Pickling, Cleaning, Weather, Pictures, D-Day,

The anaesthetist would say I looked tired today. I am knackered. I have canned/pickled three jars of asparagus and one of mixed veg. Did them properly in a hot water bath, etc. etc. as I want them to last - well the asparagus that is. I will probably do some more before I am done. I have to cut them to a uniform 6 inches to fit in my Mason jars. As for stuffing the spears into the jars, I really need the wide mouth jars I guess. Not this year.

Also, decided to buy a mop and bucket rather than rely on Swiffer. It seems to end up with a somewhat sticky deposit after a while. My cleaner agreed with me.

Our lovely weather has been raining today. Wet and miserable. Seem to be getting May, or even April, showers, only trouble is, it's June and it is not "busting out all over", at least, not round here. Admittedly the trees are looking beautiful, we are lucky, we have a lot of them round here. The spring colours are always lovely to see.

Thanks to ladydog's suggestion, I finally got the few pix I took of the hospital food onto my PC. Only trouble is, it doesn't look that bad!! I should have picked the omelette up to take a picture of its rigidity. Guess my brain wasn't that active at the time. One thing I have is some lovely carnations which had to be cut down in order to fit into a hospital cup. Shame, but they were still lovely. I have always enjoyed carnations, they last so long. I remember years ago I used to buy a lot of flowers to decorate our living room and I would order blue carnations, dyed of course, which looked pretty. Gosh, that's a long time ago.

I nearly forgot, it is the 75th anniversary of D-Day today. I was about 5, Matt about 8. Bearing in mind how old we are, it staggers me to see the veterans of that day still alive, in their 90s and travelling to France to revisit their memories. One of them even parachuted in as he did all that time ago. One of my favourite movies is The Longest Day which tells the story of that time. I think everyone and his brother is in that movie. War is a terrible thing but man fights for the slightest thing it seems. Despite the lessons learned in World War II we are constantly either at war or on the brink of war. What idiots we are.

Asparagus with Rhubarb Hollandaise

2 lbs 1-1/4 cup finely diced fresh or frozen rhubarb
1/3 cup sugar
2 sprig fresh tarragon
2 large egg yolks
3 Tbs lemon juice
½ cup melted butter
salt and pepper
butter for saute pan
chopped chives, for garnish

1. Bring a pot of water up to a boil and salt generously. Trim asparagus and add to water. Blanch, uncovered, until tender (check by tasting – time will vary depending on thickness of asparagus). Once tender drain and shock in a bowl with ice and water to halt cooking. Strain and chill until ready to serve.

2. For Hollandaise, stir rhubarb, sugar and tarragon sprigs in a pot over medium heat. Simmer until rhubarb is just tender, about 10 minutes. Remove tarragon and keep warm (but not hot).

3. To assemble Hollandaise, whisk egg yolks and lemon juice over a pot of gently simmering water until they hold a ribbon when the whisk is lifted. Whisk in rhubarb mixture to warm. Remove bowl from heat and gradually whisk in melted butter (try to avoid adding white solids that have settled to the bottom of the butter). Season to taste and keep warm (Hollandaise should be prepared as close to serving as possible)

4. To heat asparagus, simply warm in a sauté pan over medium-low heat with butter and season lightly. Place warm asparagus on a platter and spoon Hollandaise over. Garnish with chives and serve immediately.

Servings: 6

Author: Anna Olson

Have a great day
 

D Day, Jonas Kaufmann, Poutine,

Boy does that ever make me feel old, today as I am writing, it is June 6 and I didn't realise until I read it somewhere, it is the 73rd anniversary of D-Day (1944). I should have written this post ready for it being published on June 6. Most of you who read this will not have been born at that time. Mind you, I wasn't old enough to know what was happening and remember nothing about it. I think Matt does but then a) he is a little older and b) I lived further north and c) he lived in Kent which is where a lot of the preparations for the Normandy landings were happening. Like assembling all the tanks and other military vehicles which were under camouflage. In other places there were cardboard tanks, etc. which from the air looked like the real thing. One of the best movies about this day was "The Longest Day" - just occurred to me, why don't I have a copy of that? I just bought one.

We have just, thanks to PBS, discovered Jonas Kaufmann the German opera singer. I cannot

understand why we had never heard of him before, he has made lots of CDs and we both love to listen to a good tenor. What a voice. The programme we watched was all about his love of Italy and, of course, included him singing many arias with which we were familiar. Plus he sang Volare and something else which is not from opera but I can't remember what. One thing he didn't sing, which we both love, is Nessun Dorma which was a favourite of Pavarotti's so I just ordered a CD of him singing it. No, I haven't had a windfall, just gone a bit nuts that's all.

Well, now I have seen everything, Roasted Asparagus with Mushroom Poutine!!! I have never tried Poutine I admit, but for me it has several strikes against it, I am not a big fan of gravy in the first place and I like my French Fries crisp not soggy. As for ruining asparagus with gravy I cannot imagine it except with a shudder. Yes I know, many people love gravy on all kinds of things and I do make gravy when I make a roast but it is not the thick brown stuff which is most familiar to everyone. I understand that Poutine is now considered a Canadian national dish. What a thing to be known for.

Monday night we watched Kew on a Plate again and this is one of the recipes which were made. At the end are the modifications I made for supper tonight.

Chicory (Belgian Endive) gratin

A beloved classic of Belgian cooking; this is a simple, rustic family dish. The Comté cheese can be

replaced by any British cheese. And, of course, omit the ham for a vegetarian version.

For the chicory
4 heads yellow chicory (Belgian Endidivde)
1 Tbs lemon juice
1 Tbs sugar
2 large pinches sea salt
6 white peppercorns

For the chard
10 g unsalted butter
2 small Swiss chard stalks with leaves, stalks chopped into 1cm pieces; leaves roughly chopped

For the cheese sauce
1 1/4 oz unsalted butter
1 1/4 oz plain flour
16 fl oz whole milk
2 1/2 oz Comté cheese, finely grated
1 Tbs Dijon mustard
pinch sea salt
pinch freshly ground white pepper

To assemble the gratin
4 slices cooked ham
1 3/4  oz Comté cheese, finely grated

1. For the chicory, put it in a medium saucepan and add the lemon juice, sugar, salt, peppercorns and enough water to barely cover. Place on a medium heat and cover with a circle of baking paper and a lid smaller than the diameter of the pan (this is to keep the chicory submerged). Bring to the boil, then simmer for 45–60 minutes. It is important to cook the chicory slowly to remove most of its bitterness.

2. Lift the chicory onto a wire rack to drain and cool. Once cool, gently press out any extra moisture with a tea towel.

3. Preheat the oven to 190C/170C Fan/Gas 5.

4. For the chard, put the butter and 100ml/3½fl oz water in a saucepan on a high heat. Cook the stalks for 20 minutes, adding more water if necessary. Once tender, lift them out and cook the leaves for 3 minutes in the same water. Strain, mix the stalks and leaves and arrange in a small gratin dish.

5. Meanwhile, make the cheese sauce. In a small saucepan on a medium heat, melt the butter. Add the flour, whisk until smooth and cook to a nutty blonde colour. Take the pan off the heat, whisk in the milk and return to the heat. Cook for at least 4 minutes, stirring constantly with the whisk until the sauce thickens.

6. Add the cheese and mustard and cook for 3 minutes, stirring, until the cheese has fully melted. Remove from the heat, taste and season if required.

7. To assemble the gratin, fold the ham slices in half and arrange one chicory head on each slice. Pack tightly in the gratin dish on top of the chard. Spoon over the cheese sauce and sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Bake in the top of the oven for 25 minutes until golden-brown.

Servings: 2

I decided to change the chard for asparagus (surprise?)  I didn't use Comté cheese but Cheddar, on the TV he added an egg yolk to the cheese sauce too but not shown in the recipe.


Have a great day