Shopping, Heat, Kidneys and Fish, Kite Ballet,

I am not sure what is going on at PC Express, but their email said they hadn't any smoked salmon or shrimp. I didn't believe it so I phoned the seafood department, guess what, they had lots of both. Then when I got my order, I had only one carrot. The web site shows 3 carrots (I think) but to be sure I always say I want 3 or 4 carrots. I can probably make do with this carrot as it is fairly large, but.... Maybe it is because they have increased their staff and they are getting a bit slipshod.

Nice to see Kathy again, she is getting so brown as she and her family have been working outside on a major project and it has taken a few weeks. Been a bit hot for that kind of work lately, I certainly couldn't have handled it at any time of my life. I have never been one for a lot of heat unless I was near a pool where I could just fall in. I remember when we were moving down to NC we had a UHaul and it was that kind of temperature. That is what we did, loaded some stuff and then went for a dip in our pool. I miss that pool these days.

Just got a call from VSM saying they could only get me 4 kidneys this week but more next week. Said OK I will be in tomorrow anyway. Need chicken thighs and Italian sausages.Will check out their seafood dept. They have great fish there but it tends to be a tad expensive. It staggers me, these days, cod is one of the most expensive fish. When I was a kid it was one of the cheapest fish you could get. The famous "fish and chips" was always cod, dunno what they use these days. I miss the days when Matt used to cook all the fish we ate (friends joked that we therefore ate fish every night), but he knew a lot more about it than I ever did.

Kathy was mentioning strawberries and later, on Facebook, I saw they had strawberries for sale at Barrie's Asparagus Farm..

Just saw this on Facebook. Absolutely impossible. It must have taken this man years to learn to do this. Matt thoroughly enjoyed it as well.



Much to my surprise, all my friends for whom I purchase asparagus, with one exception, are "asparagussed" out. Even one friend whom I thought was as daft as I am about the stuff. I couldn't believe it. Me, I am thinking of freezing some more and it even crossed my mind to can some more but I only have one Mason jar left and I am not going to go out and buy more, freezing is not the best way of saving it (unless you happen to be a company like Bird's Eye) but it is better than nothing and also, better than the stuff in the stores once the season is over. Not that I ever buy in the stores anyway.

Simple and Citrusy Asparagus Stir-Fry

The trick to this citrusy stir-fry is to get your pan roaring hot before adding the ingredients, which

brings out all of the flavors in the aromatics while keeping the asparagus beautifully bright green and crisp

1 red chile (such as Fresno or Holland), thinly sliced, seeded if you prefer less heat
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 Tbs vegetable oil
1 lb asparagus, trimmed, thinly sliced on a diagonal about ¼" thick
Kosher salt
1 Tbs soy sauce
1 Tbs unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 medium orange, halved
½ cup cilantro leaves with tender stems
1 tsp toasted white sesame seeds

1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high until hot, 3–5 minutes (a drop of water should jump around in the pan). Cook chile, garlic, and oil, stirring constantly, until oil starts to shimmer and garlic just begins to turn golden, 60–90 seconds. Immediately add asparagus; season lightly with salt. Cook, tossing occasionally, until asparagus is just beginning to brown around the edges, about 2 minutes. Add soy sauce, butter, and 1 Tbsp. water and cook, tossing constantly, until asparagus is still crispy yet cooked through and coated in sauce, about 30 seconds longer.

2. Remove pan from heat. Finely grate zest from one-quarter of orange over stir-fry. Squeeze juice from one orange half over and toss once more.

3. Transfer asparagus mixture to a platter. Top with cilantro and sesame seeds. Taste and squeeze more orange juice over if needed.

Servings: 4

Source: Bon Appétit

Have a great day, stay well, stay safe.
 

Cooking Asparagus, Vacations, Sharks,

I am always looking for new recipes and I checked a book on vegetables that I have had since time began. Never looked at it much and certainly not for asparagus. Not a bad recipe in there, but it tells you how to cook asparagus. Tie it up in a bundle, stand upright (heads out of water) and boil for 25 minutes. Horrors, 25 minutes what on earth would you have at the end of that time? Mush? I have tried cooking them standing upright but I wasn't impressed. 3 minutes in boiling water seems to work very well for me. 25 minutes, can't get over it.

We hear the temperature in North Carolina is 106°F at the moment. No wonder some people aren't

stepping outside. I would be glued to the air conditioning. We were in Pennsylvania once in our travel trailer and it was 103°F. All the people on the campsite were taking their chairs and sitting in the stream keeping their feet wet - until someone saw a snake. I can't remember if that was the time when we didn't even have a/c in the car. We drove the New Jersey turnpike and had to keep the windows shut because we were surrounded by traffic, particularly trucks, and the air was horrendous but then it was pretty horrendous inside the car too. Not necessarily on the same trip you understand. We used to spend a fair amount of time at the beach. Today I would not go into the water. These recent shark attacks happened in relatively shallow water. A friend said she was going to the beach for the 4th I recommended she and her family stay out of the water. It really isn't worth it. I gather the sharks are migrating at the moment and this is part of the trouble, I've also heard they are evacuating the beaches.

Wednesday is league bowling again, It seems such a long time since last Thursday.

This recipe was demonstrated on local TV (Canada AM) the other day and featured a chef called Rose Murray who buys her asparagus from Barrie's. I thought it looked delicious but hunting for a picture, I found it was not original to her although she may have made adaptations.


Oven-Roasted Asparagus with Hazelnut Vinaigrette

2 Tbs finely chopped shallots

2 Tbs finely chopped toasted hazelnuts
1 Tbs hazelnut or olive oil
1 Tbs red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 lb (500 g) asparagus, freshly roasted

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the shallots, hazelnuts, hazelnut oil, vinegar and mustard.

2. Transfer the hot, freshly roasted asparagus to a warm platter and spoon the dressing over the top. Toss gently to coat the asparagus with the dressing.

How to Toast Nuts

1. Spread the nuts out on a baking sheet and bake in a 350°F (180°C) oven for about 5 minutes, watching carefully. (In the summer, I use my toaster oven to toast nuts to avoid heating up the kitchen.)

2. When toasting hazelnuts, wrap the warm nuts in a clean tea towel and rub vigorously to remove their loose, brown skins before using. (Don't worry if a few skins are left)

Servings: 2-4

Source: Rose Murray


Have a great day

Hot and Cold.

Monday night the wind was howling around the apartment building and it often gets pretty cool in here when it’s windy. We went round checking windows and it appears the new bedroom windows leak air. That’s nice. I ended up getting a very thick blanket on the bed which I could snuggle under. Tuesday morning when we got up it was worse, the temperature was 64°F or 17.7°C in our living room, and the heat was not working properly. Called the Super and he came and looked at it. He is now scared that the pipes might freeze causing yet another flood – the last lot must have cost them quite a bit when the pipes broke a week or so ago and people got flooded. He said he would phone the office and asked us to do so as well. When I did it turns out that the office is closed and the main woman is on vacation anyway. Sh*t. However, the Super has an emergency number to call which, obviously, he has called and now we have to wait and see. We have the oven on which is helping a little bit. Meanwhile, it is one of the coldest days in this part of Canada with -19°C. Anybody down south got a room they can spare? Maybe we should move into the dragon cave.

Someone finally came in the afternoon, meanwhile the Super had opened the zone control wide manually. Made a bit of difference.The young man said basically that there was nothing wrong with the heating but that the system was old and the weather was bitterly cold and it just couldn’t cope. It’s much better here anyway, having had the oven on all day. It really is bad out today with the howling winds which don’t seem to stop. The wind chill is between –30°C and -40°C and there have been warnings all over the radio and TV. The local schools either side of us are closed. I feel so sorry for the birds and animals. I saw a squirrel’s dray with a lid of snow yesterday, I wonder if that would keep them warm? Tonight it is going to be -23°C. I will be using my big blanket again.

Having written that, another young man turned up and he is working on the zone control. No I don't really know what this all means, I need Tina's Engineer!

This tip turned up on Facebook today. Sadly no pots. What a good idea though.


Here’s a somewhat different way to prepare shrimp which I found on WebMD’s website today.

Jasmine Green Tea Shrimp

By The Healthy Apple
WebMD Recipe

from Foodily.com

 Ingredients

2 quarts water
1 ounce jasmine green loose tea leaves
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tablespoons ghee
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 ounce fresh ginger, thinly sliced
1/4 cup fresh basil, finely chopped
1 pound fresh rainbow Swiss chard, roughly chopped
1 pound fresh kale, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon black sesame seeds
2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
sea salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. In a large stockpot, bring water to a boil. Add tea and shrimp; cook for 4 minutes or until shrimp are opaque.
2. Remove from heat; set aside to cool.
3. In a skillet over medium heat, add ghee, garlic, ginger and basil. Cook for 1 minute; add Swiss chard and kale; cook for 3 minutes.
4. Remove from heat; transfer to a serving dish. Serve shrimp atop greens, sprinkle with sesame seeds and a drizzle of white balsamic vinegar.
5. Enjoy!

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.