Panza Llena, Corazón Contento.

The week ended will and the weekend was even better.  On Thursday in school, before the infamous black out, we were able to make a super creamy and delicious New England Clam Chowder.  We topped it off with little crunchy bits of bacon.  While everyone was freaking out on the black out I spent the afternoon with the amazing Ms. Ilse and then fed my family this amazing clam chowder.


On Friday the majority of us showed up to school ready to learn something new, not even phased by the events of the night before.  Chef taught us a very American dish that most people believe is Mexican, chicken tortilla soup.  Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy this soup.  It's just not Mexican, like the burrito and chimichangas.  The soup we made was several notches above what you get at places like Acapulcos or Islands.  This soup had a thicker consistency achieved from the roasted tortillas we turned into a flour, which we used as our thickening agent.

Saturday was a perfect day.  Woke up just at the right time, 7:00 a.m.  I drove down to El Cajon to meet with my beautiful Sister.  We went to the gym and then grocery shopping so, I could make clam chowder for lunch.  We got to her house and to my surprise she had a very very limited selection of pots.  It was a surprise because my Mom taught us to always have the right tools in the kitchen.  I figured I would make due with what she had and got started.  While I was cooking all I could think about was what Chef had told us in class, "the pot matters, it makes a difference on the evaporation".  Sure enough the pot matters.  The soup did not thicken the way it should even after using slurry(corn starch and water mixture).

Later that evening we went out to dinner to a place she was very excited to introduce me to.  It's a little place in Ocean Beach called Bo-beau by the Cohn restaurant group.  It is a very inviting atmosphere with beautiful French inspired dishes.  I was extremely satisfied with every selection we made, except for the dessert.  We started with the crispy brussels sprouts topped with fresh shaved parmesan cheese and the croquet madame tartine.  The croquet is a bread topped with pork belly, parmesan reduction, gruyer and a fried egg; yummy.  My main dish was the boeuf bourguignon and it was superb.  If you don't know what it is, look up Julia Child.  I washed it all down with one of their drinks, Le Romantique, a pomegranate-rose petal nectar champagne based drink.  Dessert was ok, nothing to write home about.  We all agreed with our very Mexican saying "panza llena, corazón contento".
One more thing...
What about them Chargers?!