Sea Creatures, Storms and Typhoons. Books.

I mentioned the Giant Octopus eggs being hatched in a BC aquarium, I didn’t register at the time that 300 of the eggs had hatched successfully. What on earth are they going to do with 300 Giant Octopi? I believe they grow really big. Talking of sea creatures, a lot was on the news about the penguin called Happy Feet who lost his way and ended up in New Zealand having ingested a lot of sand which he apparently mistook for snow. Happy Feet is now fully restored and was released some considerable distance from his home waters, they have a signal attached to him so they know he had trouble orienting himself and swam in a circle for a while but finally started heading for Antarctica. Now I read he has turned around and is heading for New Zealand again. They are hoping he is just feeding in a zig zag pattern. I figure they took care of him so well he wants to go back  to Wellington Zoo. I think they should have taken him a lot closer to home to release him.

The weather systems are causing quite a few problems. TS Lee which has now been downgraded to a tropical system, is causing a lot of flooding because of the amount of rain it is dumping in New Orleans at the moment, however, they are all breathing sighs of relief there because the new levies built since Hurricane Katrina are holding and doing their job. It also appears that Lee will help to hold off Hurricane Katya so that she may not make landfall after all, at least not according to the current 5 day projections. However, locally, at St. Jacob’s Farmer’s Market on Saturday, 5 people were injured in an isolated severe thunderstorm. These kinds of reports keep finding their way into the news lately, Mother Nature seems to have got it in for us lately, not forgetting what is happening in Japan with their tsunamis and tornadoes.

I finished the book I was reading, The Golden Key, it was a bit slow at the beginning but once it got moving I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is an old book written quite a few years ago by three authors who had an absolutely fascinating concept concerning magical paintings and what could happen with a young man who had no conscience.

A friend emailed me the other day and said she had made the following recipe from a well known Indian cookbook. My only complaint, my friend can get hold of fresh corn cobs easily as she lives in the country, I live in a town so its not so easy to get the really fresh stuff although I would really like to give it a try, she said its delicious and it certainly sounds it. I hope this picture looks right.

Corn, Tomato, and Potato Curry

This recipe from famed Indian cookbook author (and actress) Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking uses produce from the height of summer.
The flavours start with cumin and mustard seeds, then proceed with a herby shot of mint leaves, spicy green chiles, and the richness of  coconut milk. Yet the corn still stays crisp and fresh and plays beautifully off the sweet tomatoes and creamy potatoes.  Jaffrey's advice: make this curry "as hot as you can manage." The spicy, sweet, and sour flavours are marvellous.

Ingredients
Serves 4 with rice, 
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds
2 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 clove garlic, minced
1 medium cooked waxy potato, cut into 1/4 inch dice
1 medium tomato, cut into 1/4 inch dice
4 tablespoons chopped cilantro
3 tablespoons chopped mint leaves
1-2 fresh hot green chiles, or more to taste
2 cups fresh corn kernels
3 ounces coconut milk
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
cayenne pepper, to taste

Procedures
In a large (12-inch) non-stick skillet, heat the oil over medium-high
heat until shimmering. Add the mustard seeds and 1/2 teaspoon of the cumin seeds. Cook until the mustard seeds begin to pop, add the garlic and potatoes. Cook, stirring often, until the potatoes turn golden. Add the tomato, cilantro, mint, and green chile. Cook for 1-2 minutes longer, then add the corn and stir to combine. Add coconut milk, salt, add lemon juice. Stir and bring to a simmer, then cover and cook until the corn is cooked through.
In the meantime, toast the remaining cumin seeds in a dry skillet over high heat until fragrant and darkening in color, but not yet burned. Stir the toasted cumin seeds into the corn mixture and season with black pepper and cayenne to taste. Serve immediately.

Have a great day

Family News, Books, Irene,

Yesterday we heard the news from family in England that Granddaughter, Beth, got 10 A*s and one A in her GCSE’s. What is particularly phenomenal about this is that she has taken them a year early. We are both thrilled to bits with these marks although with her it seems to be par for the course. I just felt I had to do some bragging about it in my blog. She is actually planning to go into the theatrical world which seems a little bit of a waste to me.
I finally finished A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin yesterday, I did enjoy it but I didn’t like the continual switching of characters every time a new chapter started. Another thing I am not keen on, every time he introduces sympathetic characters, he ends up bumping them off. Someone pointed out that he has too many main characters, I guess this is the problem although when he kills them off, that deletes that segment. A chapter or two we won’t have to worry about in future books, however many he ends up writing in this series. His books are available on Kindle by the way.

I am now reading another book which was recommended to me by someone on line and I am damned if I can remember who that was. It is The Golden Key a collaboration by three authors, Melanie Rawn, Jennifer Roberson and Kate Elliott, not sure if I have read any of their work before. Its actually an old book (1996) although the copy I have looks absolutely new and is not a paperback. I haven’t yet got very far, but what I have read is good.

Irene is causing lots of worries along the east coast of both the States and Canada. During a golf game in New Jersey which Matt was watching, they were talking about plans for Saturday or Sunday when the hurricane would arrive. All our friends in NC are battening down the hatches, and the outer islands are being evacuated. It is being described as a monster storm, particularly as it is over 500 miles wide. If you are out that far, high winds and rain will be about it, for you, but closer to the eye it could be very nasty in some areas. It is being touted as a category 4 in the near future. On GMA yesterday they were advising people not to try and take hurricane pix in cities and towns because of the dangers from flying debris. Even taking pix on beaches you could get caught in storm surge. Matt nearly was once. The swirling water came up the beach and surrounded him, luckily there were steps he could hang on to til the water retreated and that wasn’t even a hurricane just a major wind storm. We are hoping the rental cottage will be OK of course.

This morning there was a report of a rogue wave in Florida which swept 8 people from a dock/pier area. This wave was tied in with Irene. As they pointed out on GMA, today the hurricane is off land so there won’t be a lot of pictures about it, but tomorrow it is expected to hit land at Cape Hatteras, North Carolina and the tides are morning and evening this weekend, just when the storm is expected to hit causing a surge. New York city is also evacuating low areas in the expectation of a storm surge too.
This looks like a good lunch.

Turkey, Corn and Sun-Dried Tomato Wraps

From Eating Well: July/August 2011
Fresh corn kernels, tomatoes and lettuce fill these hearty turkey wraps. This wrap is great for picnics or when you need to have dinner on the run. Add some crumbled feta or shredded Cheddar for another layer of flavour. Serve with carrot sticks, sliced bell pepper or other crunchy vegetables plus your favourite creamy dressing.
4 servings  Ingredients

• 1 cup corn kernels, fresh (see Tip) or frozen (thawed)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh tomato
• 1/4 cup chopped soft sun-dried tomatoes (see Shopping Tip)
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar or cider vinegar
• 8 thin slices low-sodium deli turkey (about 8 ounces)
• 4 8-inch whole-wheat tortillas
• 2 cups chopped romaine lettuce

Preparation

1. Combine corn, tomato, sun-dried tomatoes, oil and vinegar in a medium bowl.
2. Divide turkey among tortillas. Top with equal portions of the corn salad and lettuce. Roll up. Serve the wraps cut in half, if desired.

Nutrition

Per serving :321 Calories; 12 g Fat; 1 g Sat; 5 g Mono; 35 mg Cholesterol; 35 g Carbohydrates; 19 g Protein; 4 g Fiber; 682 mg Sodium; 325 mg Potassium
2 Carbohydrate Serving
Exchanges: 1 1/2 starch, 1 vegetable, 3 lean meat, 2 fat

Tips & Notes

• Tip: To remove corn kernels from the cob, stand an ear of corn on one end and slice the kernels off with a sharp knife. One ear will yield about 1/2 cup kernels.
• Shopping Tip: Look for soft sun-dried tomatoes (not oil-packed) in the produce section of most supermarkets. If you can only find dry (and hard) sun-dried tomatoes, soak them in boiling water for about 20 minutes before using.

Have a great day.