The Gulf and its Seafood,

President Obama is spending his holidays on the Gulf Coast and there are pictures of him swimming there. The message being ‘come back to the Gulf for your vacation, all is well’ – is it? Maybe for vacationers: they have now cleaned up the beaches and the local waters, but from films I have seen, over the past few months, there is probably still oil suspended in the waters of the gulf and there is certainly lots of it on the seabed. What that is doing to the local ecology I dread to think. Fishing is also taking place there and I am sorry, but personally I wouldn’t want to eat it – at least not yet awhile. According to reports, tourism is badly down and the local businesses are losing money which is why the President is there.

This morning There was a report on Good Morning America who sent their own people down to investigate the health of the seafood in the Gulf. They sent samples of their catches to a Texas laboratory for testing and the upshot was “no contamination was present” which is what the FDA is saying. However, even the fishermen were doubtful about the seafood  they were catching. There is a video here http://tinyurl.com/25jsma4 from today’s programme. The trouble is, shrimp, crabs and oysters are all on the bottom which is where the oil has settled and eating the oil could, over time, cause cancer in humans. However, THE WORD is that it is safe to eat this seafood.

What concerns me in particular, when we go to North Carolina for our vacation next month, and want to eat seafood, you cannot always guarantee where this seafood, especially the shrimp, has originated. The restaurants, I have discovered, do not buy raw shrimp and shell them – too expensive for them – so they buy pre-prepared shrimp which could come from anywhere. I wonder, I have never checked, whether the same applies to the flounder one eats in local restaurants there. I think I had better stick to buying my seafood from a fisherman and cooking it myself. Maybe I am over reacting, as I said, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) say the seafood is safe.

After all that, obviously we need a shrimp recipe.

Asparagus Shrimp Salad

Source: Shrimp Recipes

Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients List:

Dressing
½ cup salad oil
¼ cup vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
¼ teaspoon salt
Dash cayenne
Pinch pepper
Salad
1 ½ pounds asparagus, thick ends removed,
1 pound cooked shrimp, shelled and cleaned
1 slice fresh lemon
1 medium red bell pepper, sliced
¼ cup sliced green onion
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
Lettuce leaves
1 ounce grated Monterey Jack cheese

Directions:

Dressing
1. Combine everything in large mixing bowl or blender and mix until combined.
Salad
2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add asparagus and boil 2 minutes, until bright green. Drain and chop asparagus.
3. Place asparagus, shrimp, lemon, and prepared dressing in medium mixing bowl. Toss to combine and refrigerate.
4. Meanwhile, combine red pepper, green onion, and parsley in small mixing bowl.
5. To serve, drain shrimp mixture and arrange on plate with lettuce and cheese. Serve with bell pepper mixture atop shrimp and asparagus.

Have a great day.

Saved by a Cooler, The Travoltas, Sir Ben.

An incredible story this morning of a trio out fishing - stormy seas and their boat capsized. They survived more than 48 hours by hanging on to a cooler. Their life jackets were lost in the accident (er, why weren't they wearing them?) so the cooler saved them. They had no water or food and were being stung by jelly fish as well as trying to paddle and were finally found by another boat. If I were the manufacture of that cooler, I would be inclined to make capital out of that story.

GMA were delighted to report that the Travoltas were going to have another baby. The wife, Kelly Preston, is 47 which is not young to have a baby. They have had one hell of a year from everything that was said starting with the loss of their 16 yr old son, then someone trying to extord $25 million from them, ending with the loss of two of their dogs which were killed by a service vehicle at an aiprot. Of course this pregnancy has sparked a media frenzy about "replacement" children and should they or should they not do such a thing. Everyone has to get their pennyworth in. Travolta is already on record as having said he would like a large family. Shut up all you analysts and let them get on with their lives.

Sir Ben Kingsley was interviewed today too, there is a new film with him in it, The Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. I had no idea he had changed his name from Krishna Pandit Bhanji. He did it just before he played Ghandi in 1982, which he described as somewhat ironic. He has always been one of my favourite actors and I thought he was absolutely brilliant as Ghandi.

I have been thinking about something different to do with shrimp for supper tonight and on AsparagusRecipes.net they have two, a risotto with asparagus and shrimp, and a salad. Here is the salad.

Asparagus Shrimp Salad

AsparagusRecipes.net

SALAD

1 ½ lb of asparagus, cleaned.

1 lb of shrimp, shelled and cleaned.

1 oz of grated Monterey Jack cheese.

1 medium red bell pepper, sliced.

¼ cup of green onion, sliced.

2 tablespoons of parsley, minced.

One slice of lemon

Lettuce leaves.

DRESSING

½ cup of salad oil.

4 tablespoons of vinegar.

1 tablespoon of parsley.

1 tablespoon of basil.

1 tablespoon of oregano.

¼ teaspoon of salt.

Dash of cayenne.

Pinch of pepper. DRESSING

Combine all of the dressing ingredients.

SALAD

Cook the shrimp; drain and set aside. Cook the asparagus until crisp-tender; drain well. Place the shrimp, asparagus and slice of lemon in mixing bowl. Pour the herb dressing over all, cover and refrigerate, stirring once or twice. Combine the red bell pepper, onion and parsley. To serve, drain the shrimp asparagus mixture and arrange on plate with lettuce and cheese. Serve with the pepper/onion/parsley mixture.

Have a great day