzanos through Manzanos and Chillili to Tijeras
where we joined I-40.

Suzette drove to Corrales to pick up her painting cleaned by Ari and we arrived home at 3:00.

After a shower and a shave I ate the PPI bowl of Pho from Thursday, defrosted the Halibut steak and lay down to nap until 6:30.  When I awakened Suzette was cooking dinner.

She steamed the Halibut in the steamer oven and then divided the steak in half and  wrapped each ½ of the steak in Chard leaves with a slice of lemon on each side and baked it in the oven.  Suzette also blanched asparagus stalks and diced them and cooked them with some PPI Couscous.  Here is a picture.

I could not resist the urge to have an exceptional wine wit( dinner so I fetched the bottle of 2017 Chateau Vivonne Bandol Rose.  It gets from good to insanely great ratings that average 90 points.  We thought it was a bit oxidized because of a slightly loose plastic cork but after a few ice cubes and being open for a while we liked it a lot better.

Bandol is east of Marseilles so different grapes and a different flavor profile although technically still in Provence.

We like Le Ponte rose much better with its sublime finish of no flavor of grape.

After dinner we watched Grandchester and Beecham House. I drank a Calvados and nibbled several chocolate truffles and then when Suzette went to I drank a cup of chai and blogged.

This is the end of my birthday weekend and it has been wonderful.

Bon Appetit

July 4, 2020 Lunch – Picnic at Montjeu Overlook. Dinner – Grilled Rib Steak with Sautéed Ratatouille and Black Beans and Chard Couscous

July 4, 2020 Lunch – Picnic at Montjeu Overlook. Dinner – Grilled Rib Steak with Sautéed Ratatouille and Black Beans and Chard Couscous

We awakened at 6:00 and after watching a great sunrise at 6:18 we gathered up all our picnic supplies and food and a bottle  of 2001 Cru Bourgeois Chateau Cantegril Sauternes that I bought at Total Wine in 2015 for $29.95 less 20%.

We first drove to the upper canyon but the road was fenced well short of where I recall there being a beaver dam.  We next drove to Grindstone Lake but were turned back because it can be visited by reservation only this weekend.  We then decided to drive to the Mescalero Indian Reservation and tried to drive to the other side of the Inn of the Mountain Gods but was stopped by a gate above the stables.

We decided to get out our binoculars to see what we could see.  We soon saw about six large birds circling on air currents about 500 feet above us ¼ mile away.  As we looked we soon agreed there were three golden eagles and three turkey vultures.  We were satisfied with our bird watching for the day, month, and year.

We then decided to drive north toward Ski Apache where we saw that there was a state park with picnic tables named Montjeu Overlook on state road 117.  We turned onto it and started climbing.  After 4.5 miles of driving through a burn zone we were at about 9000 to 10,000 feet with a view of a long vista to the west.  Here is a picture.

We laid our picnic lunch of three types of salami, Gouda and brie cheeses, foie gras, butter, pepper relish, honey mustard, and olives, plus the bottle of Sauternes.

We had a lovely very much like those we ate on our trips to France, but with a better view.

After lunch we returned to the cabin and I napped for two hours until 2:45.  When I came into the living room, Suzette was watching No Direction Home, a 4 ½ hour documentary on the career of Bob Dylan.

We watched almost the whole thing but toward the end we cooked dinner.  Dinner was a perfect combination of PPIs.  Suzette Grilled a 1 ¼ inch thick rib steak and sautéed PPI Ratatouille and Black Beans and microwaved the PPI Chard Couscous we made on July 2, 2020.

I opened the chilled bottle of 2016 De Ponte Cellars Dundee Hills Pinot Noir and poured short glasses so we could drink them chilled and refill them without having to add ice.

Suzette plated a pile of Couscous and put Ratatouille and Black Beans on top.  I sliced ½ thick inch slices of steak and we took our plates and glasses to the dining table on the deck.  We watched the sunset on the valley while we listened to Dylan.

Suzette enjoying her steak

Dinner was perfect . I love the combination of beans and Ratatouille with the Couscous really well.  The steak was cooked perfectly to rare.

After dinner we watched fireworks from Washington and New York.

The Suzette watched home improvement shows and I blogged.

In a hour we sipped some more Sauternes and nibbled chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

It was as nice a 4th as we could have wished for in this Covid 19 era.

Bon Appetit

July 3, 2020 Lunch – Hamburgers at the Owl Café in San Antonio. Dinner – A teriyaki Salmon, goat cheese, and Romaine lettuce salad

July 3, 2020 Lunch – Hamburgers at the Owl Café in San Antonio. Dinner – A teriyaki Salmon, goat cheese, and Romaine lettuce salad

I blogged until 6:00 this morning and then returned to bed and slept until 9:00.  Suzette, who has been up since 6:00 weeding the garden, watering the house plants and gathering the food stuffs for our weekend trip to Ruidoso, because today is my birthday so I get to do what I want.

Idled at my desk for a bit until I realized the court’s were closed and I would not be able to determine if my brief had been received and spoke to Billy for a long time.

I reported to him that I am feeling better than at any time in the last two years.  I don’t try to explain why my body is no longer racked with pains beyond those from sitting improperly for long hours at my desk or the short lived tiredness and pain from exercise.

In fact I attribute my pain diminishment to exercise.  The slow steady churning of leg ellipses on my bike for five to 8 miles seems to be rebuilding my core strength.

I feel better than at any time in the last two years.

Suzette booked a cabin in Ruidoso for two nights as a birthday gift.  We agreed to take some good wines and food and rough it in style.

After a breakfast of granola, yogurt, and the last of the tropical fruit salad we were ready to leave at 11:45.  Suzette triggered four foggers and turned off the air conditioner and we locked the door and were off.

We drove south to San Antonio where we would turn onto U.S 380. About 6 miles before the turnoff I called the Owl Café and ordered a cheeseburger for m and a green Chile cheeseburger for a Suzette and an order of French fries and an order of onion rings.  When we exited I-25 and drove about ½ mile we immediately saw the Owl Café.

We stopped and walked in and fetched our food to go.  We would not sit inside because there were people without masks.  I asked the proprietress if there was outdoor seating and she said, “Yes, around the corner under the trees.”

When we walked around the corner we saw three well spaced tables shaded by a large tree without any people.  We laid our food on one of the tables and a fetched the Highlander and parked it beside the picnic area in the shade of the large tree also. I grabbed the beer cooler and Suzette and I shared a Killian’s Red and then a Negra Modelo as we ate our hot greasy hamburgers, French fries and onion rings.  The only person we saw was an employee with a bucket of Clorox water who came to disinfect the tables.

We could not understand why anyone would sit inside when this lovely shaded spot outside offered a cool breeze and a safer place to eat.

Suzette is the expert on green Chile cheeseburgers. I asked her if she liked the Owl burger better than Monroe’s green chili cheeseburger and she answered, “Monroe’s is better, but the best is our house burger at the newly reopened Greenhouse Bistro, which is a 1/3 lb. angus burger.”  I immediately felt the urge to be at Suzette’s Bistro eating an angus burger.  The fries were greasy, so I welcomed the relief afforded by the soothing maltiness of the beers.

After lunch I drove down 380 until we came to one of my favorite places of my youth in New Mexico, the moonscape of the lava flow at Carrizozo.  It is undulating jagged black volcanic rock stretching for miles.  We stopped and looked at it for a few minutes and Suzette then drove on to the cabin in Ruidoso which is perched on the side of a fairly steep hillside with an expansive view of forest and a large meadow about a mile away.

We unloaded and at 5:30 we took a nap until 8:00.

Suzette made my birthday meal, a large salad of hand torn Romaine lettuce garnished with shredded PPI teriyaki salmon and dabs of goat cheese.  She toasted and buttered slices of French baguette and I opened the bottle of 2007 Gruet Gilbert Grande Reserve. It is the best wine that Gruet makes. We were not sure how a 12 year old vintage would taste but it was fabulously light without any heavy vanilla Chardonnay flavor and just a slight hint of grapefruit citrus in the aftertaste.  It was perfect for the salmon sLad that was very simple but deliciously elegant. For a moment I thought I could be on an exceptionally well provisioned safari or boating trip down the Colorado River in the Grand
Canyon.  We ate al fresco on the patio of the cabin with a stunning view of the valley and nearly full
moon.

                                                               My birthday dinner

Th3 2007 Gilbert Grande Reserve 

After we finished dinner we watched a few episodes of Flea Market Flip, which is no longer offered on our current cable channel menu and is one of Suzette’s favorite shows and read until about 10:30 when Suzette went to sleep and I blogged.

I am looking forward to my 74th year of life.

Tomorrow we go exploring Ruidoso.

Bon Appetit

July 2, 2020 Lunch – 2000 Vietnam No. 21. Dinner – Cedar board grilled Teriyaki Salmon with Chard, onion, and tomato Couscous, Grilled Asparagus, and Japanese Pickled Vegetables

July 2, 2020 Lunch – 2000 Vietnam No. 21. Dinner – Cedar board grilled Teriyaki Salmon with Chard, onion, and tomato Couscous, Grilled Asparagus, and Japanese Pickled Vegetables

I ate a bowl of granola with milk, yogurt, and tropical fruit salad.

After a telephone conference I drove to Suzette’s bank to make a deposit for her, then to the Apple store to have them look at my malfunctioning I Pad.  But as I stood in line waiting for the store to open, my I Pad started working properly. I believe the miraculous recovery of my I Pad was due to its proximity to the Apple store.

I called Willy and asked him if he wanted to join me for lunch and he accepted.

I then drove to Smith’s to pick up my order and drove home.  When I got home I discovered two glaring errors in the order in the meat category. Instead of a whole 2 ½ lb. salmon fillet they gave me a 1 lb. package with four small tail ends.  Instead of four packages of rib steaks for $5.99/lb. they gave me one package of seasoned steaks.  I was pissed so I drove back to the store and corrected the errors, but had to wait twenty minutes while the butchers cut and packaged rib steaks.  I was able to pick a lovely large whole salmon fillet at the butcher counter and was given a discount price of $6.49/lb. and was given a full refund for the prior order.  I bought five packages of steaks, a bottle of tonic water, and five packages of steaks for $90.00.  Let’s hope I did not also get corona virus.

I then drove to 2000 Vietnam and picked up the order I had called in for 2 No. 21s for $20.00 and then called Willy to tell him I was on the way home with lunch.

I took everything home and Willy came over for lunch.  We ate outside and it was much cooler than the 98 degrees the thermometer indicated.

After lunch we watched a bit of the Liverpool vs Man City match until jus after half time wi the score sitting at 3 – 0 in favor of Man. City.  The full time score was 4 – 0, which in English soccer is often described as  a thrashing.

I worked with Carolyn telephonically on the brief beginning at 1:30 and finished around 3:00.  Carolyn sent back the final edited brief and I filed it at 4:40.

Suzette arrived at 5:00 and immediately helped me rinse off the salmon and dry it on paper towels.

I then made teriyaki sauce by heating 1/3 cup each of soy sauce, sake, and Mirin and 1 T. of sugar.  Suzette and I discussed how to slice the salmon so that there would be enough to marinate and cook for dinner with Willy and enough to take on our trip to Ruidoso and how much to freeze for sushi later.  As it turned out the piece we cut to cook just filled a gallon freezer bag so the salmon lay flat for maximum exposure to the marinade. I placed the tail section we cut off the fillet in a sandwich bag and froze it.

I lay the marinating salmon in the fridge.

It was about at this time that it occurred to me that this was to be my 74th birthday family dinner with Willy and it occurred to me that that was why I went back to Smith’s to exchange the four small tail sections for a whole salmon fillet.

We then cut a section of 1 x 6 inch cedar plank long enough to hold the salmon fillet we had cut and Suzette soaked it in water.

We next made the Couscous.  We went to the garden and Suzette cut about a dozen leaves of Chard and. Picked about six or seven chive stalks.  I de-stemmed the Chard leaves and cut them into bite-sized pieces and thinly sliced the chives.

I then diced a small ripe Roma tomato and about ¼ cup of red onion.

Before cooking the Couscous I cleaned and snapped the rest of the green beans. Several were starting
to get slimy and lose their snap. I discarded those that did not snap or were slimy and steamed the rest and then put the steamed green beans into the bowl of Japanese pickled vegetables I keep in the
fridge to preserve them.

Couscous

I put the diced onion into a 2 quart sauce pan with 4 oz. of butter and sautéed the onion about ten minutes until it began to softer.  Then I heated water in the tea kettle and added the diced tomato and continued sautéing for several more minutes.  Then I added 2 cups of Couscous and stirred that in to try to coat as much of it with butter as possible and reduced the heat a bit to prevent scorching the Couscous.  After another minute or two I added between four and five cups of water until it looked like the Couscous had fully absorbed water and would still develop steam.

I usually do not cook more the 1 ½ cups of Couscous, so cooking 2 cups was a challenge.  It almost filled the 2 quart pot.

I let the Couscous cook on low heat for several minutes while I fetched a bolt of 2018 German Reichart 100% Pinot Noir rose ($4.99 at Trader Joe’s) from the garage fridge. It is a light fruity rose, not as dry and acidic as those from Cotes du Provence with Cinsault, so it has a broader softer more Pinot Noir like flavor profile that complements grilled salmon.

While I was pickling green beans and making Couscous and fetching the wine, Suzette snapped about 18 stalks of asparagus and tossed them in a gallon freezer bag with olive oil and salt and pepper and fetched the salmon and placed it on the water soaked board and grilled the salmon and asparagus in the pre-heated propane grill.

Suzette’s cooking technique for asparagus is similar to cooking a steak.  She grills it and then she wraps the asparagus in aluminum and puts the aluminum package in a spot away from the open flame to continue to steam and cook slowly but not burn. Like covering a steak with aluminum foil after removing it from the grill so it will continue to cook and coalesce flavor but not burn.

Everything was ready by 7:30 and Willy had still not come, so Suzette took the salmon and asparagus off the grill and plated three plates with a pile of Couscous, then six stalks each of asparagus and finally a square of grilled salmon. I poured three glasses of wine and added ice cubes to Suzette and my glasses so they would stay chilled while we ate and added a spoonful of Japanese pickled vegetables to my plate and carried it to the garden table that Suzette had set with a  green tablecloth and silverware and napkins.

Willy arrived just as we were seated and ready to eat as he often does, so we waited a few moments while he fetched his plate and glass of wine.  He had not put ice in his wine so he took a couple of cubes from my glass and we ate a lovely dinner.  Everything was perfect and the wine cloaked the flavors of the food with a soft blanket of fruitiness.

Meals like this make me appreciate the skills that Suzette and I gained while helping each of our respective mothers in the kitchen those long years ago when we were young.  It takes skill to work independently to coordinate the preparation and cooking of a meal so that everything is ready and at its peak flavor at the same moment.  That moment tonight was 7:30.

At dinner Suzette advocated that we take the best bottle of wine that we have on the trip to Ruidoso.  There is only one bottle that fits that description, it is the bottle of 1995 Chateau Y’quem, the Premier Grand Cru Sauternes we bought at the Maison du Vin in Sauternes about 20 tears ago for $400 dollars that is probably an $800 bottle now.  I argued against it for a minute, but Suzette won me over with one question joined to a comment, “When are you going to drink it, when you are dead. And we have another bottle for a special occasion anyway.

She asked what do you drink it with and I said foie gras. Suzette said we have tins of foie gras. We can take some.

After the wine selection for the trip was resolved. Suzette turned her attention to the matter of my birthday gift.  She and Willy went to fetch my birthday gift.  After a few minutes I hear a discussion about a mallet and heard banging sounds on the other side of the thick privet that stands between the garden from the garage and street.

In a few more moments Suzette returned to the table and asked, “Do you know what your gift is?

I had had a bit of time to think about it and I had a thought of what the gift was.  Of course the banging helped confirm my thought due to the assembly needed for my choice. I answered, “A red Radio Flyer Wagon.”

Suzette was amazed and asked me, “How did you know?

I answered her honestly and directly, “I am psychic when I want to be.”

Actually it was as much deductive as psychic.  We have been looking for a red wagon for years and need one desperately at times such as when we place the hundreds of luminarias around the house at Christmas and I figured a large bulky wagon would require some assembly.  It occurred to me that that assembly was what delayed Willy’s arrival for dinner as it did the presentation of my birthday gift from Suzette.

I loved the wagon as soon as I saw it, all bright and shiny with its thick coat of metallic red paint.  It looked like every other original Radio Flyer wagon you would ever find under a Christmas tree. I was United with my childhood in a flash.  I loved the gift and my family and my life in that moment.

I than broke the spell. I thanked Suzette and Willy for their thoughtfulness and effort and the asked the time.  It was 8:25. I wished to watch Midsomer Mystery, so we said goodnight to Willy and turned on the TV.  Soon Suzette asked me if I wanted some chocolate ice cream to which I answered, “Yes.”

The birthday party continued until 10:00 when the episode ended and we went to bed.

I write this blog entry on July 3, my 74th birthday, and am happy to confirm that I feel healthier and happier than at any time in the last 2 years.

I feel some guilt that I am so healthy and happy when so many others are suffering so terribly, but am comforted by the knowledge that I am connected to many others with whom I share love and happiness.

That is why I risked catching the virus to fetch a whole salmon fillet this morning,

Bon Appetit

July 1, 2020 Lunch – Steak Pho Dinner – Greenhouse Bistro Pickled Beet and Egg Salad and Picnic Box

July 1, 2020 Lunch – Steak Pho  Dinner – Greenhouse Bistro Pickled Beet and Egg Salad and Picnic Box

I ate granola, yogurt, milk, and tropical fruit for breakfast and worked on the brief.

After I sent it to Scott at 9:30 I rode 8 miles south to the end of the big field and back powered by two sugar pills.

When I returned I worked a bit and ordered groceries for pick up from Smith’s.  I ordered the weekly specials, rib steaks for $5.99/lb., fresh Atlantic salmon for $6.99/lb., vine cluster tomatoes for $.88/lb., ice cream for $1.99, plus parsley.

By then it was lunch. I talked to Willy and he had a 1:00 meeting so no lunch date.  We decided to do dinner when the salmon was available.

We had a bag of PPI grilled rib steak from Monday’s dinner, so I decided to make Pho.  I gathered up some PPIs, 1/3 of a yellow onion, a zucchini, three cloves of garlic, three mushrooms, a Pho seasoning cube, and the bone section from the steak, which had about three oz. of meat attached to it and sliced all those ingredients and placed them in a 2 quart sauce pan and covered them with 1 ½ quarts of water and began boiling them for about twenty to 30 minutes.  I then went to the garden and picked four basil leaves and about ten Chard leaves.  I de-stemmed the Chard leaves and cut them into bite-sized sections and added them with a bundle of fresh egg white noodles and a T. of red miso to the soup.  After about ten more minutes the broth tasted right, which meant it had lost any flavor of water.  This was remarkable in two respects because I had intended to add dehydrated beef stock but forgot it and the bone and beef had created a fresh and better natural broth.

I fetched the bag of cilantro and cut a lime in half and ate two bowls of Pho with added lime juice and cilantro.

From 1:30 to 3:00 I worked on the brief and then sent it to Carolyn for final insertion of the List of Authorities and Table of Contents.

I relaxed a bit finally and checked the market and found out it was a flat day with a small loss but still the third highest finish ever.

I rested until Suzette arrived about 5:15.  She brought the pickled Beet and Egg Salad made with
fresh beets from the Center’s garden and the new item, a snack box filled with focaccia bread sticks, slices of cheese and salami, olives and pickled sweet and pepperocini peppers, and grapes.



So there was no further discussion of dinner.  I had eaten a couple of slices of French baguette smeared with goat cheese and garnished with Gravad Lax slices, so I was not terribly hungry.

I opened a wedge of Manchego cheese and made cheese sandwiches by toasting slices of focaccia and adding slices of Manchego.

I had chilled a bottle of Drouhin Beaujolais Village when Suzette arrived that I opened it and poured glasses of it and added a few cubes of ice to keep it chilled.

We nibbled and sipped as we watched one of our new favorites TV shows, “Spy Animals” that investigates animal behavior using cameras hidden in fake animals, stumps, rocks, etc.  I don’t know which is more fascinating, the artistry creating the hiding place for the cameras or the animal natural behavior captured on film.

I was called by Smith’s telling me my order would not be available until tomorrow morning. We watched a bit of news afterwards and to make room in freezer we ate the rest of the vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup and several of Suzette’s delicious maraschino Rainier cherries.

I added Kahlua and rum to mine for an over kill sundae.

Bon Appetit

June 30, 2020 Lunch – PPI Pork Enchiladas with Tomatillo sauce, Black Beans, and sautéed Zucchini. Dinner – PPI Fish and Shrimp Chowder

June 30, 2020 Lunch – PPI Pork Enchiladas with Tomatillo sauce, Black Beans, and sautéed Zucchini. Dinner – PPI Fish and Shrimp Chowder

This was a day of elegant leftovers.

I worked on my brief until lunch. I decided to re-heat the PPI pork enchiladas from yesterday and sauté a sliced small zucchini in olive oil with a squeeze of lemon juice since there was a partially squeezed lemon lying on the cutting board.

I quartered and then sliced the zucchini to create quarter round slices.  Then I blanched the zucchini slices in a bowl with a bit of water covered with Saran in the microwave for 2:34 minutes.  Then I sautéed the blanched zucchini slices in a skillet with olive oil and a chopped clove of garlic.

As the zucchini cooked I re-heated the enchiladas and black beans in the microwave.

When the enchiladas were bubbling I dumped the sautéed zucchini onto the plate with the enchiladas and ate a wonderfully flavorful lunch.

Suzette said we should eat the PPI fish chowder for dinner, I I did not prep or thaw anything.

I worked until Suzette arrived at 5:15.  We watched the news and when Discovering Your Roots started at 7:00 we heated the chowder.

Suzette also toasted several slices of baguette.  We broke the bread into the soup rather like oyster crackers.

As Suzette said, “The chowder is better today.
We opened a bottle of 2018 Chateau La Freynelle, a Bordeaux blend of Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc, and Muscadelle grapes. It had a slightly less acid than most other white wines and in my opinion has a soft slightly sweet flavor. It is very drinkable with or without food.

I finished editing the brief at 9:15 and blogged a bit and went to bed.

Suzette reopens the Greenhouse Bistro for take out and outdoor picnicking tomorrow, so she went to bed early after a very early start today before 7:00.

Bon Appetit