Special Saturday

Saturday was our Friend’s birthday and we had big plans. We started the day with Smoked Salmon Poached Eggs. I recently purchased the Bromberg Bros. Blue Ribbon Cookbook. They have a restaurant by the same name in NYC.
5 large eggs
1 oz American sturgeon caviar
Hollandaise Sauce (I used Knorr)
4 ½” thick slices of rye bread, toasted
8oz smoked salmon
3T capers, drained
3T finely chopped red onion (I did not use, did chives instead)
Parsley (Did not use as I had used chives)
1. Hard boil one egg
2. Make the hollandaise sauce and gently stir in the caviar. Keep warm while you poach the eggs and make the toast.
3. Place the bread on a plate and top with the salmon. Put a poached egg on top of each and generously cover with the sauce. Sprinkle with the chopped egg, capers and chives.
It is billed as a guaranteed crowd-pleaser and it was.
After breakfast we again evacuated the house for a Weihart Realtor who did not show. Needles to say I was really pissed. We then came home and got ready to go to Occoquan. The Workhouse Arts Center was having an Opening Reception as they do every 2nd Saturday of the month. All the artists are there and they do demonstrations. We walked through all the studios and got done in time to go the Bistro L’hermitage for dinner. I would call this fine French Cuisine rather than Bistro style. Every table had a wait staff of three, plus the maitre’d and sommelier. I had a fried oyster dish to start that was to die for. It had a mouse of avocado, and was decorated with a wine reduction sauce and béarnaise on the plate. My main course was a duck breast with cherry sauce and pearl couscous. I was so full, I could have died. But we had dessert as it was Jim T’s birthday. They brought Jim T as crème brulee which is the first one I have ever liked. Jim M. did not share his chocolate dessert and I had fresh berries in crème. Both Jim’s started with lobster bisque. Jim T had scallops and Jim M had rack of lamb. Both loved their meals. After a lengthy discussion with the sommelier Jim decided on 2006 French 1er Cru Burgundy from Beaune called Chateau de Chorey. It was light enough to go with the scallops as they had a Madeira sauce on them and yet could stand up to Jim’s lamb chops. This was a wonderful dining experience and the best is as an associate of The Workhouse Art Center I get 10% off my bill.
After dinner we went back to The Workhouse Arts Center and attended the Opening Reception where a fellow pastel artist was featured and gave a talk about her work. We ended the evening at home with Jim and Jim sipping Scotch and listening to Credence Clearwater Revival.