Monday, October 28, 2013

Fish Sex, Weather and Dinner.

Midshipman FishHere’s a strange story. I found on Sunday morning. People in Hampshire, England have been complaining about a noise which is keeping some of them awake at night. After spending lots of time investigating this with no results, it turns out that, in all likelihood, it is being caused by mating Midshipman Fish. The article describes the noise as being like a dial tone which, if you play the video, you will find it really does. If you got a lot of them making that noise I would imagine it could really cause a problem.



The weather doesn’t know what it wants to do at the moment. Saturday morning it was snowing really hard for a while but luckily it didn’t settle on the ground. In the afternoon it was brilliant sunshine. We were slightly worried when we saw the snow as we had dinner Almond Rice Pudguests coming. However, it was fine. Despite a couple of goofs on our part, Matt forgot to put the potatoes in to bake and I, trying to turn up the crock pot actually turned it off, so when I put the dumplings in it wasn’t really hot enough. However, they weren’t too bad and I zapped the potatoes in the microwave for a while and then put them in the toaster oven to finish off. We served Pumpkin Soup, (no crackers, it drives me crazy if I make a soup and someone loads it with crackers, might as well have water), then Steak Elisabetta with Mustard Dumplings finishing off with Almond Rice Pudding. Nobody left anything so I presume they enjoyed the meal.

Here is a recipe which I found at Cooking.com. My original recipe comes from a cookbook I have had for 50 years. Unfortunately the picture is black and white. I have published this recipe before but I am not sure when. The addition of the vinegar and mustard in the stew and the mustard in the dumplings gives it a very interesting flavour. I, of course, use Colman’s dry mustard.

Steak Elisabetta and Mustard Dumplings

Contributed By: Benjamin, CA

Yield: 4 Servings

Steak Elizabetta
RECIPE INGREDIENTS
Steak
2 lbs. Chuck steak or similar cut into pieces
2 tbsp. Flour
½ tsp. Salt
¼ tsp. Pepper
1 oz. Shortening (I used Canola oil)
2 Medium onions, peeled and sliced
3 Medium carrots, sliced
¾ pint Stock/red wine/water as preferred
1 tbsp. Vinegar
½ tsp. Dry mustard
Dumplings
4 oz. Self-raising flour
½ tsp. Salt
½ tsp. Dry mustard
2 oz Shredded suet (or 1 oz. butter or substitute)

DIRECTIONS
Steak
Coat meat in flour seasoned with salt, pepper and mustard.
Heat fat in a pan and lightly brown onions and then meat.
Add carrots, stir in stock/wine/water, vinegar and bring to boil.
Turn into a casserole and cook in a slow oven (180 ?) for 1½-2 hrs.
30 mins. before steak is ready, drop dumplings on top of meat, cover tightly and cook for a further 30 mins.
Dumplings
Sift together flour, salt and mustard.
Add suet or rub in butter.
Mix to a dry dough with 3-4 tbsp. cold water, then shape into small balls (they will rise and expand).

Have a great day
Jo_thumb[2]

10 comments:

  1. Snow, not ready for snow! Sounds like dinner was delicious!

    I'd heard of fish doing that on one of the science shows or was that the Mysteries of the Museum? Can't remember, but I understand it does get pretty loud.

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    1. Especially if it keeps you awake at night.

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  2. Loud fish sex? That totally cracks me up! Your dinner sounds delicious. I've tried making dumplings before, but nobody around here likes "wet biscuits" so I've given up. Maybe now that I've learned to cook I'll give it another try.
    There's this ridiculous Swedish saying that if they ate it all, you didn't make enough food, and if there's any left-over, then they didn't like it. Yeah, no way to win on that one...though it wounds like you definitely won this round. I think the mustard's the key.
    Tina @ Life is Good

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    1. Dumplings aren't hard if you get the stew hot enough and don't make your dumplings too wet. The flour and suet (or butter) should only just hold together into a ball and when you pop them in make sure you have a good seal on your pot, casserole, whatever.

      I think the mustard is the key too.

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  3. That noise would be annoying after about two seconds!

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    Replies
    1. Yeah but can you imagine a whole school of them offshore all trying to find a partner.

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  4. Yep I saw that article in the Daily Telegraph (so it must be true) LOL.
    The recipe looks much like the basic beef stew and dumplings I make (without knowing what it is called) but I've never used vinegar. Is that just malt vinegar or it balsamic or something else? Its certainly the season for stews and comfort food isn't it?

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    Replies
    1. Of course.

      The vinegar and mustard makes a big difference Sue.

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  5. That fish noise is really freaky. Congrats for saving your meal from unintentional "goofs." I can't tell you how many times I've had to save my meals from even bigger ones...

    Thanks for your good wishes on Father Dragon's blog about my cover reveal. I really appreciate them! :-)

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    1. Really is quite something isn't it? We try not to make such goofs in the first place, mostly we don't.

      Your welcome Lexa, hope all is good. Thanks for visiting me.

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