Ride, Grocery, Mandarin, Wild Horses,

We overslept on Wednesday morning, not sure why. Cleaner was coming at 9 so had to really rush around. Took phone into the bathroom with me (I need it to open the front door of the building) and it rang whilst I was in the shower so assumed it was the cleaner, no, it was about our ride for Thursday. They had booked it for 12:45. Small problem, my appointment is for 12. They phoned back to say they had managed to reschedule for 11:30. Phew, I had visions of not getting a ride at all.

I have put in a grocery order for Thursday afternoon too, just a half order and then will have another half order on Monday or Tuesday next week. Maybe this will be easier on us.

Went to Mandarin for lunch and enjoyed seeing our friends. They are off to the Dominican Republic in February so will not be here for Matt's birthday which means, unless I can find a couple to join us, Matt won't get his free lunch. Everybody is going to the sun.

Just watched a fascinating documentary about horses on PBS. A guy spent a day with a wild horse, riding a trained horse, and by the end of it he was riding the now tamed one. We watched every step of the training (not breaking) and it was fascinating. There is another episode next week so must remember to watch it.

I saw the picture of this recipe and thought it looked good, however, not sure about the squash. Not having been brought up with the family of squash vegetables it is something I am not all that enthusiastic with using - however.... Of course I would NOT use the low fat cream cheese.

Spanish-Style Mac and Cheese

It’s surprising how much flavor you can achieve in such a short amount of time. Little bits of Spanish chorizo (the hard, cured kind) are wonderful in the breadcrumb topping.

12 oz uncooked short whole-grain pasta (such as penne, farfalle, or rotini)
1 cup frozen butternut squash puree (about 12 oz.), thawed
3 oz Manchego cheese, shredded (about 3/4 cup)
2 oz 1/3-less-fat cream cheese (about 1/4 cup)
1 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
2 oz dry-cured Spanish chorizo, finely chopped
2 Tbs canola oil
1/2 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
2 Tbs chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tsp smoked paprika

1. Preheat broiler to high with oven rack in middle of oven. Cook pasta according to package directions in a Dutch oven. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup cooking liquid. Return pasta to pan; add reserved cooking liquid, squash, Manchego cheese, cream cheese, salt, and cayenne. Stir until well combined. Spoon mixture into an ungreased 11- x 7-inch glass or ceramic baking dish.

2. While pasta cooks, heat chorizo and oil in a skillet over medium-high, stirring occasionally, until chorizo is crispy and oil turns red, 5 to 6 minutes. Stir in panko. Spoon over pasta mixture in baking dish.

3. Broil in preheated oven until lightly toasted, 2 to 3 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley and paprika.

Servings: 12 (Hm I wonder).

Source: Cooking Light

Have a great day
 

Herbs and Spices, Medical, Ride, Mandarin,

I have been thinking about fresh herbs which are always nice to have, but difficult to always have them available when you need them. The chicken recipe I posted yesterday was supposed to have fresh tarragon. It is winter here, so couldn't grow it outside, in an apartment there isn't room to grow it (and lots of other herbs) inside so I would have to buy it specially. So, you do that and end up with a large bunch of tarragon which wouldn't keep fresh all that long so most of it would be wasted. It's OK

for professional cooks because they are using this stuff all the time, but impossible for the home cook without access to a herb garden of some kind. If only. Talking of herbs and, of course, spices, I was completely out of cloves and cashews. I don't buy the latter at my grocery store any more as I can get them far cheaper at Bulkville which has recently opened in the same shopping mall. Much to my surprise my grocery doesn't sell whole cloves. Bulkville only had Pepper Cashews, I tasted one, not bad, Matt is a pepper freak anyway, so that's what I bought. As for the cloves, I ended up with way more than I needed, but they do keep. I will certainly buy all my herbs and spices there, it is so much cheaper. Mind you it is a bit of a walk for me, but surprisingly I managed pretty well yesterday. I just discovered a few other uses for cloves.

• Ayurvedic medicine used cloves for tooth decay, halitosis, and bad breath.
• In Chinese medicine, clove was considered to possess aphrodisiac properties.
• Ground cloves are traditionally applied to minor cuts for healing purposes.
• Clove tea is a popular warm beverage to relieve congestion.
• Clove oil helps relieve headaches, flatulence, as well as reduce stretch marks.
• It is also popularly used as a bug and insect repellant. Just add a few drops to water and see them vanish!

I use them when I make bread sauce to go with turkey, I stick an onion with cloves and then sweat it in milk for a long time prior to adding fresh breadcrumbs (having removed the onion and cloves) then some butter and cream. I should make it more often, no reason not to have it with chicken.

Well, went to see the urologist who examined Matt and has determined that he doesn't have a bladder infection but is sending him for a kidney ultrasound. Assume that's what mine will be on Thursday. I was delighted by the ride. Joe picked us up promptly, dropped us at St. Mary's and told us to phone the office when we were ready. Did so and it turned out he was already outside waiting for us. Great. Doing the same thing on Thursday. It costs less than parking and is door to door of course. 

Wednesday, today, we are going to the Mandarin again with a couple of friends, haven't been with them since Sept./Oct. Suspect it was for my free birthday meal in September. We usually go together at least once a month. Oh dear, I'll have to eat more Hot and Sour Soup!!!

OK, went back to early blogs and came across this Weight Watcher's recipe which we used to make a lot at one time, well Matt did. If you can't get plaice, flounder is very similar.

Plaice and Tomato Pinwheels

Serves 2

12 oz plaice fillets
4 tsp made mustard (that's Coleman's or Keen's mixed with water). You could use Dijon for a milder flavour
8 oz cherry tomatoes
juice of 1 lemon
4 Tbs chopped parsley
1 tsp powdered rosemary
1/2 tsp salt and pepper

Skin the fillets, slit in half lengthways and spread one side with mustard. Wrap each half
fillet around a tomato, mustard side inwards. Secure with wooden cocktail sticks. Arrange
the fillets in a shallow dish, sprinkle with lemon juice, parsley, rosemary, salt and pepper.
Bake in the over 400°F, for 15-20 minutes. Serve with French cucumber salad.

French Cucumber Salad

Serves 2

4 oz. cucumber, peeled and diced (if you use an English cucumber, no need to peel)
pinch mixed herbs
2 Tbs cider vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
ground black pepper.

Arrange the cucumber on the plate, mix the herbs with the vinegar and pepper and pour
over the cucumber.

As they are shown in the picture, I suppose I had better add the rest.

Pineapple Sherbet.

Serves 2

1 envelope gelatine
4 rings unsweetened pineapple
4 tbs pineapple juice
4 tbs lemon juice
pinch powdered ginger.

Dissolve the gelatine in a heatproof dish with 2 tbs water, over hot water. Place the
pineapple rings and juice in a blender, blend until smooth. Add the dissolved gelatine.
Blend for 2-3 minutes. Pour into 2 dessert glasses then chill and sprinkle with ginger.

Have a great day