Exercise Classes, Book.

I can't believe that Monday afternoon I was sitting around here with nothing much to do and complaining about a long, boring, afternoon, and I had completely forgotten my exercise class. I didn't, in fact, remember it til I woke up on Tuesday morning. What an idiot. I enjoy seeing the other participants as well as doing the actual exercises (to the best of my ability these days).

Assassin's Fate is now finished. It was a sad/happy ending and caused me a few tears. It really has been a wonderful series. Robin Hobb has been writing these books for 20 years. I suppose she could write more about other characters, but I get the feeling this world is now finished. That also is sad. If you have never read any of Robin Hobb's novels, I highly recommend them.

Viveka of My Guilty Pleasures was recently in Portugal and described a dessert she ate called Abade de Priscos. It sounded and looked so good, I Googled and found a recipe along with a story about the Portuguese Abbot of Priscos who was a whizz in the kitchen. Viveka also mentioned this abbot. The photograph of the dessert was on Viveka's blog take with her trust camera, Oscar.

Abade de Priscos Pudding

400 g / 14 oz sugar and another 200 g / 7 oz to make caramel
One small wine glass of Port wine
50 g / 1.8 oz fresh lard/bacon
15 egg yolks
1 lemon peel
50 ml water
1 cinnamon stick

1. Start by making the caramel, placing the 200 g of sugar in a small pan and moderate heat until it becomes a golden, uniform caramel. Once ready, you should spread the caramel on all the sides of a pudding mould.

2. In a second pan add the water, remaining sugar, lemon peel, cinnamon stick and lard cut into thin strips. You should put it to a boil at high temperature until it reaches about 103C / 217F degrees.

3. Take the syrup off of the stove and let it cool down for a while. Add it to the egg yolks mixed with the Port wine.

4. Pour it into the pudding mould. Place the mould in a water bath and and cook for 1 hour in a preheated to 250C/480F.

5. After cooking, allow it to cool down completely before you remove it from the mould.

Source: Cooking Lisbon


Have a great day
 

Books, Dinner, Exercise.

Not a lot going on in our lives at the moment, principally because I am trying to read all these library books which have turned up at roughly the same time. The other day I finished the latest Valdemar book Closer to the Heart by Mercedes Lackey. Part of the Herald Spy series. Now I am wading through a huge book by Robin Hobb called Fool's Quest. I think I may have missed the one before so I guess I will have to get hold of it. But boy is it a big book. - 754 pages. Then I have a thriller (I think) called Little Black Lies and yet another David Weber book waiting at the library to be collected. Phew. I do love to read, but this inundation of books is proving a bit much. The trouble is, I reserved the books ages ago, as I've said, but I had no idea they would all become available at once. Not only that, some of the newer books, like Robin Hobb's, are being awaited by other people. I have very much enjoyed all of Robin Hobb's books and this one is proving to be no exception. Being a dragon fanatic I particularly enjoyed the dragon books which are part of the series although written as a separate trilogy.

Saturday night we had pork chops and I was wondering what to do with them so browsing through

my recipe programme, I discovered one which I had invented and of which I had no recollection. I decided to make it again and it turned out very well. It's odd that I don't remember it one little bit. This is my plate. I have lots of green beans because I don't have a potato. These are French sliced flat beans by the way. Basically the only kind we eat these days unless I do something with the other beans, but we don't enjoy them plain at all. Anyway, as you will see the chop has mushrooms on it, I used more than I had written in the recipe but I wanted to use some up which I had had a tad too long. Maybe I will add the recipe tomorrow. It was pretty good.

Today, Monday, is bowling of course, one of our favourite days of the week. I missed not having an exercise class on Friday and there won't be one on Wednesday so I have been trying to do some of the exercises on my own. It's surprisingly difficult to remember all the things we do. I am more concerned with copying the aerobic exercises. Some of the other things I am fine at anyway. Balance in particular. Since learning T'ai Chi it has improved my balance tremendously. I just wish I could persuade Matt to join these classes. Oh well.

This is a new one on me, something I have never seen before. I don't eat pizza much, but I think I would like to try this one.

Rick Easton's Pizza With Potatoes

 Mark Bittman - New York Times

Potatoes may seem an odd topping for pizza, but the Pittsburgh-based baker and cook Rick Easton has developed a crust that is so sturdy it can actually support more than its own weight, and these potatoes – boiled until soft, hand-crushed, flavored with olive oil and rosemary and made even more delicious by the addition of mozzarella – are not only traditional, but amazing. Be sure to bake the pizza until it is good and brown on the bottom; take a peek if you’re not sure.

Ingredients

Pizza dough

• 3⁄4 teaspoon or 2 grams yeast
• 1 7⁄8 cups lukewarm water
• 3 ½ cups or 500 grams bread flour, plus more for dusting
• 3 teaspoons or 8 grams kosher or sea salt
• 4 tablespoons or 40 grams extra-virgin olive oil

Toppings

• 1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes
• 8 ounces fresh mozzarella, torn into small pieces
• 1 tablespoon chopped rosemary leaves
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

1. In a comfortably large, preferably rectangular plastic container, dissolve the yeast into 13⁄4 cups of lukewarm water. Mix in the flour with your hand, squishing it together, just until the flour is absorbed. The dough will be very wet and shaggy. Remove what stuck to your fingers, and mix into the dough. Cover with a lid or plastic wrap, and rest for 20 minutes at room temperature.
2. Dissolve the salt in remaining 1⁄8 cup of water, and mix with your hand into the dough. Don’t worry if it doesn’t all mix in. Cover with a lid or plastic wrap, and rest for another 20 minutes at room temperature.
3. With wet hands, release the dough from the sides of the container. Coat the top of the dough with 1 tablespoon of oil, and make a trifold or letter fold by lifting up the dough one-third of the way through and letting the end drop and fold underneath. Repeat this action on the other side so that the seam is on the bottom. Cover with a lid or plastic wrap, and rest for 1 hour in the refrigerator. Repeat this process two more times. After the third fold, rest the dough in the refrigerator for about 24 hours. Sometime halfway through resting, repeat the trifold with oil one last time.
4. If you have a pizza stone, slide it on the lowest rack or on the floor of your oven, and heat oven to 500. Heat for at least 30 minutes and preferably longer before baking. Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain. Once they are cool enough to handle, remove the peels and crush gently into medium chunks by hand; lay on a sheet pan or some wax paper in one layer to allow them to cool.
5. Lightly grease an 18-by-13-inch jellyroll pan with olive oil. (A cookie sheet of a similar size makes a good alternative.) Wipe the pan clean with a dry paper towel; it’s important not to bake the pizza on too much oil. Flip the dough out onto a floured surface, and gently press out into a rectangle 1⁄2-to-3⁄4-inch thick, being careful not to deflate the dough too much. Place one forearm over the dough, and use the other hand to flip the dough over the forearm and then into the pan, leaving the floured side up. Rearrange the dough on the pan, again pressing only lightly.
6. Spread the topping evenly across the dough, drizzle generously with oil and bake on the pizza stone (or directly on the bottom of the oven or lowest rack) for 5 minutes. Move the pizza to the middle rack in the oven, and continue to bake for 10 to 15 more minutes or until golden brown.
7. Using a bench scraper or metal spatula, scoop under the pizza, and scrape to release it from the pan. This may take some blind faith and a bit of elbow grease. Slide out onto a cutting board, and slice into pieces using a chef’s knife, scissors or pizza cutter. Serve immediately or at room temperature, or reheat.

Have a great day
 

Spring is Sprung, Lots of Books. Bowling Venue.

We have finally been getting some decent weather, boy has it ever taken a long time this year but at long last the trees are sporting young, fresh green leaves, the daffodils are nodding their heads and the forsythia bushes are all displaying their golden flowers. It makes you feel good to see it and gives a lift to the heart. This year it seems to have taken so long. Not only that, the asparagus is beginning to sprout. Having checked with Barrie’s Asparagus Farm they are talking possibly Sunday, cross your fingers for me everyone.

I am feeling a tad overwhelmed by literature at the moment. A friend sent me a copy of his book (excellent) which I am reading and enjoying, another friend lent me a couple of books, then right in the middle of this comes a Robin Hobb book which I have been awaiting from the library for quite a while. Blood of Dragons, volume 4 of the Rain Wild Chronicles. If you haven’t read any of the Rain Wild Chronicles I can highly recommend them, not only that, you won’t have to wait for any of them like I have had to. Great stories. They are so good I think I might do something about acquiring them in Kindle form if they are available. I guess I have been enjoying them for a number of years now, way before Kindles came on the scene.

We have now been given some new tales about the bowling alley, but will, no doubt, hear the full story at our banquet on Monday.

Here’s another dessert, not chocolate this time though. I just thought it looked and sounded really good. I found it on Cooking.com. I would probably cheat with the pastry, I guess if you are using bought pastry you could add grated orange zest to the crust before baking it.

Orange Chiffon Tart

Source: Dessert - The Grand Finale
Serves 10

INGREDIENTS

Pastry
2 cups all-purpose flour
11 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
2 tablespoons sugar
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon cold water
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
1 egg white, beaten
Orange Filling
6 juice oranges
6 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
16 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into cubes
Topping
4 oranges
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
Heavy cream, for serving

DIRECTIONS

Pastry:
Combine the flour, butter and sugar in a food processor and process to a coarse meal. Add the egg yolks, water and orange zest (rind) and pulse until the mixture comes together. Remove from the processor and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Roll out the pastry to line a 10-inch tart pan that has a removable base. Place a piece of foil, parchment or waxed (greaseproof) paper over the pastry and scatter with baking weights, dried beans or rice.
Bake for 15 minutes.
Remove the tart shell from the oven and remove the weights and paper. Brush the pastry with a little beaten egg white and return to the oven. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Orange Filling:
Juice the oranges and strain the juice through a sieve to remove all of the pith. Place in a a nonaluminum saucepan with the eggs and sugar. Whisk together over low heat until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.
Place the mixture in a food processor. With the motor running, add the butter cubes, piece by piece. When all of the butter is worked in, pour the mixture into the pastry shell. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Topping:
Slice the oranges as thinly as possible and remove any seeds. Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan and stir over low heat to dissolve the sugar. Bring to a boil and remove from the heat.
Using a pair of tongs, dip each slice of orange in the syrup and place on a wire rack. Allow to cool slightly.
Remove the tart from the refrigerator, remove plastic wrap and arrange the orange slices decoratively over the top. Serve immediately with cream.

Have a great weekend

Dragons, Bloody PC, Balloons.

I am very sad to be nearing the end of my book by Robin Hobb. Part of her Rain Wilds series (trilogy? I’m not sure) it is called Dragon Haven. I have been enjoying Robin Hobb’s books for years and this one is no exception. As many of you may remember, I love dragons and reading about them. I often wonder where the idea of dragons came from, the Chinese have dragons in their mythology as do the Welsh not to mention that England’s St. George is supposed to have killed a dragon. Where did these dragons come from I wonder. I have always loved dragon books by Anne McCaffery too, different kind of dragon and ones that were bioengineered by man, but dragons, nevertheless. When I am reading these stories I am so envious of people who speak to dragons, work with dragons, etc. etc. I just remembered Mercedes Lackey’s Joust books too. Another favourite author of mine.

I have been playing with my new PC for a while and trying to reload software I used to use, some without any success. In fact a couple of programmes I have been able to load onto the laptop as it has a 32 bit versions of Win 7 and my PC is 64 bit. I confess I don’t really know what the difference is. My phone fax system does NOT want to load at all, and the particular software I was using is no longer available and cannot get it to re-install. All the updates are fax programmes or fax and voice mail programmes and do not allow one to make phone calls from the system. Not what I want at all. I do so wish software manufacturers wouldn’t change things. A friend described her feeling for computers as a kind of love/hate relationship. I know just what she means. Aha, I have finally found a phone dialer system which I think will work for me. Hooray.

I was up pretty early for me and looked out of the window to see a balloon floating by. I once again wondered what time the passengers had risen this morning to be up in the air so early. When I first saw it, the sun was glinting on the balloon although the dawn sky itself was not yet very bright. Even after 10 years of living here I still get somewhat excited to see them.

Here’s another recipe I picked up from Cooking.com today, a Pasta Salad again which includes another favourite of mine, shrimp. I think I would cut this recipe back somewhat and make it for less people but still use lots of shrimp.

Dilly Shrimp Salad

Contributed By: Karlene, MT

Yield: 10 servings

I got this recipe from a friend of mine who likes dill as much as I do. My husband loves it and it has become a family favorite and also a potluck favorite with friends.

RECIPE INGREDIENTS

4 cups cooked small shells or penne pasta

1 lb. cooked large shrimp, deveined and cut into thirds

1 cup frozen peas

1 cup diced celery

1/2 cup chopped green onions, including green tops

1/4 cup minced fresh parsley

8 oz. plain yogurt

1 cup Mayonnaise

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

2 Tbsp. snipped fresh dill

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp white pepper

DIRECTIONS

In a large bowl combine pasta, shrimp, peas, celery, onions and parsley. In a small bowl combine yogurt, mayonnaise, lemon juice, dill salt and pepper. pour over pasta mixture and toss gently. Cover and refrigerate at least two hours.

Have a great weekend.