Eclipse to Balcony, Hair Salon, Bowling,

I understand that the traffic jams for people who travelled to see the eclipse are horrendous. I heard of one woman who travelled 20 hours to see it. In my opinion she is nuts. We sure didn't get any noticeable diminution of light here, too far away I guess. Not only that we had men crawling all over our balcony and dismantling scaffolding. I hadn't realised just how much light had been cut out by this scaffolding and the wood which was used for the concrete formers. Our balcony looks one heck of a mess with lots of bits and pieces and unused concrete etc. Still a fair amount of work to be done I guess. Another thing they did today was to grind the edges of the concrete. Glad I saw it so I could turn off the a/c. There was a heck of a lot of dust.

Today I am going to a new hairdresser for a hair cut. The couple we used to go to just disappeared without saying anything which I thought was rather odd. Matt has been there twice already but I haven't been there yet. But, boy do I ever need a cut. I hacked at some of it a few weeks ago and just have not had the time to go.

I meant to check whether the other bowling alley in town was open this week. Will have to do so this morning. If they are we will have to pick up our shoes and balls from our home alley.

I am always on the lookout for mushroom recipes. This sounded like a good one.

Mushroom Almond Paté

You can substitute walnuts, pecans, or hazelnuts for the almonds

in this recipe with excellent results.

4 Tbs butter
1 onion, chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
3/4 lb sliced mushrooms
1/2 tsp dried thyme
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 cup slivered almonds, toasted

1. Heat the butter in a skillet over moderate heat and saute the onion, garlic, mushrooms, thyme, salt, and pepper until the onion is tender and most of the liquid has evaporated. Process the almonds in an electric blender or food  processor to make a paste. Add the mushroom mixture and process until smooth. Refrigerate until set.

2. Serve with bread, crackers, or pita bread.

Servings: 6-8

Source: WW Recipes

Have a great day
 

New View, Hiroshima, N. Korea,

As I previously said, they have now removed our balcony wall with the result that we can now see the grass from indoors when we are sitting down. Pity the new railings aren't going to be transparent. When it's sunny, it's a nice view. The large gantry (or whatever it's called) runs from the ground to the top floor and all over the weekend I kept seeing it out of the corner of my eye and thinking there was someone on the balcony. We have sheers (net curtains) on our windows and mainly just see a shadow unless you actually turn round and look.

I was somewhat surprised to discover, on Sunday morning, that it was the 72nd anniversary of

Hiroshima. Not a nice thing to remember, but on the other hand, it is important that we do recall the horror of atomic bombs. Talking of which I am somewhat nervous of Kim Jong-un and his missiles. I don't think he has anything against Canada, but if he fires missiles at the States, he could miss. Mind you if Yellowstone erupts it won't do Canada much good either so what am I worrying about? Looks a sulky bugger doesn't he?

This is a very simple recipe which I found through Yummly at a blog called Plain Chicken.

Chicago Chicken

1 jalapeno (remove the seeds and membranes if you don't want the heat)
Juice of 1 lemon (3 Tbsp)
1 Tbs dried oregano
3 Tbs olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breast

1. Combine first 5 ingredients in the food processor.  Pulse until combined and jalapeno is finely diced.  Pour into a ziplock bag, add chicken.  Toss to coat.  Let marinate in refrigerator overnight and then grill.

Servings: 3

Author: Steph
Source: Plain Chicken

Have a great day
 

Balcony, Bowling, Kimchi

Well, our balcony door is now locked for the duration and we have a great big piece of metal bracing poking through our wall. The hole has been there since last year but was covered by a sheet of wood or something. They cut these holds exactly to hold the braces. Originally they braced underneath and then had to move the braces on top. This saves a move. Sensible. However, I heard today that the reason the completed balconies don't yet have walls is because the company haven't come down to do it. Not exactly sure what that is all about but it doesn't bode well.

We did it, our team is #1 today now all we have to do is fight to keep that next week. We are playing against the previous #1 team who are now #3. We are being fairly closely pursued by the new #2 team, I forget the point difference. Wish us luck. We would all be so chuffed to win for a change.

I spent this evening making the Kimchi from the recipe I posted a couple of days ago. I have to leave it for 24 hours before using it. However, it is not the regular colour of Kimchi. We will see what it tastes like. I may be punished for taking the easy recipe. Tomorrow I am planning to try the Moroccan Stuffed Peppers for supper. I hope that will turn out OK.

I thought this sounded interesting and unusual. In the picture it looks a bit like scrambled egg.

Sautéed Mushroom Guacamole

5 medium-sized avocados, ripe (soft ,not squishy)
8 oz white, cremini, or mini bella mushrooms, halved then sliced
1 Tbs olive oil
1/4 cup white wine or vegetable broth for deglazing
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 small lime, juiced
1 medium tomato, diced (or 1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, halved.)
1 small red onion, diced (roughly 1/8-1/4 cup)
Salt

1. Set frying pan over medium-high heat. Add olive oil. Once hot, stir in mushrooms. Cook for a few minutes, or until beginning to brown. Sprinkle with some salt.

2. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until nicely browned, about 10 minutes. Pour in wine (or broth) to deglaze, cooking until liquid dissipates. Remove from heat to cool.

3. Guacamole

4. Cut your avocados in half and remove pit. Spoon out avocado into a medium-sized bowl. Mash until you reach desired consistency (chunky or smooth.)

5. Add garlic, salt, and freshly squeezed lime. Stir to combine.

6. Add mushrooms, tomatoes, and onion, stirring until combined.

7. Cover and refrigerator until chilled, probably a good hour minimum.

8. Give it a taste test to see if it needs more salt or lime.

9. Serve on its own, with tacos, or burritos!

Author: The Cookie Writer

Author Notes
You can grill your mushrooms on the BBQ with a bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Amount of lime and salt needed is based on preference (so taste as you go!)

Have a great day
 

Balcony, Guy Fawkes,

Coming along, at last, the construction crew worked on Saturday, most of the day, and put up two new railings one above the other and now one has a frontage on it!!! Don't know if that's the final thing or not. In the end, they worked til 6 - on a Saturday would you believe and ended up putting a front on two railings.  However, I don't understand - they have something like 11 railings up already, why on earth didn't they put fronts on them instead of doing two new ones totally.

This is the machine they are using. A hoist. It has to be driven from the platform/basket or whatever you call it, at the end. Pretty difficult I think. I was watching them yesterday. I suspect I couldn't do it, I once tried backing up a vehicle with a boat on a trailer and made a muff of that.

Do you see how pretty our lawns are? It's even worse out front. I am told the place will be landscaped afterwards. Trouble is there are little bits of concrete all over at the bottom of the building. Unless they re-sod the whole thing of course.

I cannot believe I forgot that Saturday was Guy Fawkes Day in the UK - I always refer to it in my blog to a greater or lesser degree. Well I have to quote the poem:

Remember, remember

The 5th of November

Gunpowder, treason and plot.

I see no reason

Why gunpowder treason

Should ever be forgot.

I don't know how much it is celebrated these days. Fireworks are too expensive to start with and there are all kinds of safety rules in place. At the yacht club my family ran, we used to have a big bonfire and fireworks plus we would collect money in advance and send out for fish and chips. It used to be great fun. We also would bake potatoes in the fire which would end up black on one side and raw on the other. But we ate them anyway. We didn't know about marshmallows, but it was really too big a fire even if we had known. We also burned an effigy of Guy Fawkes on top of the fire and I have just discovered, is also done in Newfoundland. I didn't know that before, thought only the Brits did it. 

This is a traditional French dish. It takes a bit of preparation, but is really worth it in the end.

Traditional French Cassoulet

1 lb dried cannellini beans
Kosher salt
1 quart homemade or store-bought low-sodium chicken stock
3 packets (3/4 ounces) unflavored gelatin (see note above)
2 Tbs duck fat (optional) (can be bought from Amazon)
8 oz salt pork, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
6 to 8 pieces of chicken thighs and drumsticks, or 4 whole chicken leg quarters
Freshly ground black pepper
1 lb garlic sausage (2 to 4 links depending on size)
1 large onion, finely diced (about 1 cup)
1 carrot, unpeeled, cut into 3-inch sections
2 stalks celery, cut into 3-inch sections
1 whole head garlic
4 sprigs parsley
2 bay leaves
6 cloves

1. In a large bowl, cover beans with 3 quarts water and add 3 tablespoons salt. Stir to combine and let sit at room temperature overnight. Drain and rinse beans and set aside.

2. Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and preheat oven to 300°F. Place stock in a large liquid measuring cup and sprinkle gelatin over the top. Set aside. Heat duck fat (if using) in a large Dutch oven over high heat until shimmering. Add salt pork and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned all over, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and set aside. (If not using duck fat, cook pork with no additional fat.)

3. Season chicken pieces with pepper (do not add salt) and place skin side-down in now-empty pan. Cook without moving until well browned, 6 to 8 minutes. Flip chicken pieces and continue cooking until lightly browned on second side, about 3 minutes longer. Transfer to bowl with salt pork.

4. Add sausages and cook, turning occasionally, until well-browned on both sides. Transfer to bowl with salt pork and chicken. Drain all but 2 tablespoons fat from pot.

5. Add onions to pot and cook, stirring and scraping up browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Cook until onions are translucent but not browned, about 4 minutes. Add drained beans, carrot, celery, garlic, parsley, bay leaves, cloves, and stock/gelatin mixture. Bring to a simmer over high heat. Reduce to low, cover Dutch oven and cook until beans are almost tender but retain a slight bite, about 45 minutes.

6. Using tongs, remove carrots, celery, parsley, bay leaves, and cloves and discard. Add meats to pot and stir to incorporate, making sure that the chicken pieces end up on top of the beans with the skin facing upwards. Beans should be almost completely submerged. Transfer to oven and cook, uncovered, until a thin crust forms on top, about 2 hours, adding more water by pouring it carefully down the side of the pot as necessary to keep beans mostly covered.

7. Break crust with a spoon and shake pot gently to redistribute. Return to oven and continue cooking, stopping to break and shake the crust every 30 minutes until you reach the 4 1/2 hour mark. Return to oven and continue cooking undisturbed until the crust is deep brown and thick, about 5 to 6 hours total. Serve immediately.

Yield: 6-8

Source
Source: Serious Eats

Author Notes
The first time I had cassoulet in its home turf it was a revelation. This loose, almost soup-like stew of beans and meat was so far removed from all versions of cassoulet I'd had in the United States, or even in other parts of France. It was a large, bubbling vat of beans and meat, covered in a crust so dark that it was almost black. Rich, meaty, and overwhelmingly simple, the main flavor was just that of the cured meat, a good stock, and beans.

Why this recipe works:

Soaking the beans in salted water overnight helps keep them tender as they cook.

Chicken used in place of the traditional duck picks up tons of flavor from the other cured meat products and comes out meltingly tender and meaty.

Adding gelatin to the cooking liquid helps it form a better crust on the casserole as it bakes.

Note: If you are using homemade chicken stock that already has lots of gelatin (i.e., it should thicken and gel when chilled), you can omit the unflavored gelatin here; if your stock is store-bought, or if it's homemade but watery even when chilled, the unflavored gelatin is an essential ingredient.

Have a great day