Gas Prices, Losing It

Hooray, gas prices have been dropping all over the continent lately. This surprises me as the summer season of travel is about to get under way, but I heard one report say that people just aren’t buying as much gas any more. Not surprising, particularly in view of the gas guzzlers so many people drive. SUVs seem to be the most popular vehicle around these days. I’m glad we only have a small, if somewhat old, car. Mind you, I don’t see how we could get a newer car, Matt would never cope with all this computerised stuff. He is definitely not into computers and electronics generally. I don’t actually know what kind of computerised dashboards are out there, I have never even sat in such an up to date vehicle. Going back to gas prices, I just saw a report that in the States they could drop by $3 a gallon by the fall. Usually Canadian prices follow. Alberta has its own gas, but it doesn’t make it any cheaper for the rest of us probably because they sell it all to the States anyway.

OK where were you Alex, I was expecting you for dinner. The fondue went down very well, our friends thoroughly enjoyed as did Matt and I. The meatballs were delicious as was the fillet and the shrimp, not everything was consumed by any manner of means. Soup maybe?

So, sorry, now I am tired and will be posting this. Talk to you on Monday.

A friend has been posting pictures of her mom on Facebook as she has recently lost 120 lbs. through Losing It for Canada, which weight loss has also cured her diabetes. Needless to say I am looking into it.

For those of you who don’t live on this continent and get to see our TV chefs, Mario Batali is of Italian descent (father was Italian) and many of his recipes have an Italian background. He is an expert on Italian cuisine. His signature is always wearing shorts and orange crocs. Being the asparagus freak that I am, when I saw this one yesterday, my eyes popped open. Very unusual sauce. This will have me rushing to the kitchen as soon as I can. I saw a heading ‘more asparagus recipes’ too so I will be hunting them up.

Grilled Asparagus with Pepper Zabaglione

Contributed by Mario Batali
SERVINGS:6

Mario Batali chars his asparagus on the grill, then serves it with a superrich zabaglione sauce spiked with black pepper.

1. 3 large egg yolks
2. 1 large egg
3. 3 tablespoons vin santo or other lightly sweet dessert wine
4. 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
5. 1 tablespoon heavy cream
6. 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
7. Kosher salt
8. 2 pounds large asparagus
9. 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
10. 3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1. Light a grill or heat a grill pan. In a heatproof medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the egg and vin santo. Set the bowl over a medium saucepan of simmering water and vigorously whisk the eggs over moderate heat until the sauce holds firm peaks, about 5 minutes. Remove the bowl of sauce from the heat.
2. In a small bowl, mix the butter with the heavy cream and pepper. Whisk the cream mixture into the sauce, 1 tablespoon at a time, until incorporated. Season the zabaglione with salt and keep warm.
3. In a large bowl, toss the asparagus with the olive oil and season with salt. Grill the asparagus over moderately high heat, turning occasionally, until charred all over and crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer the asparagus to plates.
4. Set the bowl of sauce over the saucepan of simmering water and whisk over low heat until thick and just heated through, about 1 minute. Spoon the sauce over the asparagus, sprinkle with the Parmigiano-Reggiano and serve.

Have a great weekend.