Kyphoplasty, $20 Bill.

Well, for those of you who are interested, we spent another 5 1/2 hours in the hospital yesterday. Matt had an appointment at the fracture clinic at 9:05 a.m. and that was fairly quickly over, maybe half an hour to 45 minutes. The surgeon said he would perform a Kyphoplasty on the fractured vertebra – basically this means they insert a needle with a balloon which is inflated to lift up the vertebra and then they inject bone cement to hold it in the proper position. This will take place on Wednesday next. However, he then had to go for blood work, pre surgery consultation, chest X ray and a conference with the anesthetist. As the whole thing was an “add on” this all took forever and we didn’t get out of there til about 2:30. We were not happy campers about this. We have so much paperwork I had to ask for something to put it in. Oh, and by the way, the also want to give him a bone density scan which takes place a week later as they appear to think he may have osteoporosis (thought that was a female thing). I guess if you’ve got bones you can have osteoporosis. That’s maybe more than you wanted to learn but that’s what’s happening in our lives. A couple of nurses assured us that Dr. Moammer was the best which is very reassuring.

I came across an article about the new Canadian polymer bills. The one shown was for $20. There is a video which describes all the security features. The main picture is of the memorial at Vimy Ridge in France, people think it is the twin towers, and then people also say they can see naked women. Damned if I can, maybe you would like to have a look at the video and see if you are able to. They are talking about the bills being too pornographic. Seems like a load of nonsense to me. I do think the design around the Queen’s head is a bit odd. There’s a bit of trivia for you, in England I would talk of a pound note, but here it’s a dollar bill.

Hanging around hospitals for hours makes me extremely tired. So I think I will call it quits for now.

Someone commented about asparagus risotto the other day, that has always been one of my favourites. I always add a little white wine to mine as it gives it a delicious flavour.

Asparagus Risotto

1/2 cup white onion, small diced
6 crimini mushrooms, quartered
1 Tbs olive oil
8 asparagus, blanched and cut into 1/4 inch lengths
1 cup arborio rice
2 cups chicken stock (kept warm in a pan)
To taste salt and pepper
1/2 cup parsley, flat-leaf chopped
1 small piece parmesan reggiano cheese

1. In a sauté pan, sweat the onions and mushrooms with the olive oil  Add the asparagus  Add the rice and slightly sauté  Add 1/3 of the chicken stock and continuously stir until the liquid is absorbed

2. Add another 1/3 of stock and stir til absorbed

3. Add the remainder of the chicken stock and continue to stir until it is absorbed. Add white wine if needed.

4. Season the risotto  and stir in the parsley

5. Spoon the risotto on each plate

6. Shave the chunk of parmesan cheese with a peeler over each risotto to finish

Servings: 4

Have a great weekend

Oops, Asparagus, Cooking, Photography

Correction to yesterday’s blog. The Escargot recipe came from a friend who lives in the Philippines, nothing to do with Singapore. Sorry about that. When she pointed out my mistake, I instantly started thinking of the dish a friend from the Philippines used to make for us – lumpia, a bit like Chinese spring rolls. I could eat some of those right now.

Because I was running late yesterday, I forgot to mention that Emeril Lagasse was doing asparagus recipes on Good Morning America. One was a risotto. To me it was a shrimp risotto with asparagus and was probably delicious, but an asparagus only risotto is delicious too. He started by making a stock with shrimp shells, I tried that and we didn’t think it tasted of anything much at all, very disappointing. He did come up with one dish which I liked the sound of, so I have posted it below.

Last night I made an asparagus risotto for us which was very good. We will have leftovers tonight, don’t tell anyone. You are definitely not supposed to re-heat a risotto. Also tonight, Matt is going to make the Asparagus Phyllo Bundles which I really like, the recipe for which I published on May 10 this year. It is a Paula Deen recipe and we have made it innumerable times over the years.

As for the risotto, I make it fairly simply. I cook a pound of asparagus until it is almost done, I then allow it to cool somewhat. Meanwhile I sauté 1 Tbs of finely chopped onion in about 1 oz. of butter and a little olive oil until translucent. I chop up the asparagus in 1“ pieces, reserving the tips. I add 1 cup of arborio rice and the asparagus to the onion. Allow them to sauté for a minute or two then start adding hot chicken stock slowly, about a ladle full at a time stirring constantly until the rice has absorbed 4 cups of stock. This takes around 25 minutes, do not add more stock until the previous addition has been absorbed. I then remove the pan from the heat, stir in another ounce of butter, 2 Tbs of Parmesan cheese and the asparagus tips. Check for seasoning and serve. Delicioso.

Been talking, on Facebook, about food photography. Must admit I don’t do a lot of it, I cheat and get pictures from the web a lot of the time, but I do take pictures of things I cook now and again. I am not a very good photographer unfortunately, whatever I am taking a picture of. I guess I will have to try a bit harder with my food pix. The viewer is supposed to want to eat what you show. It is an undoubted fact that a cookbook with good photographs is more inspiring than one without any. If you know what its supposed to look like it is more encouraging.

Emeril's Asparagus Salad with Walnut Oil Vinaigrette

From the Kitchen of Emeril Lagasse

Servings: 6

Can't figure out what to make for dinner? Give this salad a try.

Ingredients

1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon minced shallot
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
3/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup walnut oil
2 pounds asparagus, trimmed and steamed until just tender
1/3 cup toasted, chopped walnuts
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

In a large bowl whisk together the vinegar, shallot, mustard, salt and pepper. While continuing to whisk, add the vegetable oil
in a very thin stream, whisking constantly. Whisk in the walnut oil.

Place asparagus on platter and pour dressing over asparagus. Garnish with walnuts and parsley. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve immediately.

This recipe was styled by chef Karen Pickus for Good Morning America.

Have a great weekend and for Canadians, happy Victoria Day.

Ice Cream and Asparagus

I had a delightful evening with my friends last night. We went to Howl at the Moon and all three of us ended up having Hunter’s Schnitzel which was a schnitzel with a mushroom sauce. We had chicken barley soup which came with the meal. All three of us ended up having a doggie bag. Having talked about it earlier, we then decided to go find The Marble Slab Creamery http://www.marbleslab.com/ which is a new (to me at least) ice cream place. One friend had been to the Creamery in her home town. Off we went to where I thought it was, we had to ask a couple of people where exactly it was, we were in the right area and eventually got there. There was a Starbucks almost next door so one of my friends went there whilst two of us picked out our ice creams. I am sure you will not be surprised to hear I had a chocolate ice cream with chocolate chips – it was supposed to have chocolate sprinkles but they didn’t have any so I had Smarties, not the best idea. My friend had a honey ice cream with graham crackers and I’m not sure what else. She had hers in a tub and I had a cone. Mistake, for me, we went outside and my ice cream was melting faster than I could eat it. In a tub that wouldn’t have mattered. I forgot to mention that they take the ice cream and spread it on a metal counter which is presumably refrigerated. Then the fold in your choice of additions a bit like folding dough although done with implements not hands. Quite interesting to watch. It was very enjoyable, but I found trying to eat quickly, the Smarties were a bit much. There was a case full of ice cream cakes there too. They looked delicious.

Earlier in the day, Matt and I had gone to Barrie Bros. Asparagus Farm in Cambridge so I could have my fix – do you realise I haven’t eaten any asparagus since Sunday. I bought myself a small jar of pickled asparagus to try. Tim Barrie told me they recommended serving them chilled so into the fridge they went. I still haven’t eaten any asparagus but I will certainly have some today. This time I actually wandered around their store, they do have some fantastic products there and have recently added organic coffee beans. There are all kinds of soup bases besides the asparagus ones. They have organic tomatoes too. The store was very busy, I would like to have talked to Tim a bit more, but he was obviously unable to with so many people there. I am glad they are doing so well. The picture, which I borrowed from their Facebook page, shows their new sign at the entrance to the farm. Once you get near the store, they have another sign carved into a stone. I hadn’t realised they had been there since 1892. Didn’t realise Tim was that old *g*. I have now met two of his daughters by the way, lovely young ladies. Do visit their page on Facebook, Tim posts news there on a regular basis.

This afternoon we will be playing cards, cribbage. The friend with whom we have been playing cards for several months has now moved to another apartment block in town and doesn’t really like driving in the dark so we figure we will make it afternoons instead.

One of my favourites at this time of year is Asparagus Risotto. This recipe comes from Asparagusrecipes.com and will see me slaving away in the kitchen any time soon.

Asparagus Risotto

Asparagus Recipes

2 lb of asparagus. 1 shallot, chopped finely. 3 ½ oz of vialone rice. 2 oz of butter. 1 cup of dry white wine. 4 tablespoons of freshly grated parmesan cheese. Salt and pepper.

Break the ends off the asparagus stalks and discard. Cut off the extreme tips and chop the rest of the stalks. Blanch the tips in boiling water. Remove the tips with a slotted spoon and set aside. Cook the stalks in the same water until they go soft. In a blender, puree the stalks with their cooking water to make a thick stock. Add dry white wine, and simmer over a low heat. In a pan, melt half of the butter and cook the shallot until it turns soft. Add the rice to the pan and let it begin to absorb the butter before adding a ladle of the asparagus stock. Keep stirring until it is absorbed. Stir in the tips and add another ladle of stock. Keep adding the stock, one ladle at a time, making certain not to drown the rice, until the rice is al dente (takes 15-20 mins). Serve as desired.

Have a great day.