Lunch, Great Lakes,

Saturday we drove to Burlington, ON, to have lunch with friends. Burlington is on Lake Ontario. A delightful lunch it was too, nice to see them, haven’t done so in such a long time, mostly because they are still young enough to work all the hours God sends so just don’t have a terrific amount of spare time. It was an absolutely beautiful day with blue skies. Still a little chilly, but made you think of spring at least. Of course we do have a lot of snow on the ground in places.  Later, I had intended to shut off the lights for Earth Hour, but I completely forgot until someone mentioned it on Facebook. First time I haven’t done so since the idea began.

Funny thing about The Great Lakes we live in an area surrounded by them (Huron, Erie and Ontario) and yet they rarely impinge on our consciousness. When you do see them, to me its a bit like going to the seaside, there is a frisson of excitement and I try to see as much as possible al;though I am usually in a car. The lakes are absolutely vast, and appear to go on forever. They are really inland seas, not lakes at all. The US and Canada share them all except for Michigan which is entirely in the US. Lake Ontario is the smallest and is 7,320 square miles, 193 miles long and 53 miles at its widest point.

One more week and the A to Z Blogfest begins. I have finished my blogs for the month. As I said before, I have volunteered to help L. Diane Wolfe, as a Spunky Soldier, to keep an eye on her assigned blogs, as yet I don’t know which ones will be my responsibility. Checking today there are over 1200 blogs signed up. If you haven’t joined in, I recommend you do so, its not only great fun, but helps to spread your name around the blogging world so more people read your blogs.

On Sundays I like to have a glass of champagne before lunch. I recently found some Parmesan Cheese crisps which I am now adding to my drink. When I was a kid, my mother used to make fried cheddar cheese for me and I loved it. These Parmesan chips are oven baked, but much the same thing and absolutely delicious. Unfortunately they are also quite expensive, $7.99 for 3 oz. which is not very much. It turns out they are made in New York by Kitchen Table Bakers so next time we are in the States I will see if I can get them and bring a few packets home. I do like them so very much. They go very well with champagne too.

In honour of the beginning of Passover this evening, and for those who make seder tonight, here is a Matzoh Ball Soup recipe.

Passover Matzoh-Ball Soup

Contributed by Andrew Zimmern
Photo © Stephanie Meyer

• ACTIVE: 1 HR
• TOTAL TIME: 2 HRS
• SERVINGS:8 to 10 servings

For 40 years I looked high and low for the best matzoh ball recipe, but nothing measured up to my grandmother’s until I discovered Susan’s, an old family friend. After a Passover seder at her house 20 years ago, I begged for this recipe and finally she gave it to me. It’s the perfect balance for a matzoh ball: light enough to float, dense enough to be a good “sinker.” I can now die in peace knowing I have achieved what every Jewish man should for his family: a roof over their heads and a nice chicken-soup-and-matzoh-ball recipe. We eat this meal year-round, and we call it chicken-in-the-pot. When I make it as a main course, I serve the chicken in sixths with the skin and bone. I will often add kasha (toasted buckwheat groats) or noodles and leave the vegetables in bigger pieces so the dish is more like a poulet pot au feu than a first course for Passover seder. For the uninformed, the seder is a ritual feast that marks the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is held at sundown on the 14th day of Nissan in the Hebrew calendar and on the 15th by observant Jews living outside Israel. That means late March or April for most of us. The meal involves a retelling of the liberation of the Israelites from their bondage in ancient Egypt. It’s basically Thanksgiving for Jews, and it’s my favorite holiday of the year.—Andrew Zimmern



Chicken Soup

1. 2 quarts chicken stock or low-sodium broth
2. One 3-pound chicken

Matzoh Balls

1. 1 1/4 cups matzoh meal
2. 2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
3. 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
4. 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
5. 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
6. 5 large eggs, 3 separated
7. 1/4 cup melted chicken fat (schmaltz) or vegetable oil
8. 1/4 cup minced onion
9. 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, for forming the matzoh balls

To Finish

1. 1 large carrot, thinly sliced
2. 2 celery ribs, thinly sliced
3. 1 small onion, cut into 1/2-inch dice
4. 1/4 pound rutabaga, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
5. 4 large dill sprigs
6. 4 large parsley sprigs
7. Kosher salt
8. Freshly ground pepper

1. MAKE THE CHICKEN SOUP In a large pot, bring the chicken stock to a simmer. Add the chicken and return the stock just to a simmer. Cover the chicken with a small plate to keep it submerged and cover the pot. Reduce the heat to maintain a very low simmer; simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 1 1/2 hours. Remove the chicken and let cool slightly, then shred the meat; discard the skin and bones. Strain the soup into a heatproof bowl. Skim off the fat and return the soup to the pot.
2. MEANWHILE, MAKE THE MATZOH BALLS In a large bowl, combine the matzoh meal, salt, garlic, baking powder and baking soda. In a medium bowl, whisk the 2 whole eggs with the 3 yolks, schmaltz and onion. In a separate bowl, beat the 3 egg whites with an electric hand mixer until stiff peaks form. Stir the schmaltz mixture into the dry ingredients, then stir in one-third of the beaten egg whites until incorporated. Gently fold in the remaining whites until no streaks remain. Press a sheet of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the batter and refrigerate for about 20 minutes or overnight, until firm.
3. Line a baking sheet with plastic wrap. In a small bowl, combine the vegetable oil with 1 tablespoon of water. Scoop 1-tablespoon-size mounds of the matzoh batter onto the baking sheet. Using the oil-and-water mixture to keep your hands moist, roll each scoop of batter into a ball, handling them as gently as possible.
4. Return the chicken soup to a simmer. Add the carrot, celery, onion, rutabaga, dill and parsley and season with a big pinch each of salt and pepper. Add the matzoh balls. Cover and cook over moderate heat, turning the matzoh balls a few times, until they are plump and cooked through, about 25 minutes. Stir the shredded chicken into the soup and cook just until the meat is warmed through, about 2 minutes. Remove the herb sprigs. Season the soup with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

Make Ahead The soup can be prepared through Step 3 and refrigerated overnight. Cover the matzoh balls and shredded chicken with plastic wrap before refrigerating.

Happy Seder to those celebrating.

Have a good day

Royal Troops, Snow, The Great Lakes.

A headline which caught my eye yesterday, apparently the government is planning to change the names of our military groups to add the world Royal as in Royal Canadian Air Force etc. This is apparently to tap into Canada’s military heritage. If you would like to read more about this go here. I thought Canada was trying to break away from Britain, but apparently not. Some Canadians seem to enjoy the royal connection and others couldn’t care less. This became evident when Prince William and his wife Catherine were here although it seemed thousands were certainly in favour of the Duchess of Cambridge.

Matt and I spent yesterday feeling bored, we both miss our bowling leagues which start again on August 29. Of course, almost as soon as we start bowling again, we will be off on vacation anyway.

Another news story, in Wellington, Auckland, NZ they had snow on Monday, a once in a lifetime event apparently, the first time in 30 years anyway. They have lots of skiing in NZ, so I hadn’t realised that Wellington didn’t normally get the white stuff.  We would be delighted to send them a heap of it every year.

Matt was watching a programme last night about the Great Lakes. I didn’t know that the lakes are shrinking particularly because we aren’t getting the rain we need. The wetlands of the lakes are being lost in large areas. The lakes have probably gone down about a metre in the last 10 years. This does not bode very well for the region which actually covers a vast area. Not only that the lakes are being polluted by the human populations surrounding the area. From what they were saying it is becoming dangerous to enter the waters anyway. Europeans have a hard time visualising the vastness of the lakes and the vastness of the countries here. Its still difficult for us to conceive even after 36 years. The programme was called Waterlife and went on to describe that most of our water comes from the lakes and although it is treated by filtration plants which break up some of the pollutants, i.e. PCBs, the constituents of the chemicals are still present in the water. In other words we are drinking and bathing in polluted water. One comment when you get a prescription from a pharmacist they tell you not to take your pill with this that and the other and all these things are in your water anyway. I didn’t watch the whole programme, I wish I had. Here is a trailer from the documentary.

Because its getting near to our vacation time, I am beginning to think shrimp. Then this recipe popped into my inbox. I notice in all these recipes that no-one really seems to know how to spell chillies – I am not even 100% certain I have spelt it right either. So I Googled and this is a quote “The three primary spellings are chili, chile and chilli, all of which are recognized by dictionaries”. My programme seems to prefer chilli.

Grilled Shrimp with Mango Salsa

Source: Casual Cuisines of the World - Cantina

Serves 4-6

Perfect for a hot summer night, this tropical dish partners grilled seafood with the exotic sweetness of mangoes and the punch of cilantro. Although mangoes are native to India, they came to the New World via Brazil in the 1700s, and are now widely available all over Mexico (here in Canada too). The salsa complements fish or chicken as well.
INGREDIENTS

2 cups olive oil

8 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

Juice of 2 limes

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined (20-24 shrimp)

For the Salsa:

2 ripe mangoes

6 green onions, including tender green tops, thinly sliced

2 fresh jalapeno chilli peppers, stemmed, seeded (if desired) and finely diced

1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

Juice of 2 limes

1 teaspoon salt

Lime wedges, optional

DIRECTIONS

In a frying pan over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, 3-5 minutes. Remove from the heat, pour into a shallow non-aluminum dish and let cool. Add the lime juice, salt and pepper. Mix well.

Using bamboo skewers, thread 4 or 5 shrimp onto each skewer, passing the skewer through points near both the head and tail sections of each shrimp. Place the skewers in the olive oil mixture, turning to coat evenly. Cover and let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or up to 12 hours.

FOR THE SALSA:
Peel each mango and cut the flesh from the pit. Cut into 1/4-inch dice and place in a bowl. Add the green onions, chilies, cilantro, lime juice and salt. Stir to mix, cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Prepare a fire in a charcoal grill.

When the fire is hot, place the skewers on the grill rack about 3 inches from the coals and grill, turning once, until the shrimp turn pink and are opaque throughout, about 3 minutes per side.

TO SERVE:
Arrange a bed of salsa on each plate and top with a skewer of shrimp, or remove the shrimp from each skewer and arrange atop the salsa. Garnish with lime wedges, if desired, and serve

Have a great day.