Mountains, Elephants in London, Spam,

The current Windows 10 Lock Screen shows snow topped mountains. Looking at the picture, it occurred to me that I have never seen real mountains. Or if I did I was too young to remember. I should put that on my bucket list, they are so majestic. Although, unlike the two fellers in The Bucket List (Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson,  I can't afford to go see the Himalayas and even if I could, I no longer have the ability to climb them. That is one of my favourite films by the way. Matt's too.  Also those actors are two of my favourites.. I thought they were wonderful in this movie. The Rockies are probably more in my reach these days. I started thinking about this some more and remembered that I had seen the fjords of Norway and Norway has mountains. I don't remember seeing them although  the fjords are extremely high. Same in, what was, Yugoslavia. Fjords and what I would describe as high hills

If my typing appears weird, it's the Lyrica. I am getting to be a bit zombie like, if this continues I will be stopping them.

Came across and email from World Wild Life Fund - Ahead of the London Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade later this week, we're making some noise with a life-size elephant travelling around London. Although normally found on the plains of Africa, we've released this majestic elephant hologram as part of our Stop Wildlife Trafficking campaign, which is supported by players of People's Postcode Lottery. I would think this would really make you Stop and Think. Look at the size of that thing. There is a London  Double Decker Bus in the background.

I have been spammed lately and I was thinking, what is the point of sending silly, meaningless messages to someone's blog. Seems daft to me.

I thought this looked good, I don't use my slow cooker nearly enough, it is rather large. I wonder what they use to make this look shiny, olive oil sprinkled over top perhaps?

Slow cooker Spanish chicken

1 Spanish onion halved and sliced
12 large bone-in chicken thighs, skin removed
225 g pack chorizo picante, thickly sliced
3 pack pack fmixed colour peppers, cut into chunks
150 g (drained weight) pitted Spanish pimento stuffed green olives
300 ml dry white wine (serve the rest of the bottle with the meal)
300 ml chicken stock
1 Tbs tomato purée

1. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large frying pan. Fry 1 sliced Spanish onion for about 5 mins until golden.

2. Tip into the slow cooker pot (we used a 6.5-litre model), then fry 12 large bone-in skinless chicken thighs and 225g thickly sliced chorizo picante in the same pan until starting to colour – you will need to do this in two batches.

3. Add to the slow cooker with 3 mixed colour peppers, cut into chunks and 150g pitted Spanish pimento stuffed green olives.

4. Tip 300ml dry white wine, 300ml chicken stock and 1 tbsp tomato purée into the pan.

5. Scrape up any bits stuck to the bottom, then tip into the slow cooker, cover and cook on Low for 6 hrs.

Servings: Source: BBC Good Food.



Have a great day
 

Unbeleivable, Cold. Polar Bear, Elephants.

Everyone tells me, if you need it, ask for help. So, it being Twelfth Night today I am planning to take down the decorations. We have a bunch of storage boxes and a locker room. Getting the boxes will not be easy for me with a cane, taking them back will be nigh on impossible. Our superintendent is well aware Matt has a broken bone in his foot so Friday afternoon I asked him if he could help me put them back. His response "What are you going to pay me? I don't work for free". I couldn't believe it. I was telling everyone at exercise class and one of the women said she had a flat cart and would come and help me. I think our new instructor was about to offer as well. We all thought our super was such a nice guy, but one of our instructors was a temp and didn't have a key. She rang the super and he said he was not a doorman!! He wouldn't let her in. All he needed to do was press a button on his phone. I know there is a lot to take care of in this building but..... I must admit I was a bit upset.

Hope all of you are keeping warm. We were watching the squirrels outside the windows of our party room where we exercise. All of us wondering how the poor little beggars keep warm. It is frigid here, more than we, who are used to the cold winters, are prepared for. Not only that, if the wind is in a certain direction, you would almost think we didn't have windows. The electricity costs must rise to great heights during such weather. This cold weather would be useful up north to freeze the ice for  the polar bears. I do hope it is helping them. That video of a starving polar bear dying was really upsetting.


One good piece of news, China, the biggest ivory market, has banned the sale of ivory. I am sure there will still be a black market, but it should make some difference to the slaughter of elephants.

This recipe is full of things you can buy already prepared.

Steak with Mixed Olive Tapenade, Butternut Squash and Green Beans

1 (12-oz.) pkg. steam-in-bag frozen butternut squash (such as Archer Farms)
3/4 tsp kosher salt, divided
2 oz pitted marinated olives, finely chopped (about 3 tablespoons)
3 Tbs minced shallot
3 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 Tbs fresh orange juice, divided
1 Tbs red wine vinegar
1 tsp grated orange rind
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1 (8-oz.) pkg. haricots verts (French green beans)
2 oz pre-spiralized red beets
Cooking spray
1 (1-lb.) flank steak, halved lengthwise
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 Tbs chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1. Cook squash according to package directions. Place squash in a bowl; stir in 1/4 teaspoon salt.

2. Combine olives, shallot, 2 tablespoons oil, 1 tablespoon juice, vinegar, rind, and crushed red pepper in a bowl.

3. Bring a large saucepan filled with water to a boil. Add haricots verts; cook until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Place beets in a colander; drain haricots verts over beets. Place mixture in a bowl. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil and remaining 1 tablespoon juice; toss.

4. Heat a grill pan or large skillet over high; coat with cooking spray. Sprinkle steak with black pepper and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add steak to pan; cook to desired degree of doneness, 4 to 5 minutes per side for medium-rare. Place steak on a cutting board; let stand 5 minutes. Cut across the grain into thin slices.

5. Divide butternut squash, haricots verts mixture, and steak among 4 plates. Top steak evenly with olive mixture. Sprinkle servings evenly with parsley.

Servings: 4

Source: COOKING LIGHT

Author Notes
This bountiful plate comes together in a snap thanks to savvy finds from the supermarket like frozen precooked butternut squash, olives from the olive bar, and spiralized beets (available in the produce section). If you can’t find the beets, you can add 1/3 cup precooked, sliced beets to the cooked and drained green beans. Cutting the steak in half will also speed up cooking; be sure to let it rest a few minutes before slicing.

Have a great day
 

Elephants,

This is an incredible video about elephants. Their emotions, their loyalties and the disturbing results of what we euphemistically call culling  If you click on the link below, it will take you to this incredible video story which appeared on Facebook. I do hope you will take the time to watch this. It is both enlightening and heartening.

Post by Nik Barratt Wildlife Photography.

A delightful looking recipe from Closet Cooking by Kevin Lynch who produces the most extraordinary recipes in his tiny kitchen.

Miso Glazed Black Cod on Baby Bok Choy and Shiitake Mushrooms

Prep Time: 10 minutes Marinate Time: 72 hours Cook Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 20 minutes 

Servings: 4

Buttery soft black cod in a simple and tasty miso marinade that melts in your mouth taking your taste buds on a trip to heaven.

ingredients

For the miso glazed black cod:

• 1/3 cup white miso
• 1/3 cup sake
• 1/3 cup mirin
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 4 (6 ounce) black cod fillets or chilean sea bass, salmon, etc

For the baby bok choy and shiitake mushrooms:

• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 pound baby bok choy, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 8 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/4 cup dashi or broth or water
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

directions

For the miso glazed black cod:

1. Mix the miso, sake, mirin, and sugar, heat in a sauce pan over medium heat until the sugar has melted and the miso has mixed in smoothly, about 5 minutes, before letting it cool.
2. Marinate the fish in 2/3 of the marinade in a sealed container in the fridge for 30 minutes to overnight or optimally for 2-3 days.
3. Place the fish on a greased baking sheet and bake in a preheated 400F oven until the fish just starts to flake, about 8-10 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish, turn the oven up to broil and let it broil until deeply golden brown on top, about 2-3 minutes.

For the baby bok choy and shiitake mushrooms:

4. Heat the oil in a pan over medium-high heat add the bok choy stems and shiitake mushrooms, cook until soft, about 2-3 minutes, add the garlic, saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds, add the bok choy leaves, dashi and soy sauce and simmer until the leaves have wilted, remove from heat and mix in the sesame oil.
5. Serve the fish on a bed of the baby bok choy and shiitake mushrooms drizzled with the the remaining marinade and optionally garnished with green onions and/or sesame seeds.

Note: For optimal flavour marinate the fish for 2-3 days but if you are in a hurry, overnight or while you are at work or 30 minutes or even just brushing the marinade on the fish and broiling right away will work, but with less flavour.
Option: Use honey or other sweetener rather than the brown sugar if desired but the brown sugar brings the hint of molasses umami.
Note: If you use broth or water to braise the bok choy you may want to add a teaspoon fish sauce for that extra kick of umami.
Note: If I was making the baby bok choy and shiitake mushrooms as a side dish without the miso marinade for flavour, I would add more soy sauce and maybe some oyster sauce for more flavour.

Have a great day
 

Baby Elephant, Nova

African Lion Safari have done it again. They have a new baby elephant, three weeks old, called Chuck after the elephant handler in a New York zoo. The baby is an Asian elephant and they are on the endangered list apparently. The mother elephant, Mali, is from the New York zoo but I gather she was bred by the Safari people. She has been lent to Canada for the birth making Chuck a third generation elephant born in Canada.There is a video of the original Chuck Doyle on this page which you might like to see. On local TV and in the newspapers there are all kinds of pictures of the baby elephant. On the African Lion Safari website there are a whole bunch of videos including one of Chuck which you can download to play on your PC. click here. Matt used to work at the African Lion Safari as a security officer - a few years ago now - and he still misses the sound of the lions at night. They had a baby elephant there then too which I got to see. They have an incredible successful elephant programme. On the African Lion Safari site there is a video of cheetahs at play, we got to meet some cheetahs there a few years ago. They were being socialised and we went right in the pens with them. Read my blog from December 22, 2007 if you are interested in seeing the pictures. We watched Nova Science Now last night. There was another segment on aging. Scientists now seem to believe that really old healthy people have a "longevity" gene. It has been discovered that high HDL (good cholesterol) and a section of DNA known as Sir2 helps preserve test specimens and mice in a healthy condition click here for a lot longer than normal. Back to the "how long do you want to live" question which we discussed a few months ago. They were also talking about Resveratrol again, which, if you recall, comes from red wine. It too helps prevent aging but not by drinking the wine, you would need 10,000 glasses a day. But there will be a pill. In fact there are already pills on the market but I am not sure how good genuine they are. There were all kinds of seniors from lat 80's through to one man who was 101. A lot of them are participating in tests to discover what keeps them alive so long. Its not diet or lack of smoking, several of them eat the wrong foods and some of them still smoke. The other two main segments dealt with Space. Trying to build an elevator into space which would be some 22,000 miles high and spotting Mayan ruins from space. The first is something they think can and will be done one day, there are lots of people working on the project, amateurs for the most part. There is a $150,000 prize at stake. The second, satellites can pinpoint changes in appearance in the greenery which turns out to be obscuring Mayan ruins, so they are now able to find them relatively easily in the tropical jungles. Relatively is the operative word here, it is still quite difficult to get to the ruins even now they know where to find them. Both segments can be seen at the same link as shown above. Today we not only have to do our weekly shop, but we are both going to "get our ears lowered" - haircuts. We have been waiting a while as they were extra busy at the beauty shop with people off sick, etc. My hair feels as though I could braid it. We used to like to eat in the Outback restaurants in the States (the one here is not so good IMHOP) and would frequently order coconut shrimp. Following is a similar recipe which I thought you might enjoy. I got the recipe of the internet, but I am afraid I don't remember where from now. It is actually a very easy recipe. Coconut Shrimp with Dipping Sauce Serves: 6 Coconut shrimp: 12 colossal shrimp (10 shrimp to the pound), peeled and butterflied 2 C. sweetened long-grain coconut 1/4 C. Japanese bread crumbs (panko) 1 C. flour Asian Dipping Sauce: 1/2 C. teriyaki sauce 1/2 C. soy sauce 1/2 C. rice vinegar 1 bunch scallions, sliced fine 1 t. grated fresh ginger 1 T. toasted sesame seeds Coconut shrimp: Combine coconut and bread crumbs in a shallow dish. Put flour and eggs in separate, shallow dishes. Dip shrimp first in flour, then egg mixture, then bread crumb-coconut mix, coating well with each element. Place shrimp, no more than three at a time, into deep fat that has been brought to 350 degrees in a deep-fat fryer. When shrimp begin to turn a golden color, about 4 minutes, remove from fryer and drain. Servings: 6 (two shrimp per person as an appetizer). Asian Dipping Sauce: Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl. Refrigerate until ready to use. Have a great day.