Freezing Rain, Vascular Surgery,

If you wondered where I got to on Tuesday, I totally forgot. Sunday night I slept very badly with the result that Monday I was so tired I could hardly see straight. We still bowled on Monday afternoon quite well in fact, and when we got home I prepared supper then stretched out on my lounger for a bit. Didn't sleep but did kind of doze which allowed me to cope for the rest of the evening although, as I said, I completely forgot to blog.

It's now Tuesday morning and I can't figure out whether the freezing rain, which was forecast, happened or not. The big muddy area beneath our windows looks like a sheet of ice but it could also just be a large puddle. I was supposed to go see my doctor this morning but they changed the appointment to this afternoon by which time I am hoping the roads will be fine even if they are icy, which I can't tell from here.

Tuesday afternoon I had an appointment with my family doctor to review the results of my ultra sound a couple of weeks ago. I had to walk through fairly heavy rain to get there, I was wet and cold. Anyway, it turns out that, as I thought, my legs are not getting sufficient blood into them. Part of my femoral artery, is totally occluded (damn, can't remember which leg now) plus there are lots of other areas which are pretty bad apparently. The upshot of this of course, is another vascular operation sometime in the future.


Having been to an Indian restaurant the other day my thoughts have turned to Indian food.

Fried Tandoori Chicken

For extra-juicy--and flavorful--fried chicken, chef Rupam Bhagat of Dum in San Francisco marinates his meat using the traditional two-step tandoori process: He first lets the chicken sit in a blend of aromatic spices for 12 hours and then folds in yogurt that helps tenderize the meat and caramelize the

crust when it's fried.

6 garlic cloves, chopped
One 3-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
2 Tbs ground coriander
1 1/2 Tbs ground cumin
1 Tbs ground turmeric
2 tsp cayenne
2 Tbs vegetable oil, plus more for frying
Kosher salt
Pepper
6 small chicken thighs
6 small chicken drumsticks
1 1/2 cups full-fat Greek yogurt
1 1/2 cups chickpea flour
Chaat masala, for sprinkling
Small cilantro sprigs and lime wedges, for garnish

1. How to make this recipe

2. In a food processor, puree the garlic with the ginger, lemon juice, coriander, cumin, turmeric, cayenne, the 2 tablespoons of oil, 2 teaspoons of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper until smooth. Scrape the marinade into a large bowl, add the chicken and turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 12 hours.

3. Stir the yogurt into the marinade, re-cover the bowl and refrigerate for 12 more hours.

4. Preheat the oven to 250° and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. In a shallow bowl, mix the chickpea flour with 1 teaspoon of salt. Remove the chicken from the marinade, letting the excess drip back into the bowl. Dredge the chicken in the flour, then transfer to the prepared baking sheet.

5. In a large, heavy saucepan, heat 1 1/2 inches of oil to 325°. Set a rack over a rimmed baking sheet. Working in batches, fry the chicken until golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of each piece registers 160°, about 10 minutes. Transfer to the rack, season with salt and keep warm in the oven while you fry the remaining chicken.

6. Sprinkle the chicken with chaat masala and transfer to a platter. Garnish with cilantro leaves and lime wedges; serve.

Servings: 4

Source: Food & Wine


Have a great day
 

Vascular Surgery. Nursery Rhyme. Christmas.

I mentioned my vascular surgery yesterday, I was quite staggered, I emailed the surgeon’s office, I phoned and left a message and never heard a dicky bird, then, right out of the blue, I got an email with dates, times, pre op forms, you name it. My only complaint, couldn’t fill the forms out on the PC had to do it by hand and my handwriting is for the birds. So, with any luck, I should be able to walk again in December although I was reading what I wrote last year, June 16 I discovered, and it sounds as though I had a sore leg after. You’ll be getting as fed up with our medical histories the same as everyone was getting fed up with the election advertising. I also now know when I will be going in for the pre-op. I have been trying to work out the parking. The hospital parking lot is apparently $8 however long you spend. Seems a bit expensive. It is possible for Matt to drop me off and pick me up in a special spot by another door, but it’s a 15 minutes only parking place. I guess its going to cost $8 for the pre-op. Called the hospital, they said for short term used the parking meters next to the hospital.

I heard an ad, have heard it before, on the radio where a little girl is reciting a nursery rhyme. What she says is “itsy bitsy spider”, its not itsy bitsy its incy wincy. Grrr. It really irritates me, silly I know, but….. Most nursery rhymes started as lampoons of political happenings at the time they were written. There doesn’t seem to be any actually recorded history and on the North American continent the spider seems to have been give a bunch of different names. Ah well, it will, no doubt, continue to irritate the hell out of me.

It appears that all that dust from the new bathroom floor did cause me computer problems after all, I have had my computer guy here twice over the last 24 hours working on dust problems. What a pain. It seems to be fixed now. I have also spent a large portion of today making Christmas cards and printing address labels for them. Christmas is a cumin.

I thought this looked quite delicious although it does contain a few things I personally would change, not being a vegan, nor do I personally have a problem with gluten, but I think it would be a good recipe. I have friends who are not gluten tolerant or who are vegans, in both cases this is ideal.

Vegan Pasta Pie and Basic Vegan White Sauce

By The Gluten Free Goddess
WebMD Recipe from Foodily.com

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked gluten-free spaghetti noodles
• 2 cups vegetables for roasting: leek, mushrooms, grape tomatoes
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 cup gluten-free cornbread crumbs
• 6 spears fresh asparagus, trimmed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups non-dairy milk (I used plain hemp milk)
• 1 tablespoon rice or sorghum flour
• 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 3 tablespoons white wine
• 1/2 teaspoon prepared mustard
• 2 portions egg replacer
• pinch nutmeg
• minced onion and garlic, to taste
• dried Italian herbs: basil, thyme, oregano, parsley, to taste
• sea salt and ground pepper, to taste
• fresh chopped rosemary, to taste
• vegan white sauce, recipe follows

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly oil a deep 9-inch pie plate and set aside.
2. Slice up a leek, and mushrooms and toss them into a roasting pan. Add enough grape tomatoes to bring the amount to two heaping cups or so. Drizzle with a little olive oil. Season with sea salt and ground pepper, herbs; toss to coat. Roast in the preheated oven till tender- about 30 minutes.
3. Make the white sauce: In a sauce pan add the olive oil, non-dairy milk and flour; whisk and cook over medium heat. The flour will thicken the milk. Add in the nutritional yeast and whisk. Add the wine, mustard, nutmeg, minced onion and garlic, and stir till thickened. This is your basic vegan white sauce. Now we're going to make it a little eggy for the pie. Mix egg replacer for two eggs using warm non-dairy milk. Stir it into the white sauce.
4. When the veggies are roasted, layer the cooked pasta in the prepared pie plate. Pour in the vegan white sauce mixture and shimmy the noodles a bit to allow the sauce to seep in. Top with the roasted veggies.
5. Toss the cornbread crumbs in a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle over the pie. Press down a bit to compact the layers. Sprinkle with chopped fresh rosemary. Arrange the uncooked asparagus spears on the top.
6. Bake in the center of the oven for 25 minutes or so, till piping hot.
7. Allow the pie to rest for 5 minutes before slicing and serving. Use a sharp knife to slice and a pie shaped spatula/server.

Have a great day

Me, Bowling, The Royals, Mountain Goat

If medical stuff makes you sick, ignore this first bit. 

I saw the vascular surgeon yesterday who said that the CT scan had shown even more blockages than the ultrasound. It appears I have a piece of plaque right behind my belly button area, at the junction of the two iliac veins. What is currently planned is that I will be going in for an angiogram and angioplasty combined, some time in January, to place stents in that area. Later, I may well have to proceed to proper vascular surgery and have my leg veins by-passed. What staggers me is that I can go home the same day after the angioplasty. In 2004 I had to stay in overnight.

I had a phone call yesterday to say I had won the in- house tournament and would I be able to go to the next round in Hamilton in February. I assured them that I would – ops permitting of course. I had 85 pins over average last week, however, last year there were lots of people with 200 plus and one person with 300 or more pins over average!!! However, it is fun to do and we get a night in a hotel on the Association.

Of course there has been lots on the news about William and Kate. I loved the brief interview with Prince Charles who said he was happy about the engagement “they have been practising long enough”!!! Some people seem surprised that she has the sapphire ring which was Princess Diana’s engagement ring, but to me that is a natural progression. many families pass down their jewellery to their descendants. It is a very large sapphire, surrounded by diamonds. Doesn’t leave a lot of room for a wedding ring does it? Now of course everyone is waiting for the wedding news.

I absolutely had to share this picture with you. This is from the current November edition of the National Geographic and the photo was taken by Joel Sartore. The goat, in this instance, is after a salt lick, but look at his position on the rocks. Most of us – even with climbing tackle – couldn’t manage this easily, how the hell do they. Do click on the picture and enlarge it, it really is an incredible sight, plus a fantastic piece of photography. But how the hell that goat gets where it is is a complete mystery to me.

Here is another bean recipe which will make up for the sinful dessert from yesterday.

Bean Bolognese

From EatingWell:  December 2006

Fiber-rich beans stand in for the beef and pork in this surprisingly rich-tasting vegetarian take on pasta Bolognese. Without the meat, the dish has only a third of the fat and 80 percent less saturated fat. To make the perfect meal, serve with a peppery arugula salad and warm, crusty Italian bread.

4 servings

Ingredients

1 14-ounce can salad beans, (see Shopping Tip) or other beans, rinsed, divided

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

1/2 cup chopped carrot

1/4 cup chopped celery

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 bay leaf

1/2 cup white wine

1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, divided

8 ounces whole-wheat fettuccine

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation

1. Put a large pot of water on to boil. Mash 1/2 cup beans in a small bowl with a fork.
2. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, celery and salt; cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and bay leaf; cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add wine; increase heat to high and boil until most of the liquid evaporates, 3 to 4 minutes. Add tomatoes and their juices, 2 tablespoons parsley and the mashed beans. Bring to a lively simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 6 minutes. Add the remaining whole beans; cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through, 1 to 2 minutes more.
3. Meanwhile, cook pasta in the boiling water until just tender, about 9 minutes or according to package directions. Drain.
4. Divide the pasta among 4 bowls. Discard the bay leaf and top the pasta with the sauce; sprinkle with Parmesan and the remaining parsley.

Shopping tip: A can of salad beans, a mixture of chickpeas, kidney and pinto beans, adds depth and variety to this recipe. Look for it in the natural-foods section of larger supermarkets or natural-foods stores. If you can't find it, substitute a can of your favorite beans.

Have a great day