Tomatoes, Garage, Grocery Store, LCBO,

I forgot to mention yesterday that I had tried the Oven Roasted Tomatoes Stuffed with Goat Cheese last night. I used about 6 oz. cheese for 2 tomatoes and, because I was in a rush, made a couple of mistakes. I cooked them in the Air Fryer and they turned out well, except I couldn't lift them out of the fryer so tipped them out. Didn't look pretty but they tasted very good.

Slow morning today, but then after lunch we went to the garage. Bob laughed at the card I had made for them. I sat on one of their comfy couches and went to sleep again. Had a lousy night last night, I could not get cool. Our A/C is in the living room and it doesn't always manage to get to the bedroom. I finally got to sleep around 2:30 and then awoke around 6. Infuriating.

Eventually, the car was ready and Bob said he had "done some magic", he sure had, he quoted $240 yesterday, he charged me $186 today. Great. Headed off to the store because I had forgotten to order Matt some luncheon meat. Think I have mentioned what a mess the place is because they are installing a Starbucks which I believe is a waste of time. Things are not where they should be and the shelves are not as full as they were. Enough to put you off shopping there all together. Thank goodness for PC Express which enables me to let someone else do my shopping.

Then went to the LCBO or liquor store and after that home. Not a sound from the car so this time what was wrong is definitely fixed.

When we got home I fixed salmon in foil for supper which we ate later on with a pea relish. I have posted both recipes previously.

Here is a simple recipe from Kevin Lynch of Closet Kitchen. Now I am off to bed.

Dakkochi (Korean Skewered Chicken)

Servings: 4

ingredients

• 1 pound chicken breast (cut into bite sized pieces)
• 3 cloves garlic (grated)
• 1 inch ginger (grated)
• 1/2 small onion (grated)
• 1/2 Asian pear (grated)
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 green onions (chopped)
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

directions

1. Mix everything in a freezer bag and marinate for at least an hour.
2. Skewer the chicken on wet skewers and set aside.
3. Strain the solids from the marinade and simmer the marinade until it thickens and becomes saucy, about 5-10 minutes.
4. Grill the chicken until cooked, about 5 minutes per side basting it with the marinade as you go.

Have a great day
 

Doctors

I don't know about doctors, it makes you wonder sometimes. Matt and I both had to have bloodwork done this morning. We walk into the clinic at 7:00 a.m. and the first thing they tell us, Matt has to stay for about 2 hours plus his tests will cost us around $55. No-one told him anything about this. When I finally go in to have mine done, they say "no urine sample required" I always have a urinalysis which means the doctor forgot to tick it. She screwed up on my last blood tests for diabetes too and missed out most of the stuff I normally have. I came home to have my breakfast and will have to pick Matt up later. Poor Matt stuck there for two hours.

We went to get some asparagus yesterday, after bowling, I had to live a whole day without any!! Tim Barrie tells me he has a recipe for pickled asparagus on his blog (see this page) so I must check it out. I was talking to him about tinned or canned asparagus - he doesn't have a high opinion of it either and says its mostly the stems they can't sell fresh. Turns out Tim isn't too keen on tomatoes, however, considering the tomatoes we get round here these days, I am not that surprised. Tonight I am finally going to try Asparagus in Bed which I posted on Saturday. I just checked Tim's recipe for pickled asparagus, its really easy. His mom's soup sounds pretty good too.

This is just a short blog today as I have to go out again. Plus I'm out of eggs for supper tonight.

Nearly forgot, those of you who were interested in the fly masks for horses. I phoned a local stable and they assured me that the horses can see very well through the masks. Once I thought about it, I figured they would have to be.

Here is another recipe from the Ontario Asparagus Grower's Marketing web page. I have always loved Aioli sauce, here is a lemon version.

Grilled Asparagus with Lemon Aioli

1	head garlic, cloves separated and peeled
pinch	saffron (optional)
2 to 3 tbsp	freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tbsp	finely grated lemon zest
1 cup	mayonnaise
	salt and pepper
1 lb	Ontario asparagus, trimmed
2 tbsp	extra-virgin olive oil
1 to 2 tbsp	balsamic vinegar
	salt and pepper

Lemon Aioli: In a small saucepan, cover garlic with water; bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer; cover and cook until very soft, 30 to 40 minutes. Drain and pat dry. If using, stir saffron into lemon juice; set aside to dissolve, about 5 minutes. In food processor, process garlic and lemon zest; to form puree. Add mayonnaise and lemon juice mixture; process until well blended. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Grilled Asparagus: Preheat barbecue or grill on high for about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-high. Place asparagus in shallow pan; add oil and toss to coat well. Grill until tender-crisp, about 3 minutes per side. Brush with vinegar; season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately with Lemon Aioli as a dip or as a drizzle.

Yield: 4 to 8 servings

Have a great day.

Tomatoes, Supper and Food for the Brain

This morning I phoned the Produce Manager in our local supermarket, Zehrs. She assures me that all the salmonella problems are in American produced tomatoes, and all the tomatoes in Zehrs are Canadian hothouse grown (they sure couldn't have grown them in the fields yet awhile). So, Matthew, stop worrying about my daily intake of the red fruits - love apples as they were once called. The picture of the sliced tomatoes makes me feel hungry. I have had a love affair with tomatoes for as long as I can remember. Their round, rich lusciousness is one of the greatest foods to tantalise your taste buds. Just think of how many dishes, from simple to gourmet, include tomatoes. Because I cannot seem to find really good ones these days, we buy them ahead of time so that by the time I am ready to eat one they are good and ripe. I eat tomatoes most days and this generally seems to work pretty well. I never, but never, put tomatoes in the fridge.

Last night, for supper, we had broiled salmon steaks and I had, you will be surprised to know, asparagus with it. Just plain with Butter Buds sprinkled. I suddenly remembered this was one of the things I really expected to eat in profusion when I came to Canada. I wonder why it took me so long to find Barrie's Asparagus farm? Not only that, fresh fish was very difficult to obtain when we first arrived here in 1975. Certainly salt water fish was not readily available unless it was frozen in packets.

Yesterday, on Good Morning America, we watched a programme about stimulating the brain. I thought it was pretty good and I pass on the article printed on their website for your interest read here which tells you some of the simple tricks you can employ to make your brain sit up and take notice. Things like cleaning your teeth with your other hand. Learning anything you didn't know before, it doesn't have to be complicated, just new. You don't have to learn Russian or anything like that. Apparently even actions like eating with your eyes closed cause your brain to work a bit harder and be stimulated. I just re-read the article and was surprised that I had missed one or two things. I did change my seat for lunch yesterday, then forgot about it since. I have always been concerned with an aging brain as some of my relatives ended up with senile dementia if not outright Alzheimer's. I have never been totally clear on what the difference is. Be sure I will be trying some of these changes.

Today I am going to try making Asparagus Vichysoisse. I think I have all the necessary ingredients. I published the recipe on June 4. Meanwhile here is another Asparagus recipe for you.

Asparagus Casserole
Serves: 4

Jeanne Jones, Cook It Light

4 slices whole wheat bread, diced into 1/2-inch cubes
1 cup steamed asparagus (about 1/2 pound fresh asparagus cut in 1-inch
pieces, trimmed, and steamed 3 minutes)
1 large egg
3 large egg whites
1 cup canned evaporated skim milk
1 cup grated 20 percent fat-reduced Cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 325° F. Place bread cubes in the oven for about 15 minutes or until a golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

2. Spray a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with a non-stick vegetable spray. Arrange toasted bread evenly on the bottom and top with the asparagus.

3. Combine egg, egg whites and milk. Mix well and pour evenly over the bread and asparagus. Top the casserole with the grated cheese and bake at 325° F for 25 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and the top is lightly browned.

Have a great day.

Stardust, Summer Treats, Salmon Imperial

I am presently reading Stardust which I saw as a movie on the plane coming back from England at Christmastime. At first I found the book a bit boring and stilted, but now I am well into it, I am enjoying it. I absolutely loved the movie, particularly the part played by Robert de Niro as a gay pirate. He was brilliant in it. I wrote about the movie in this blog when I got back. It is a lovely story and although a faerie story, not exactly for children. I have come across a few bits and pieces not considered suitable for youngsters although most of them seem to know more swearwords than I do.

Sadly, Father's Day will soon be here, which may be great for fathers, but it heralds the end of asparagus season which will have me in withdrawal for another year. I do sometimes buy the asparagus in the stores, but it just isn't the same.

I guess fresh corn is the next thing to look forward to, although the best corn I have ever tasted was when we were visiting NC a couple of years ago, it was called "How Sweet It Is" and it was wonderful. The only way to eat corn is straight out of the field, unfortunately I don't have that luxury, but to be able to buy fresh local corn is so much better than anything else one can buy. Matt loves frozen corn cooked on the barbecue which caramalizes some of the kernels and does taste great. For some reason it doesn't work quite as well with fresh corn although if you soak it well before you cook it, it helps. We soak the frozen corn as well so which keeps it moist. I first ate barbecued corn in Greece where they had corn perched above the coals on home made barbecues at street corners. Like the chestnut vendors one used to see in London, England and certainly saw in Portugal. Nothing like buying a bag of roast chestnuts in the street. I never did in Portugal as I was always too full as the food was so good there. It brings back memories of Sunday afternoons in England using a chestnut roaster (not sure it wasn't really a bed pan) over an open fire and then burning one's fingers to get at the nut meats. Chestnuts are so much better roasted, but you can boil them which I do when I want to make chestnut stuffing for a turkey. The worst part of cooking chestnuts is making a split or gash in their skins first so they don't burst all over the place.

Our friends came back from North Carolina this weekend and visited yesterday to bring me my Nopalitos (pickled cactus leaves). Apparently it was the end of the strawberry season down there and they actually went picking. I remember one particular strawberry farm where they had the best berries we have had in years. We used to haunt the place the same as I haunt the asparagus farm here. I remember being in France and being given Plougastines for dessert one time with Crème Chantilly. They are little wood strawberries and the sweetest berries you can ever imagine. I remember berries being much sweeter anyway when I lived in the UK. Not sure why, perhaps increased production has tended to grow hardier plants but not necessarily better tasting plants. People tend to prefer perfection in appearance rather than quality of taste. Tomatoes are another case in point. In my personal opinion, the smooth, pretty tomatoes on the vine don't taste of anything. We used to buy tomatoes from a local farm in NC and they were not necessarily pretty but boy did they have a wonderful flavour. We used to pick our own and could get two good 5 gallon buckets for $5. Where I live, I can't seem to get really good tomatoes in season. I even asked at Barrie's Asparagus farm where they bought theirs and they said their supermarket!!! He did say he had tried growing them but not very successfully.

I don't often post a fish recipe, but I thought I would this morning. It can always be served with a nice helping of gently cooked asparagus on the side with a rhubarb dessert to follow. We both love seafood although in Ontario it is very expensive. We are so very far from the sea.

Broiled Salmon Imperial
Serves: 8

Source: Chatelaine

3 lbs fresh salmon steaks or fillets
2 tbs melted butter
2 tbs lemon juice
2 tsp anchovy paste
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp paprika

Place salmon on greased broiler. Combine rest of ingredients. Brush salmon with mixture. Broil 5 inches from heat for 6 mins. Turn salmon and brush with remaining butter sauce. Broil 5 mins or until fish flakes.

Have a great day.