Saturday Supper, League, Oscars,

Saturday supper I tried out a new recipe for lamb chops with an olive sauce. What a waste of time. We were disappointed. That will certainly never make it to our "to be done again" list. Pity, 'cos it sounded good. It's a nuisance when you have spent a fair amount of time following a recipe and it turns out to be no good. Not happened to me often, thank goodness.

An odd thing happened to me at the end of last week, I got an email asking if I wanted to sell this blog. The company sounded genuine, but I really don't know what it was they wanted. Weird I thought. Once I am away from this blog it isn't the same blog and I assume those of you who followed me wouldn't continue to follow a company blog. Not only that, I would then want to start another blog anyway. So what's the point?

Did you watch the Oscars? As we are completely out of touch with movies these days, we certainly didn't. I don't know who any of the artists are any more and certainly don't know anything about the movies. I have always been more interested in the banquets they serve after. Particularly the things offered by Wolfgang Puck. I read his offerings for this year, they sound delicious. Other years I have seen some of his recipes and even tried one or two, but not see them this year.

Today of course is our Monday League and I hope I can bowl well. Guess I try too hard on Mondays. I should just relax and enjoy it.

I have often seen recipes for cooking lettuce one way or another, but never tried it. I thought this one looked good though. So maybe I will have a go.

Vietnamese Style Grilled Romaine With Feta

Chef Bill Kim uses fresh minced chiles in his bigger batch of nuoc cham in Korean BBQ. This recipe calls for crushed red pepper for convenience, since it's only 1/8 teaspoon in our adaptation.

3 romaine lettuce hearts, halved lengthwise
2 Tbs olive oil
4 tsp water
2 tsp light brown sugar
2 tsp fresh lime juice
2 tsp fish sauce
1/4 tsp minced garlic
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper
1 oz feta cheese, crumbled (about 1/4 cup)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1. Preheat grill to medium-high (about 450°F).

2. Brush romaine halves evenly with oil. Place lettuce, cut sides down, on grates; grill 1 minute and 30 seconds. Turn lettuce; grill until lightly charred, about 1 minute and 30 seconds.

3. Place lettuce on a platter. Stir together 4 teaspoons water and next 5 ingredients (though red pepper) in a small bowl until sugar dissolves. Drizzle over lettuce. Top with cheese and cilantro.

Servings: 6

Source: Cooking Light

Have a great day
 

Bowling, Giant Icicles, Alarm Checks. Oscars.

I was so busy feeling sorry for myself on Friday, I forgot to tell you how well I bowled. I was quite chuffed. Matt too had a good game. The same cannot be said for our Monday bowling, there were only 3 on the team and we all bowled badly. Matt had one good game, but that was it. There really is no rhyme or reason for it. It’s also very frustrating. Ah well. We have our travel league on Thursday and will be meeting some of the others for lunch at Angel’s. Not being a real league, it honestly doesn’t matter how you bowl which often means one bowls better then. I always remember my first 600 triple was when I was bowling for charity and it didn’t matter a damn what I did.

This is a season for giant icicles and there is one causing concern on an apartment building in Saskatoon. Neighbours are worried it will break off and crash into their basement apartment. It has now been ordered to be taken down, nothing has yet been done other than looking at the situation. It doesn’t look too unsafe to me, but that’s only a photo. I would think the thing would just thaw and melt away, it doesn’t really look like an icicle anyway does it? We had icicles on our balcony this year, don’t ever remember seeing them before. They disappeared, not sure if they fell or melted, but either way, they’re gone.

Today they were testing the fire alarms in the building. I don’t know what they do or how they do it, but it drives you nuts because the bells are ringing every few minutes. They also are checking the fire alarms in all the apartments which hasn’t been done for a long while, and then only once since we’ve been here. In fact they have said one of ours is dead and they will be replacing it. We check batteries every year when the clocks change. We have a bell right outside our door and I got caught just as I was leaving they started it ringing, nearly knocked my ears off.

You will gather we didn’t watch the Oscars Sunday night, from what I have heard, not such a bad thing. Its the first time I haven’t watched in a very long time. Just wasn’t in the mood. I read one criticism that the show was sexist and misogynistic. I don’t know, the Good Morning America people seemed full of it all and they all went down to take part in the whole thing. I hadn’t even heard of the movie in which the best actress won her Oscar. Didn’t know the actress either. Not very surprising, I don’t keep up with movies much. Bet the Ninja Captain knew all about it.

This is a recipe right up my street. I probably would reduce the sugar a bit more, but not too much.

Japanese Chicken-Scallion Rice Bowl

Source: © EatingWell Magazine

4 servings, 1 1/2 cups each

Here's the quintessence of Japanese home cooking: an aromatic, protein-rich broth served over rice. Admittedly, Japanese cooking leans heavily on sugar - for a less traditional taste, you could reduce or even omit the sugar.
INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups instant brown rice

1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon mirin (see Ingredient note)

2 large egg whites

1 large egg

8 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

6 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced

Ingredient note
Mirin is a low-alcohol rice wine essential to Japanese cooking. Look for it in your supermarket with the Asian or gourmet ingredients. An equal portion of sherry or white wine with a pinch of sugar may be substituted for mirin.

DIRECTIONS

Prepare instant brown rice according to package directions.

Pour broth into a heavy medium saucepan, along with sugar, soy sauce and mirin. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low.

Stir egg whites and whole egg in a small bowl until just mixed. Add chicken to the simmering broth. Gently pour in the egg mixture, without stirring. Sprinkle scallions on top. When the egg starts to firm up, after about 3 minutes, stir it with chopsticks or a knife. (The chicken will be cooked by now). Divide the rice among 4 deep soup bowls and top with the chicken mixture.

Have a great day

Oscars, UK Food, Lego Man.

They announced the contenders in the Oscars the other day and this year I found I couldn’t be less interested, I didn’t really know any of the movies so I don’t really care what’s nominated. That may not stop me sitting up til all hours to watch the actual award show although I don’t know what’s happening. We shall see. If you are not feeling similarly disinterested, you can go to the Oscar page and see the full list. Getting that link, I see that one movie I know about is listed, The Artist. That is a silent movie at which people have asked for their money back because they can’t hear the dialogue. I know, I mentioned that before, but it’s a story that amuses me.

I missed out on Burns Day yesterday didn’t I? Not that I think anyone would want a recipe for Haggis. I’ve never had the opportunity to try it although I would love to. I’ll put it on my bucket list. I wonder if the Canadian version would taste as good as the original. I know black pudding here tastes dry and horrible, even in the UK they have generally tried to make it healthy, which is a crime. I did find a butcher who sold the original black pudding last time we were there, deeelicious. Someone mentioned white pudding, never tried that either. In fact I had never heard of it when living in England. Don’t really know what it is, guess I should Google it. It turns out it is an oatmeal pudding very similar to black pudding but doesn’t contain any blood. Something I didn’t know, there are a lot more puddings in the UK than I was aware of. Guess I don’t know the land of my birth as well as I think I do.

Matt has been saying for years that he would not go to Mexico if you paid him. We keep hearing details of people being beaten up; a Winnipeg woman was beaten up last weekend and there has been a headline on CBC talking of an Ontario man who says he was beaten viciously in the same area near a 5 star resort. I have heard it said that if you stay on the resort its OK, but these people seem to have been beaten on the resort. As Matt says, criminals will go anywhere.

Two Toronto teens are in the news at the moment for having sent a Lego man into space - it was carried by balloons; on board were four cameras. Apparently the Lego man reached 80,000 ft. (3 times the height of a cruising jetliner) before falling back to earth 97 minutes after being launched and the interesting video footage taken by the cameras is shown in the article with explanations by the two young men who built the whole set up.

A traditional thing to serve on Burns Night is Atholl Brose, you can still make it even if Burns Night has passed. New Years or Hogmanay is another traditional time for this. I tried making it once and wasn’t unduly impressed. Whether I didn’t do it right or what, I’m not sure.

Atholl Brose Syllabub

I have included the 8th Duke of Atholl's recipe.

Ingredients for Atholl Brose:
75 g oatmeal
2 Tbs liquid heather honey
whisky to make up 1 quart (2 pints)
450 ml cold water

1. Put the oatmeal into a bowl and mix it with the water until it is a thick paste, then let it stand for 30 minutes, after which pass it through a fine strainer, pressing down with a wooden spoon to expel the last of the liquid. Throw away the dry oatmeal and mix the liquid with the clear heather honey, stirring with a silver spoon until it is well blended. Pour the mixture into a quart bottle and fill up with whisky, cork it well and always shake the bottle before pouring. It can also be used as a dessert (Atholl Brose Syllabub), by adding about 4 tablespoons Athol Brose to 4 tall glasses, topping with sweetened whipped cream, and sprinkling with lightly toasted oatmeal mixed with a little ground nutmeg.

Servings: 4

Recipe # 2
This one I have just found on the internet sounds much better to me, it has cream in it after all:

This easy to make Atholl Brose recipe can be made in a few minutes and can be made on the day it is to be drunk but tastes much better if stored for a week.

Ingredients For Atholl Brose

One bottle of Scotch whisky
10 fluid ounces (Half Pint) of double cream
450g of clear Scottish honey
The whites of six large eggs
One handful of fine ground oatmeal

Directions To Make Atholl Brose

1. Soak the oatmeal with the Scotch whisky and set aside.
2. Beat the egg whites until they become stiff.
3. Fold the cream into the egg white mixture.
4. Add the honey.
5. Blend in the whisky and oatmeal mixture at a slow but steady pace.
6. Pour the liquid into some bottles and set aside for one week. Shake each bottle of Atholl Brose each day.

Have a great day

Oscars, Heartthrobs, Movie.

It appears The King’s Speech is leading for Oscar nominations with the rest of the film categories as follows”

• Facebook tale The Social Network
• Dance thriller Black Swan
• Boxing drama The Fighter
• Sci-fi blockbuster Inception
• Contemporary family drama The Kids Are All Right
• True-life survival tale 127 Hours
• Animated tale Toy Story 3
• Revamped western True Grit
• Ozarks crime thriller Winter's Bone

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/arts/film/story/2011/01/25/oscar-nominations.html#ixzz1C5XP9iXf

I haven’t yet seen The King’s Speech but everyone says it’s a great movie, not sure how many say that because they are so enamoured of Colin Firth, LOL. I must say from what I have seen on TV it looks like a good movie. George VI came to the throne before I was born, but I remember him very well in later years. I certainly never knew for years that he had a stutter, I only learned about it long after he was dead.

Talking of Colin Firth, I had no idea who he was when lots of friends were talking about him in throbbing voices *g*, however, I then discovered I have seen him in lots of movies including Nanny McFee which I watched again last night. I hadn’t realised that was Colin Firth and I had seen the movie before. Until I saw the credits last night, I still didn’t know. I am afraid I don’t agree with the statement “the greatest specimen of manhood to walk this earth” which is the way one friend described him. Anyway, I have now arranged to see The King’s Speech tonight with a friend, so I can tell you what I think of the movie.

Not only did I think this looked different, I thought it looked delicious. I suspect we would use the goat cheese as Matt is not to keen on Gorgonzola although I love it.

Caramelized Onion Lasagna

From EatingWell: May/June 2008

This unusual lasagna with portobello mushrooms, sweet onions, spinach and Gorgonzola cheese has a rich, complex flavor. It's also great with goat cheese instead of Gorgonzola, if you prefer.

9 servings

Ingredients

Caramelized Onion Lasagna

• 8 ounces lasagna noodles, preferably whole-wheat

Caramelized Onion Filling

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 large sweet onions, thinly sliced (about 10 cups; see Kitchen Tip)
• 4 medium portobello mushroom caps, gills removed (see Kitchen Tip), diced
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Spinach & Cheese Filling

• 4 cups baby spinach
• 2 cups nonfat ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

White Sauce & Topping

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups low-fat milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 ounces crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

Preparation

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook noodles until not quite al dente, about 2 minutes less than the package directions. Drain; return the noodles to the pot and cover with cool water.
2. To prepare onion filling: Meanwhile, heat 3 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring frequently, until golden brown and very soft, about 25 minutes. (If they begin to stick, add water 1/4 cup at a time to release them and prevent burning.) Add mushrooms and cook, stirring, until just beginning to soften, about 3 minutes. Add wine and 1 teaspoon salt and continue cooking until most of the liquid is absorbed, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in pepper.
3. To prepare spinach filling: Place spinach, ricotta, basil and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a food processor and process until smooth.
4. To prepare white sauce: Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add flour and stir until bubbling, about 30 seconds. Gradually whisk in milk and 1/2 teaspoon salt and bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Cook, whisking, until the sauce has the consistency of thick gravy, about 1 minute. Add Gorgonzola and gently whisk until it is melted. Remove from the heat. (The sauce will continue to thicken as it sits.)
5. To assemble lasagna: Preheat oven to 375°F. Coat a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
6. Drain the noodles and spread out on a kitchen towel. Spread 1/2 cup white sauce in the prepared pan. Place a layer of noodles over the sauce. Spread half of the spinach filling over the noodles and top with one-third of the onion filling. Evenly spread 1/2 cup white sauce over the onions. Repeat with another layer of noodles, the remaining spinach filling, half the remaining onion filling and half the remaining white sauce. To finish, top with a third layer of noodles, spread the remaining onion filling over the noodles and then spread or dollop the remaining white sauce on top. Sprinkle with walnuts and basil.
7. Bake until hot and bubbling, about 30 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Nutrition

Per serving : 345 Calories; 14 g Fat; 3 g Sat; 7 g Mono; 9 mg Cholesterol; 39 g Carbohydrates; 16 g Protein; 8 g Fiber; 680 mg Sodium; 514 mg Potassium

2 Carbohydrate Serving

Exchanges: 1 1/2 starch, 2 vegetable, 1 medium-fat meat, 2 fat

Tips & Notes

• Make Ahead Tip: Cover and refrigerate the caramelized onion filling (Step 2) for up to 1 day.

• Kitchen Tip: Onions contain a volatile compound called lachrymator that reacts with the fluid in your eyes and makes them water. To chop them without crying, try wearing goggles, burning a candle nearby or cutting them under cold water. To mellow the bite of a raw onion, soak it for an hour in 1 cup cold water, 1/4 cup vinegar and 1/2 teaspoon salt and then rinse thoroughly.
• Kitchen Tip: The dark gills found on the underside of a portobello mushroom cap are edible, but can turn a dish an unappealing gray/black color. Remove the gills with a spoon, if desired.

Have a great day

Canadian Currency, Movies and Oscars.

Monday at 12:10 a.m. I stayed up til midnight. The big surprise winning film was The Hurt Locker, I think everyone expected Avatar to win. Sandra Bullock won best actress and Jeff Bridges for best actor.

My apologies for the lack of blog on Saturday. Matt has been having a few health problems and has been put on Warfarin or Cumoden which has to be monitored carefully. Also, I mentioned last time it happened, I think, that he had these really severe shakes involving his whole body. We thought they had gone away, but they started up again on Thursday which is why we ended up in Emergency (8 hours this time) in the end they decided there really wasn't a lot they could do for him but they did agree that it wasn't an Anxiety attack which had been posited as the cause for these major tremors. He got two more attacks of these tremors on Friday. The hospital are referring him to the neurologist he saw before. Whilst in the hospital they did a urine test which showed traces of blood (the Warfarin) then on Friday afternoon he got a lot more than traces so Saturday morning we hi tailed it to the family doc (no appointments on Saturdays) and sat there a couple of hours. She is referring him to the cardiologist he has been seeing. Docs to the right of us surgeons to the left of us!!!!

Whilst at the docs, I asked for two scrips for orthotics which we get subsidised by our insurances and was horrified to have to pay $25 a piece for them. I thought all prescriptions were free. The doc said our insurance would pay for this, I wonder?

Apparently Canada is planning to switch to plastic dollar bills next year - that should be interesting. I understand from the article I read that several places, Australia in particular, already have a polymer bank note and we will be buying the polymer from Australia. The article says that the polymer bills will be more difficult to forge. A bit later they say that the mint are not disclosing what the bills will look like so that the forgers won't be able to get a head start on copying??? I gather the main point in favour is the durability of the money. I must admit I hate getting tatty old bills in change and get rid of them as fast as I can.

I was writing this on Sunday morning and everything is Oscar, Oscar, Oscar. There are as many speculations as there are people I think. One of the main choices for best film seems to be Avatar but then others are saying some of the smaller, lesser known movies could win. Precious has had a lot of air time and looks like an interesting film. A friend went to see Avatar, without the 3D, and said it was great. I have got to start going to movies on my own, people keep praising stuff and I don't get to see them til many years later. The favourite for best actor is Jeff Bridges they say. One thing that did suprise me, Barbara Walters, whom I have mentioned a couple of times on this blog, does a star interview every year before the Oscars, this year is apparently her last year. I thought she would go on doing these interviews til the bitter end. She is approaching her 81st year so maybe she feels its time to ease back. Another thing I caught this morning, they were doing an interview with Jeff Bridges and apparently he has made a remake of True Grit which originally was a Big John Wayne movie from 1969 - the one time he won an Oscar. Jeff Bridges is playing the John Wayne part of Rooster Cogburn. I wonder if it will work. Seems a shame to me to remake such a classic but it appears they run out of new ideas or something. Saturday night we watched Maid in New York which was a fun romance with Jennifer Lopez. Unfortunately it was on a TV channel which really saturates the movies with ads. I think we were getting 8 minutes of movie and then 10 minutes of ads. It really does ruin the movie. There are a couple of channels which don't have advertising spoiling their shows, but you can't always find what you want to see.

Got this recipe from Becel which is a very healthy margarine we get in Canada, not sure what you would sub in other countries, but Becel has no trans fats and lots of Omega3 in it. I love scallops too which, compared to the prices I remember in Britain, are relatively inexpensive here, even more so in North Carolina of course.

Thai Scallops with Coriander Ingredients:

Prepared coleslaw , for garnish (optional)

.75 lb 375 g fresh or frozen scallops , about 22 2.5 tsp 12 mL Becel margarine with Olive Oil .25 tsp 1 mL Thai red curry paste Salt to taste Squeeze of lime juice 2 tbsp 30 mL coriander, chopped Preparation: 1.Mound coleslaw on a platter, leaving an indentation in centre. In a small bowl, place some decorative toothpicks. 2.If using frozen scallops, thaw. Pat fresh or thawed scallops dry. In a large wide non-stick frying pan, melt 1 tsp (5 mL) Becel over medium-high heat. When bubbling, add half the scallops. Cook until golden brown on one side, about 2 minutes. Turn then continue to cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Remove to a plate and repeat with 1 tsp (5 mL) Becel and remaining scallops. Meanwhile mix remaining 1/2 tsp (2 mL) Becel with Thai curry paste. Return scallops on plate to pan. Add Becel-Thai paste mixture to pan and stir until scallops are coated. Sprinkle with salt. 3.Remove from heat, and place in indentation in coleslaw. Squeeze with lime juice and sprinkle with coriander. 4.Tip: Thai green curry paste also works well in this recipe.

Have a great day

Dying on Camera, Governor's Ball

There was a story on Good Morning America today about Jade Goody a British TV reality programme star who has terminal cancer. She is allowing cameras to follow her around to see the results of her disease and it is believed they will even film her death although her publicist is denying it. This has caused something of a furore in Britain with a lot of people horrified that such a tragic moment in a human life should be put on the screen and trivialised for the amusement of a TV audience. If you would like to read more about this rather peculiar story, read here or for a video both on GMA pages. This weekend I am going to be making Tourtières so I am going to have a busy time of it. You may have heard that the Oscars take place tomorrow. Slumdog Millionaire and Mickey Rourke won the Baftas a couple of weeks ago, I wonder if they will take the Oscars as well. We have always been fascinated by the dishes prepared for the Governor's Ball by German born Wolfgang Puck who owns Spago's, a famous restaurant in California, plus quite a lot of other restaurants scattered around the States. He has a website with lots of recipes on it which I just found and will have to check out some of those recipes. I have tried several he has posted and enjoyed them very much. For the Governor's Ball this year he is serving Slow Braised Short Ribs as well as the risotto posted below. This gives me pictures of all the stars in their gorgeous clothes, up to their ears in sauce. SPRING VEGETABLE RISOTTO Source: Wolfgang Puck (Oscars 2009) 1 lb pencil asparagus, trimmed 4 oz organic spinach, washed, dried, stemmed, blanched, liquid squeezed out 6 Tbs (3/4 stick) unsalted butter 4 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil Kosher salt and freshly ground white pepper 1 Tbs minced garlic 1 Tbs minced shallots 3/4 cup Arborio rice 1/3 cup dry white wine 2- 1/2 to 3 cups organic chicken stock, hot 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese Fried julienne of leeks, optional 1 Cut off 3-inch asparagus tips and reserve. Chop the remaining stalks, blanch, drain well, and transfer to a blender. Add the spinach and process to a puree. Pass through a fine-mesh strainer. Reserve. Blanch the asparagus tips, drain, and sauté in 1 tablespoon each of the butter and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Reserve. 2 In a medium saucepan, heat 3 tablespoons each of the butter and olive oil. Add the garlic and shallots and sauté until soft. Do not brown. 3 Add the rice and sauté until well coated with the oil. 4 Deglaze with the wine and reduce until almost dry. 5 Using a 4-ounce ladle, add one ladle of stock to the rice. Stir the rice over medium heat until the stock is absorbed and the rice is almost dry. 6 Add another ladle of stock and repeat the procedure until you have added a total of 2-1/2 cups of stock, or just until the rice is tender but still firm. 7 Stir in the reserved vegetable puree. 8 Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and the Parmesan cheese. Continue to add stock to the desired consistency. It should be moist and creamy but not runny. Season with salt and pepper. 9 Divide among 4 heated serving plates and garnish with sautéed asparagus tips and fried julienne of leeks, if desired. Serve immediately. Servings: 4 Have a great weekend.

Oscar and Bafta Winners,

Last night on TV they showed On the Waterfront starring Marlon Brando. For some reason, although this movie was made in the 50s, I had never seen it. At the beginning I thought I still wasn't going to see it, but I persevered and ended up enjoying it very much. A lot of the film was very dated and the fight scenes left a lot to be desired but it was a good movie. Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb and Rod Steiger were also in the movie, something I didn't know before. Brando looked so very young, as did Steiger. The TV seems to be running a lot of previous Oscar winners at the moment and we have caught one or two. They ran Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid the other night. I didn't watch that but Matt did and enjoyed it again. I just discovered there is a similar award programme in Britain where they present a mask like statuette called a Bafta. We watched some of the programme early in the month and Slumdog Millionaire got their award for best film. Best actor was Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler which was something of a surprise. You can watch video of it all at this site of the British Association of Film and Television Arts. One thing about watching the BAFTA awards, they are five hours ahead of us. We always say we won't watch the Oscars because it goes on so late, but we always end up doing so. Unless you are really involved in the industry, the main thing of interest is the awards for the acting categories, directing categories and of course, best film. They usually put on a pretty good show, this year the host is Hugh Jackman. Over the past week or two, we had virtually lost all the white stuff except where it was piled up in parking lots having been dumped there by snow ploughs. This morning we woke up to a fall of snow again, but it wasn't particularly heavy. We have had nice warm (for winter) temps lately but I guess we are going back to winter weather. Considering it is still February, this is not surprising. Whatever the groundhog says, we are unlikely to see much in a warming trend for a month or two yet. I have seen snow storms in April but I have also seen 80°F weather as well. Browsing the Food and Drink magazine from the LCBO I came across a recipe I think looks delicious and will certainly be trying out in the near future. Peppered Lamb Loins with a Garlic and Dark Chocolate Sauce The peppercorns and garlic enhance the lamb while the small amount of chocolate gives the sauce a great colour and rich flavour. 1 Tbs black peppercorns 2 boneless lamb loins, about 1/2 lb. each sea salt 2 Tbs olive oil 1 Tbs finely chopped garlic 1 cup unsalted or low salt lamb or chicken stock 1/2 oz dark bittersweet 72% chocolate, chopped Preheat the oven to 200°F/100°C. Coarsely crush the peppercorns in a mortar with a pestle. Sprinkle the pepper over the lamb and then season with salt. Heat the oil in a large frying pan until very hot. Add the lamb and cook for 4 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a dish and keep warm in the oven. Remove the pan from the heat, add the garlic and stir. Return the pan to low heat and cook, stirring, until the garlic just begins to colour. Pour in the stock, stirring to deglaze the pan and bring to a boil. Boil until the stock is reduced to about 1/4 cup, then add the chocolate, stirring until melted. Check the seasoning. Slice the lamb into thick slices and serve with the sauce. Serves 4. Have a great day.