Bear or Beaver, Early Snow. World Population.

Senator Nicole Eaton is urging Canada to change its symbol from a beaver to a polar bear which she considers more indicative of modern Canada.  Dunno, I rather like the beaver symbol myself, but then I like the look of polar bears too so I am not sure what I would vote for. She derides the beaver as a 19th century has been and a dentally defective rat. It is, nevertheless, a great builder and a great survivor. Polar bears, on the other hand, are very aggressive as well as being a very much threatened species due to global warming, if we aren’t careful we might have a symbol of an extinct animal. I hope that doesn’t come to pass of course, polar bears are such magnificent creatures.

Its quite incredible, they had all kinds of snow on the east coast of the States and so far we have escaped. Normally its way too early for snow both there and here, but some places had 28” overnight on Saturday. The picture shows an accident in New Jersey – of course everyone forgets, year to year, how to drive in the white stuff. I was surprised when a friend in Colorado said they had snow a few days ago, but I am really staggered at the amount of snow the east coast got over the weekend. I suspect we won’t get away with it for long.

I mentioned the other day that they anticipate the world population to hit 7 billion by the end of today. An interesting statistic is that you could put all 7 billion in Texas, so I guess the world isn’t as crowded as it sounds. Main populations are in India and China although reports say that China’s population boom is slowing down, India’s, on the other hand, is increasing. There are hundreds of babies born per minute but at the moment there is no real worry except for feeding people. More food could be grown  but it’s the lack of water which is or will be the problem.

I finally found the recipe below. I guess its actually a form of Chicken Cordon Bleu but when I saw it on TV the other morning, it looked very easy. There is a video which you can watch to see how he did it. He doesn’t give a recipe for Parmesan Tomato Risotto, I shall have to hunt around for it.

Chicken Breast with Ham, Provolone, Rosemary, and Tomato Sauce

Try This Easy Weeknight Fall Meal From the Kitchen of Wolfgang Puck

Servings: 8

Make this beautiful dinner for your next family get together. This main course is also great for a fancy fall dinner with friends!

Ingredients

4 chicken breast halves, skinless, boneless, about 8 ounces each
4 slices prosciutto or any thinly-sliced ham
4 slices provolone cheese
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Pinch of chile flakes
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped
2 tablespoons white wine
Kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, to taste
12 ounces homemade or jarred tomato sauce
4 tablespoons buttered bread crumbs
Basil oil, for garnish
Fried basil leaves, for garnish
For the basil oil:
2 cups basil leaves, packed
1 cup olive oil

Directions

Pound chicken breasts with mallet until 1/4 inch thick, then season each piece with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Place 1 slice of prosciutto and cheese on each. Tuck in sides and roll up as for jelly roll. Skewer with bamboo skewer or tie. In medium size bowl add olive oil, pinch of chile flakes, rosemary, white wine, salt and pepper, and tomato sauce. Whisk ingredients together and pour in to a baking dish. Place rolled chicken breast on top of sauce.

Sprinkle top of chicken with buttered bread crumbs, cover with parchment paper and aluminum foil, and place in pre-heated 400 degrees F. oven for 20 minutes. Remove foil and continue to cook
chicken breasts until bread crumbs turn golden brown, about 5 minutes.

Remove from oven let stand for 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with a little basil oil and fried basil leaves. Serve with Parmesan Tomato Risotto.

For the basil oil:
In boiling salted water, blanch basil leaves for 2 seconds. Refresh in bowl of iced water and drain well. Place on baking tray lined with paper towel and let dry for 1 hour. Pour oil in a blender. Turn machine on to puree and slowly add the blanched basil. Continue to process until pureed and well blended.
Transfer to a squirt bottle and allow to steep for a few hours. Use as needed.

Recipe courtesy of Wolfgang Puck.

Have a great day