Friday, July 27, 2012

Rain and Lightning, Ice Calves.

RainWednesday night we had one hell of a storm with quite a bit of rain. How much rain I have no idea and haven’t heard it mentioned anywhere. Suffice to say this morning everywhere looked as though it had had a good soaking. We so need this rain, at the time of writing we are supposed to get more on Thursday afternoon. I don’t know how much will be enough, but we sure ain’t had it Lightningyet. However, hopefully what we have had will do the grass and trees some good. I must say, the storm kept me awake for a while, the lightning flashes on their own were lighting up the bedroom constantly apart from the terrific crashes of thunder which, in both cases, seemed almost continuous. I had to include this spectacular picture by Justin Cormier which was taken a few miles away from us in Guelph, and published on the Weather Network. I know we had similar lightning here, I couldn’t even look towards the window it was so bright.

This is a scary piece of video which has been seen on TV and I thought I would share in case you didn’t get to see it. I think it was a fairly small vessel visiting this iceberg which decided to calve down whilst they were filming it. Glad I wasn’t there I would have had to change my underwear.

There are more videos you can access from this clip which shows an iceberg calving and then rolling. The guide ends up holding a piece of crystal clear ice which has air trapped inside from thousands of years ago. Guess I always knew people were nuts LOL. I like watching the film, but I wouldn’t want to be there.

Although asparagus season is over, I still liked the look of this recipe from Web MD and thought I would share it with you. I never think of Gruyère without thinking of Matt who went on a trip to Switzerland with his first wife and apparently scarfed down a pound of the stuff all on his own. He assures me that the cheese, when bought in the village of Gruyère and absolutely fresh, is much better than the cheese that we can buy.

Chicken and Asparagus with Melted Gruyère

WebMD Recipe from EatingWell.com

For this elegant dish, boneless chicken breast and asparagus are smothered in a luxurious white-wine sauce with just the right amount of melted Gruyère cheese. Chicken_and_Asparagus_with_Melted_GruyereTarragon and lemon add a delicious light flavor that is perfect with asparagus.

Servings: 4

Recipe Ingredients:

  1. 8 ounces asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
  2. 2/3 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
  3. 2 teaspoons plus 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, divided
  4. 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (1-1 1/4 pounds), trimmed
  5. 1/4 teaspoon salt
  6. 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  7. 1 tablespoon canola oil
  8. 1 shallot, thinly sliced
  9. 1/2 cup white wine
  10. 1/3 cup reduced-fat sour cream
  11. 1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon or 1 teaspoon dried
  12. 2 teaspoons lemon juice
  13. 2/3 cup shredded Gruyère cheese
Recipe Steps:
  1. Place a steamer basket in a large saucepan, add 1 inch of water and bring to a boil. Add asparagus; cover and steam for 3 minutes. Uncover, remove from the heat and set aside.
  2. Whisk broth and 2 teaspoons flour in a small bowl until smooth. Set aside.
  3. Place the remaining 1/4 cup flour in a shallow dish. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper and dredge both sides in the flour, shaking off any excess.
  4. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes per side, adjusting heat as needed to prevent scorching. Transfer to a plate and cover to keep warm.
  5. Add shallot, wine and the reserved broth mixture to the pan; cook over medium heat, stirring, until thickened, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low; stir in sour cream, tarragon, lemon juice and the reserved asparagus until combined. Return the chicken to the pan and turn to coat with the sauce. Sprinkle cheese on top of each piece of chicken, cover and continue cooking until the cheese is melted, about 2 minutes.

Have a great day

Jo

8 comments:

  1. Well we've had enough rain in the last couple of months to last us for a while so please don't send any more our way.

    I'm with you on the ice calving ... I wouldn't have wanted to witness that. I can never understand storm chasing either

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    1. I won't Sue, although you could send us some, we need it badly, what we got the other night was nowhere near enough.

      I am the same about storm chasing.

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  2. Oh my God! And they were so calm as that wall of muddy water came screaming at them.

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    1. Yes weren't they. Did you check out any of the other videos? Apart from gunning the engines, nobody seems to be very concerned. Think I would have been making a noise.

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  3. We had a ton of rain Wednesday night. Just what my grass needed - more fuel for growing.

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    1. I still haven't heard how much we got, but I know it wasn't enough there is a big problem with the crops, particularly corn, and I hear however much rain we get, it won't, now, be enough.

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  4. Hello Jo !
    I would have like a little bit of your rain ^^
    We were surprised this week with hot temperatures in south west of france 3 days around 35 or 38 degree quite unusual for us.
    Gynie

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    1. I remember the south of France being pretty warm. Not been there in years of course. Are you having a drought there too. England and lots of Europe have been getting too much rain.

      Nice to see you on line Gynie.

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