Fish Sex, Weather and Dinner.

Here’s a strange story. I found on Sunday morning. People in Hampshire, England have been complaining about a noise which is keeping some of them awake at night. After spending lots of time investigating this with no results, it turns out that, in all likelihood, it is being caused by mating Midshipman Fish. The article describes the noise as being like a dial tone which, if you play the video, you will find it really does. If you got a lot of them making that noise I would imagine it could really cause a problem.



The weather doesn’t know what it wants to do at the moment. Saturday morning it was snowing really hard for a while but luckily it didn’t settle on the ground. In the afternoon it was brilliant sunshine. We were slightly worried when we saw the snow as we had dinner guests coming. However, it was fine. Despite a couple of goofs on our part, Matt forgot to put the potatoes in to bake and I, trying to turn up the crock pot actually turned it off, so when I put the dumplings in it wasn’t really hot enough. However, they weren’t too bad and I zapped the potatoes in the microwave for a while and then put them in the toaster oven to finish off. We served Pumpkin Soup, (no crackers, it drives me crazy if I make a soup and someone loads it with crackers, might as well have water), then Steak Elisabetta with Mustard Dumplings finishing off with Almond Rice Pudding. Nobody left anything so I presume they enjoyed the meal.

Here is a recipe which I found at Cooking.com. My original recipe comes from a cookbook I have had for 50 years. Unfortunately the picture is black and white. I have published this recipe before but I am not sure when. The addition of the vinegar and mustard in the stew and the mustard in the dumplings gives it a very interesting flavour. I, of course, use Colman’s dry mustard.

Steak Elisabetta and Mustard Dumplings

Contributed By: Benjamin, CA

Yield: 4 Servings


RECIPE INGREDIENTS
Steak
2 lbs. Chuck steak or similar cut into pieces
2 tbsp. Flour
½ tsp. Salt
¼ tsp. Pepper
1 oz. Shortening (I used Canola oil)
2 Medium onions, peeled and sliced
3 Medium carrots, sliced
¾ pint Stock/red wine/water as preferred
1 tbsp. Vinegar
½ tsp. Dry mustard
Dumplings
4 oz. Self-raising flour
½ tsp. Salt
½ tsp. Dry mustard
2 oz Shredded suet (or 1 oz. butter or substitute)

DIRECTIONS
Steak
Coat meat in flour seasoned with salt, pepper and mustard.
Heat fat in a pan and lightly brown onions and then meat.
Add carrots, stir in stock/wine/water, vinegar and bring to boil.
Turn into a casserole and cook in a slow oven (180 ?) for 1½-2 hrs.
30 mins. before steak is ready, drop dumplings on top of meat, cover tightly and cook for a further 30 mins.
Dumplings
Sift together flour, salt and mustard.
Add suet or rub in butter.
Mix to a dry dough with 3-4 tbsp. cold water, then shape into small balls (they will rise and expand).

Have a great day

Jaan Pehechaan Ho, Dinner Party, Bowling.

I have been wondering for a while about a Heineken beer commercial which plays on our TVs, there is a song in it which I really like. Turns out, after a little research it is Hindi and is Jaan Pehechaan Ho which apparently means “to be known”. I found a video of a dance to this song, somewhat odd choreography but the music itself really appeals to me. It makes me want to dance. You may not like it, I don’t think Matt does.

Dinner on Saturday night seemed to work very well although one of our friends was unable to make it at the last minute due to a migraine. Horrible things. Luckily one seems to grow out of them. My mother did and I have done so too. For starters we served Convent Eggs which we are particularly fond of and then Cold Quinoa Salad for the main course. All plates were emptied so that is a good sign.

I wonder how bowling will go today, I would like to think I would do as well as Friday, but doubt I will be that lucky. I decided to use the disappearing cat instead of my usual bowling pictures. I always think of this as a Cheshire cat although I think it’s the one from Alice in Wonderland. Having been born in Cheshire, I identify with it. That reminds me, I came across an interview with Satima (Satima’s Blogspot) which I had completely forgotten about and have now posted a link in the information section about me on the right. This happened in 2009 and it had slipped my mind. I was quite interested to read what I had said LOL.

I am delighted to report that my meringues turned out beautifully. I usually don’t have a lot of success with them, so I am patting myself on the back. The three flowers turned out OK too although I got a bit too much egg white on them I think. I must get myself a suitable brush to do that again. One can crystallise many flowers, but I don’t see the point of doing one’s you can’t eat. For the dessert on Saturday I did a Ginger Pudding which was quite different from any I had seen before, I have no idea where I got the recipe, but I have since seen a version of it on another blog. Sadly when I unmoulded the dessert it didn’t keep its shape so I ended up putting it in individual dishes. As I only had the three flowers, I had to halve a couple of them. I served the meringues at the same time. However, the dessert was delicious just the same.

Ginger Pudding

3 cups milk, divided
1/3 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger
2/3 cup sugar
3 Tbs cornstarch
dash of salt
3 large egg yolks
1 Tbs butter
1 tsp grated lemon rind
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Combine 2 1/2 cups milk and ginger in a medium saucepan; bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; let stand 5 minutes.

2. Combine 1/2 cup milk, sugar, cornstarch, salt, and egg yolks in a medium bowl, and stir with a whisk until well-blended. Gradually stir one-fourth of the hot milk mixture into egg mixture; add to remaining milk mixture, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook 1 minute or until thick and creamy, stirring constantly. Remove mixture from heat; stir in butter, rind, and vanilla. Pour into a bowl; cover surface of the pudding with plastic wrap. Chill.

Servings: 6

Have a great day

Dinner Party

Tonight we have friends coming over for dinner which should be a fun evening. We are doing several recipes which I have posted here before, Asparagus in Phyllo Bundles for hors d'oeuvres, Herbed Orange Pork Tenderloin with Goat Cheese Potato Purée and Spicy Cabbage. Finally for dessert I am doing Mint Chocolate Freeze. I don't have permission to post that recipe, but when I do, I will put it in the blog. I was making it today and it seemed pretty good to me, but then its chocolate, what more can I say. It certainly isn't diet food with cream and eggs, chocolate and nuts, Philly cheese and chocolate Graham cracker crust. I ought to be good and not touch it, but guess what? I made it, I'll eat it.

Yesterday it was so very hot here and is supposed to be hot today as well. Very odd, a few days ago we were almost shivering and now it is up in the high 80's with a humidex of around 100 F. Heat I don't mind, humidity tends to knock me for six. We have even had the air conditioner on.

Oil has shot up again according to the news last night, $11 a barrel. I cannot understand why Canada buys oil outside the country, we have lots of our own, but I don't pretend to be up in economics. I have never seen a poor gas company and from the pictures of diamond cars, I don't think the oil sheiks are suffering too much either. It seems that the oil rich companies are holding us all to ransom at the moment and I cannot figure why we don't do something about it. Alternate fuels are available, but have never come into general use. Luckily we personally don't do much mileage any more, unless we go on vacation, and we are getting reluctant to do that.

There was another asparagus recipe published yesterday by Rachel on her blog Fresh Approach Cooking (see link) which looked pretty good and I will have to try it. Oh dear, Father's Day is fast approaching bringing the end of asparagus season with it.

The following recipe is named after a friend's husband's mother. If there is any concern about raw eggs and salmonella in your area, I suggest you don't make the cake. However, if you do make it, I assure you it is delicious. It would also be a good cake for those with celiac disease, no flour.

Tony's Mother's Chocolate Cake

Servings: 8-10

10 oz caster sugar (most regular sugar in North America is about the same grind as caster sugar)
10 oz unsalted butter
10 oz melted good chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa)
9 egg yolks
5 egg whites

Method - make 24 hours in advance

Cream yolks and sugar for 15 minutes in mixer. Mix butter with melted chocolate and add. Beat egg whites until stiff and fold in.

Bake two thirds of the mixture in a well-greased, push-up square tin, line with greaseproof (wax) paper, at 300F or 150C. for 1 1/2 hrs. Allow to cool.

Pile raw mixture on top. Put in fridge to set and serve the following day.

Have a great day.