Air Show, Books.

We live close to a small airport, they cannot handle jumbo jets or anything, but they do fly small planes to the Caribbean and business people all round the continent. This weekend (it’s Canada Day on Tuesday) they have had an air show. We don’t go as a) we don’t do crowds and b) I can’t stand for any length of time. However, the Canadian Snowbirds were present and we got some of the benefit of their performance. Couple of times they came really, really close and the noise was tremendous and it amused me that when this happened I ducked. Totally automatic reflex. Couldn’t stop myself. I wondered if it was normal or shades of 9/11. Didn’t see much of their performance of course, but certainly saw them formation flying past our windows. The planes looked really pretty glinting in the sunlight.

Been doing a lot of reading lately I started with Juliet Marillier’s Sevenwaters books which took place in old Ireland and were loosely based on Irish legends. I then discovered that one of my favourite authors Mercedes Lackey had a series about the Elemental Masters which for some reason I had missed. I have now read two of those and have another on order. Of course some of these books I have been waiting for forever and they are all coming in at once. I am now reading Elizabeth Moon’s Crown of Renewal which is the last of her Paladin’s Legacy series but there have been several offshoots from these books so there may be more. My two favourite books of Elizabeth Moon’s are stand alones, Remnant Population and The Speed of Dark. Then I had an email from the library telling me that Brandon Sanderson’s Words of Radiance was ready for pick up. This is the second book in his Stormlight Archive series. The first book The Way of Kings was published in 2010 so been waiting a long time. Admittedly he finished the Wheel of Time series and did a wonderful job, but he has written other things in those 4 years too. I hope I can remember everything that happened in the first book.

I thought this salad which I found on Food and Wine sounded good but then realised it was using chicken instead of seafood. Obviously you can make it with seafood if you like and I probably would. Not sure if I would use rice or orzo, I have both and orzo cooks more quickly.

Paella Salad

Contributed by Quick From Scratch Soups and Salads

• SERVINGS: 4

We've based this salad very loosely on paella, the Spanish rice dish—and you can actually make it with rice if you like. Our choice, though, is orzo, the tiny rice-shaped pasta. The cooking instructions are the same whichever you choose.

1. 3 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2. 1 onion, chopped
3. 1 green bell pepper, chopped
4. 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
5. 6 ounces dried chorizo or other firm spicy sausage such as pepperoni, quartered lengthwise and sliced thin crosswise
6. 1/4 teaspoon dried red-pepper flakes
7. 1 teaspoon paprika
8. 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 3), cut into 1/2-inch cubes
9. 1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
10. 1/2 pound orzo (about 1 cup)
11. 2 tablespoons lemon juice
12. 1 tomato, diced
13. 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

1. In a large frying pan, heat 1 1/2 tablespoons of the oil over moderately low heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables start to soften, about 10 minutes.
2. Increase the heat to moderately high. Add the chorizo and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes. Stir in the red-pepper flakes, paprika, chicken, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, and the black pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until the chicken is almost done, about 3 minutes. Cover the pan and remove from the heat. Steam the chicken for 2 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a large glass or stainless-steel bowl to cool.
3. Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the orzo until done, about 12 minutes. Drain. Rinse with cold water and drain thoroughly.
4. Add the drained orzo to the chicken mixture. Toss with the lemon juice, the remaining 2 tablespoons oil and 1/2 teaspoon salt, the tomato, and the parsley.

Suggested Pairing

Paella's Iberian roots lead us to Spain for a red Ribera del Duero. The name, literally translated as the "slopes along the Duero River," describes an area that is now the source of some of Spain's greatest red wines. Ribera del Duero's wild-cherry, herb, and spice flavours will be superb with this salad.

Have a great day

Snowbirds, Stolen Animals,

Sadly I didn’t get to see much of the Snowbirds as they were mostly on the other side of our building. Saw them whiz by a a couple of times.

As of the time of writing, they found the truck stolen the other day but not the trailer containing the missing animals. There is a little bit about it here http://tinyurl.com/2bbkage together with a funny picture which I am guessing is a Lolcats pic. I wonder if the thieves would dare give Jonas a tummy rub. It is just to be hoped that they at least have given the animals air and water although they must be pretty hungry by now. Its been pretty warm here and I gather it has been even warmer in Québec. Its funny they abandoned the truck, makes me wonder if they were not car thieves after all. Unfortunately, tigers in particular, are worth one hell of a lot of money, dead or alive, probably more dead.

We both have to leave early this morning to go see the physio therapist for Matt and the doc for me. I am not going to wait for Matt in the therapist’s waiting room though, this time I will stay in the car. I wrote about their chairs the other day. I also wrote about London Broil on Saturday which we had for supper that night and thoroughly enjoyed. Followed by strawberries and double Devon Cream. Last night we had the London Broil cold with the Potato Salad I posted a couple of weeks ago, I really enjoy that. First time I have enjoyed potato salad in a long time.

The following recipe was intended as a Father’s Day recipe, sorry, I am passing it on too late for that occasion, but being chocolate, I thought it sounded just my cuppa tea.

HERSHEY'S HUGS and KISSES Candies Chocolate Cake

 

• 3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
• 1-3/4 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa or HERSHEY'S Dutch Processed Cocoa
• 1-1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1-1/3 cups water
• COCOA FUDGE FROSTING(recipe follows)
• HERSHEY'S HUGS Brand Candies and HERSHEY'S KISSES Brand Milk Chocolates

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 13x9x2-inch baking pan.
2. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat 1 minute on medium speed of mixer. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; add alternately with water to butter mixture, beating until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. Frost with COCOA FUDGE FROSTING. Remove wrappers from candies; garnish cake as desired with candies. 12 to 15 servings.

COCOA FUDGE FROSTING
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
1/2 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa or HERSHEY'S SPECIAL DARK Cocoa
3-2/3 cups (1 lb.) powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk, heated
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Melt butter in small saucepan over low heat; stir in cocoa. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens slightly. Remove from heat; pour into small mixer bowl. Add powdered sugar alternately with warm milk, beating to spreading consistency. Stir in vanilla. Spread frosting while warm. About 2-1/2 cups frosting.

Have a great day

Snowbirds, Stolen Trailer.

The Snowbirds are here. What, you may ask are the Snowbirds? They are a demonstration team composed of serving members of the Canadian Armed Forces, Snowbirds 431. They will be performing at the Waterloo-Wellington Airport air show this weekend, both Saturday and Sunday. Yesterday, we saw them overhead on our way back from the asparagus farm, presumably practicing which I assume they do all the time. We are hoping we can see some of it from our balcony as the airport is not far from us. Unfortunately the show is likely to be way too crowded for us, they have parking set up miles away, I am guessing they are using buses to take people to the show.  I have never really seen an air show and I found seeing them yesterday to be quite exciting. The nearest I ever got to an air show was once in North Carolina when there was one at a local Marine base and we got to watch some of it from our boat anchored near the end of the runway. Being planes, they cannot concentrate themselves just in the space above the airport so we might be lucky enough to see something today and tomorrow.

An odd story in the news last night and this morning, a driver was transporting some animals from a circus to a zoo and stopped for a few hours rest. When he went to get his truck and trailer it had been stolen. The trailer actually contains a tiger and two camels. It would be funny except they are now worried about the animal’s health – they will of course need water, more so because it is pretty warm out there at the moment. One hopes the thieves will leave the trailer somewhere and maybe call in its location as soon as possible.

Yesterday I mentioned the various recipes Emeril Lagasse had for Father’s Day. Below is one for lamb kebabs which didn’t win, but sounded pretty good to me. Sorry if you are amongst those who don’t like lamb, but I love it. Actually, tonight we are going to have Matt’s specialty of Marinated London Broil – I have posted the recipe here before.

Emeril's Greek-Style Lamb Kebabs

Servings: 6-8

Father's Day is just around the corner. Celebrity chef, TV host and author Emeril Lagasse offers this great meal for idea for Dad's special day.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion

1 tbs grated lemon zest

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon sweet paprika

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup olive oil

2 to 2 1/2 pounds boneless leg or shoulder of lamb, cut into 1-inch cubes (with some of the fat still attached)

8 to 10 bamboo skewers

8 pita breads, warmed, for serving

Feta spread, for serving

Cooking Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine the onion, lemon zest, lemon juice, parsley, cilantro, mint, salt, cumin, paprika, pepper, and olive oil. Stir well. Add the lamb and toss to coat it with the marinade. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours.

2. Soak the skewers in warm water for about 1 hour before assembling the kebabs.

3. Pre-heat your grill to high, and lightly oil the grate.

4. Thread the lamb onto the soaked skewers, and place them on the grill. Cook -- turning frequently to promote even browning -- for 12 to 14 minutes.

5. Wrap a pita bread around the meat on a skewer, and while holding the bread firmly around the meat, twist the skewer out of the meat. Drizzle the meat with feta spread to your liking. Repeat with the remaining pitas and skewers, and enjoy!

Feta Spread

4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1/2 cup Greek-style yogurt

2 tablespoons minced green onion tops

1 tablespoon minced fresh mint

2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

1/2 teaspoon salt, or more to taste (depending on the saltiness of the feta)

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Cooking Directions

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, and stir to blend well. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to overnight to allow the flavors to blend.

About 2 cups

Happy Father’s Day and have a great weekend (Mike, if you are reading this, tell Tina it didn’t arrive LOL)