Cough, Cooking,

I'm pleased to say that having gone to bed so very early on Friday night and haven woken occasionally managed to dose myself all night with cough mixture, I awoke feeling a lot better and not coughing nearly as much. I was concerned because it felt like bronchitis which I haven't had for years, not since I gave up smoking. When I was a smoker, I got bronchitis every winter. Must be going on 30 years since I quit and I am so glad I did although funnily enough, I occasionally think I would like a cigarette which is odd after all these years. Passes off quickly though.

When we were at Victoria St. Market ladydog bought some potatoes stuffed with cheese. I thought they looked good and bought some too. However, I didn't think til later, were they already part cooked or what. Saturday morning I phoned  the store and was told "no, they weren't part cooked and

to put them in a 350°F oven for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. I had already emailed ladydog and she said she had cooked hers for a 1/2 hour in a 400°F oven and then 3 minutes in the microwave. We shall see tonight, Saturday. Of course, by the time you read this, it will be all over and done with. As  I said the other day, I also bought a London Broil, Canadian style. Not the same thing that we called London Broil when we lived in NC. They are stuffed and I just read a recipe which recommends broiling the meat on both sides for 7-9 mins and then cooking in the oven for about 25 mins. One is certainly enough for two people. Mind you, these days, Matt seems to find all beef tough!! After supper - I didn't really think much of the potato or the Canadian style London Broil. Disappointing. Funny, their meat is excellent and their desserts also, but this is the second time I have bought a pre-made meat dish and it will be the last.

I just read an excellent tip. If you are pressed for time and need meatballs, take the casing off sausages and roll the meat into balls. The filling is already well seasoned. Of course that's always assuming you keep sausages.

This recipe appealed because it is good for you, requires no cooking and only has three ingredients.

3 INGREDIENT HEALTHY ENERGY BARS

3 Ingredient Healthy Energy Bars – these delicious energy bars are simple to make, require no

cooking and no fuss. Just pulse, refrigerate and enjoy.

1 cup peanuts
1 cup dates pitted
1 cup dried apricots

1. Place the nuts, dates and apricots in a food processor. Pulse a few times just to break them up. Separate the dates if they start to clump together.

2. Scrape the edges of the bowl as needed and continue processing for another 1-2 minutes, until the ingredients clump together and gather into a ball.

3. Lay a piece of parchment paper on your work surface about the size of a baking sheet. Press the dough with your hands until it forms a thick square, roughly 8? x 8? in size. I found it easy to roll it with a rolling pin to get it nice and smooth. Wrap it with plastic wrap and chill for at least one hour or overnight.

4. Unwrap the chilled power bar dough and transfer to a cutting board. Cut into 8 large bars or 16 small squares, as desired. Wrap each bar in plastic wrap or wax paper.

Servings: 16

Source: Jo Cooks
Joanne Cismaru

Have a great day
 

Food Bloggers, Victoria St. Market, Dogs, Car,

I know, these days, I don't use many pictures, but I fail to understand those food bloggers who post dozens of pictures of what they are cooking and some of them look the same anyway. I always end up skipping to the recipe anyway.

Saturday we had run out of bananas, I knew that before hand, and had thought about going "up the road" to the Victoria St. Market. I was also hungry for some steak and we didn't have any. Victoria St. have excellent beef. Eventually I got up off my lazy rear end and went there. Ended up with flank steak, sirloin steak, and tenderloin steak. I then ended up with two desserts and guess what, some  bananas. It really is a dangerous place to go. They have an excellent fish counter but I didn't do  more than glance its way. I figured I would have to take out a mortgage as it was. So, fillet for supper. It is Father's Day tomorrow so that's my excuse!

We were chatting to ladydog the other day about dogs and how useful they are at cleaning up dropped food especially if you have very young kids. I was thinking about it and remembering our last dog, quite a few years ago now. On a slightly different tack, we could open the fridge 100 times, she would take no notice, but the minute we went to get cheese she was right alongside. How she knew we never figured out. Another thing she used to do, we could give her a can of beer from the fridge and tell her who it was for and she would take it to them. Close friends of course.

This morning I got a call from the super saying there was an interior light on in the car and suggesting if the car started, I took it for a drive. I went down and checked it out. At first I couldn't see a light then when I got really close I did. It was the lights on the rearview mirror. I didn't even know it had lights on it. Then I had trouble turning them off. I have no idea how they got turned on in the first place. The car started fine, and whilst it was running, I had to check the handbook. One thing I found out, there is a safety feature built in which ensures that something like this doesn't drain the battery. I finally discovered how to turn off the lights. I took the car for a short drive just in case. I still can't figure out how these lights got turned on in the first place. I still have to get the emergency brake cable fitted too. Just don't feel like sitting in the garage whilst they do it. Gotta be done though.

This is one of my all time favourite recipes for asparagus.

Asparagus Phyllo Bundles

For one roll:

Phyllo - 1/2 sheet for 2 asparagus
2 stalks asparagus
Parmesan, grated

Brush phyllo with butter, sprinkle with Parmesan, place 2 asparagus in middle and roll. Place in baking dish, sprinkle more Parmesan and put in oven 375°F for 15 mins.

Yield: one roll:

Source: Paula Deen

Have a great day
 

Warning, Steamer Basket, Shopping, Asparagus

Saturday I posted a recipe for flank steak, Instant Pot Marinated Steak. The recipe times are wrong. I cooked this and ended up with shredded beef. I didn't even do the full 35 minutes, I scaled it back to 30. It was way too well done. However, the flavour was good although it did need some salt. I will try it again but endeavour to work out a proper cooking time. Such a pity. Some people like their beef like this, we don't.

Ladydog came over to drop off my steamer basket which her hubby had fixed for me. We went up to Victoria St. Market which is a somewhat upscale food store. One thing I ended up buying was some desserts to use over the next 3 weeks. We have a dessert on Saturdays and I no longer prepare them myself. Tonight we had a chocolate/hazelnut cake (Nutella Cake?) which was delicious. I have some Tiramisu and some Turtle Cakes. Basically all chocolate from the description. We both bought some coconut shrimp - frozen - which looked really good. Ladydog appeared with a parcel and I asked what it was, lamb chops. Was about to go buy some and she said she had taken the last 4. So I was out of luck.

Matt spent most of today asleep. He was shivering this morning so I wrapped him up and gave him a heated pad to warm him. OK at the end of the day. I don't know how he will be tomorrow, we have a bowling banquet to attend.

This is yet another asparagus recipe and as many of you know, one of my favorites. I phoned the farmer who told me maybe Tuesday or Wednesday for asparagus. Keep your fingers crossed.

Crispy Baked Asparagus Fries

1 lb asparagus, trimmed
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/4 cup Parmigiano Reggiano (Parmesan), grated
salt and pepper to taste
Alternatively used chopped almonds instead of Parmesan

1. Dredge the asparagus in the flour, dip them in the egg and then into a mixture of the panko breadcrumbs, Parmesan, salt and pepper.

2. Place the asparagus on a wire rack on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated 425F oven until golden brown, about 7-13 minutes.

Servings: 2

Source: Closet Cooking

Author Notes
Asparagus coated in panko bread crumbs and parmesan and baked until golden brown and crispy.

Have a great day