Shrimp, Lunch, Stratford, Celtic Thunder

Something that doesn’t augur well for our vacation in September, shrimp in the Gulf has gone up $2 a pound, I am, in fact, surprised you can get shrimp at all any more bearing in mind how much oil has poured into the waters. There has been a commission set up to check on the quality of seafood coming from the Gulf. I don’t think I would fancy buying it right now, or for the foreseeable future. As yet I haven’t heard the oil has reached the Atlantic but there has been lots of talk about it and I have my suspicions that by the time mid September comes it will be there. I know, its being so cheerful that keeps me going!!

I forgot President Obama was making a speech on TV last night about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. In a way I wish we had watched it. However, we ended up watching DVDs of Celtic Thunder who are one of our favourite groups at the moment. The first DVD we watched was the latest one I bought, Its Entertainment, and we ended up watching the interviews. Young Damian McGinty is quite comprehensible when he sings, but I am damned if either of us can understand his Irish brogue when he is being interviewed. During the interview there were scenes from either a pirate act or Matt said it could be castaways, whichever, we hadn’t seen it before and have no idea where it came from. I can’t find anything about it on the web either. Very puzzling. If you don’t know the group (I actually posted video from YouTube in previous blogs) there is masses of their stuff on YouTube where you can get a taste of their performances.

I went with Matt to his physio appointment yesterday and sat in the waiting room in one of the most uncomfortable chairs I have sat in for a long while. There was one chair there which might have been OK but it was occupied, there was also a sofa which when sat in felt so low I thought I was sitting on the floor. However, having sat in the chair for a while, I wished I had taken the sofa seat, by this time it was occupied. Ah well!!! Afterwards we went to Café 13 for lunch. It is in downtown Cambridge (Galt) and has been there for years. It has apparently changed hands many times. We met my friend who was returning my books and had a good natter. I had a chowder and Caesar salad, Matt had a Caesar on its own and my friend had fish and chips made with pickerel. Not the best food in the world, but certainly not a bad lunch. We discussed The Tempest which is now on in Stratford, Ontario with Christopher Plummer playing Prospero. I really want to see this production. I do wish Matt was interested in theatre.

In the ezine I get from World Wide Recipes, a woman had written requesting cold soup recipes and saying she wasn’t interested in Gazpacho because it tasted like canned tomatoes to her. Horrors. Gazpacho is one of the classic and most delicious cold soups to be found and should definitely NOT taste like canned tomatoes. I sent her one recipe I have, her is another. These days people blend gazpacho but the secret to really good soup is to chop and use a sieve. I admit, I cheat and use my blender but just don’t get it too smoothe.

Andalusian Gazpacho

Mediterranean Cooking for Pleasure

2 gloves garlic

4 green peppers

5 large tomatoes (seeded)

3 oz. bread with the crust on, soaked in water. This needs to be French or Italian bread.

2 Tbs olive oil

2 Tbs white wine vinegar

5 cups water

salt to taste

Pound the garlic and peppers in a mortar. Mince the other solids into a large bowl, then add the rest of the ingredients; mix well and strain through a cloth or fine strainer. Put the liquid in the fridge to chill, serve the soup very cold, accompanied by separate little dishes of sliced green peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes and toasted bread cut in small dice. Serves 6.

Gazpacho

1 onion

4 cloves garlic

2 tomatoes (ripe)

1 canned red pepper

1/2 cucumber (preferably seedless)

salt and pepper

parsley

basil

1 thick slice of white Italian or French bread without crust

4 tbs olive oil

5 cups water

Chop all the ingredients together except for the bread which you soak in water. Pound all the ingredients together (or blend) mix in the olive oil then add the water, gradually, whisking well. Serve very cold – if you like add an ice cube to each plate.

Here again it is optional to serve little dishes of garnishes. Serves 6.

Have a great day.