Medical/Car. Dangerous Rice, Bowling, Weather.

I’ve already written two blogs today – oh well, April is still a couple of weeks away I suppose. This morning Matt has to go see the specialist and from what he said on the phone, Matt should be able to go for his colonoscopy on Thursday. It means the car repair will have to be put off for a week. Matt can certainly not drive after his procedure and it would be too much hassle picking him up from the hospital and also changing/collecting cars etc. We are supposed to be renting a Smart Car for the three days we will be without our own vehicle. Mind you I am not sure Matt is going to be able to drive a Smart Car. I don’t know but I suspect their dashboards are computerised. I suppose it will be OK for 3 days.

WARNING: You may already know this - I didn't, but you should be extremely careful about My Guilty Pleasures - and who is/was a chef. I was a mite doubtful at first but tended to believe because of the source. Needless to say, I Googled and yes, she is quite right. The main warnings seem to come from the British National Health Service and state the following:
reheating cooked rice. I found this out through Viveka, a Swedish woman who writes

1. Uncooked rice can contain spores of bacteria that can cause food poisoning. When the rice is cooked, the spores can survive. Then, if the rice is left standing at room temperature, the spores will multiply and may produce poisons that cause vomiting or diarrhoea. Reheating the rice won't get rid of these poisons.

This afternoon we have our league bowling. I have a nasty suspicion I will not manage another 300 game. Pity, our team needs it having fallen from first to fifth place.

Saturday, having had so much sunshine, we had fog all day. Sunday back to sunshine again. There have been murmurs, on the weather channel, in which the word snow was heard. Everybody is hoping not of course, but we have had bad snow storms in April so it’s too early to say it’s all over.

Matt and I both love lamb so when I came across this recipe I was immediately interested. I had never heard of eating hemp seed but nothing ventured…..

Roast Leg of Lamb with Hemp Seed Pesto

Contributed to Food & Wine by Michael Schwartz

• SERVINGS: 8 to 10

This exceptional yogurt-glazed roast lamb from Miami chef Michael Schwartz gets extra flavour from a vibrant pesto made with healthy, nutty-tasting hemp seeds.

LAMB

1. 1/2 cup full-fat plain Greek yogurt
2. 6 garlic cloves, minced
3. 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
4. 2 tablespoons minced rosemary
5. 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
6. Kosher salt
7. Pepper
8. One 6-pound whole bone-in leg of lamb, excess fat trimmed
9. Lemon wedges, for serving

PESTO

1. 1 3/4 cups lightly packed basil
2. 1 3/4 cups lightly packed parsley leaves
3. 2 garlic cloves, crushed
4. 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
5. Salt
6. 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
7. 1/2 cup hulled hemp seeds
8. Pepper

1. PREPARE THE LAMB In a bowl, whisk the yogurt with the garlic, lemon juice, rosemary, olive oil and 1 tablespoon each of salt and pepper. Rub the mixture all over the lamb and set on a large rimmed baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Let the lamb stand at room temperature for 1 hour before roasting.
2. Preheat the oven to 375°. Season the lamb lightly with salt and pepper and roast for about 1 hour and 50 minutes, until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the meat registers 140°. Transfer to a carving board and let rest for 30 minutes.
3. MAKE THE PESTO In a food processor, pulse the basil, parsley, garlic and lemon juice with a pinch of salt until minced. With the machine on, gradually add the olive oil until incorporated. Scrape the pesto into a bowl and stir in the hemp seeds. Season with salt and pepper. Carve the lamb and serve with the pesto and lemon wedges.
4. Make Ahead The hemp seed pesto can be refrigerated overnight.

Have a great day