Text 14320, 108 rader
Skriven 2011-08-04 22:44:00 av JIM WELLER (1:123/140)
Ärende: On the Home Scene
=========================
Since I have sworn off restaurants, including take out pizza, I have
been shopping and cooking up a storm. A few highlights... and
lowlights.

Red bell peppers were on sale so I bought a big bag of them and
pulled out the blender to make Romesco sauce after charring the
peppers under the broiler. I followed a standard recipe, tasted and
then doubled both the garlic and the chilies using chipotles rather
than cayenne the second time. With the extra zing it was quite
delightful. I'll definitely be making another batch soon.

Then I made pita bread, split them, cut them into wedges and deep
fried them. The pita chips made great dippers for the Romesco.
And of course they are both cheaper and healthier than any
commercially made crunchy carb thing.

Romesco is good slathered on grilled fish too.

I also purchased a bottle of malt vinegar, for the first time ever
for some fish and chips (since I already had the fryer out, full of
fresh oil). Wow, just wow! Why did I wait so long? We used it on
some beer battered and deep fried burbot (that's loche, the fresh
water ling cod and not barbotte, which is a catfish) fresh from
Buckley's boat.

We also had the very last of last year's moose... a big slab of
liver which I pan fried and napped with my favourite sauce for
liver. I have been making it for decades and can no longer remember
if I read about it somewhere or invented it but it's dead simple.
In the pan the liver has been fried in add mustard, ketchup and soy
sauce, proportions all to taste. Optionally add garlic powder, red
or black pepper. Stir. That's it.

Because they are low on the glycemic index and full of healthy
things, Roslind conned me into buying quinoa and couscous. Once
again I was completely underwhelmed by them.

My newest snack cracker build:

PC jalapeno and cheddar corn bread crackers
Island Farm Victoria cream cheese
LiCo marinated mussels
diced purple onion
Frank's sauce

As some of these are Canadian brands I'll expand on that a bit, in
case anyone wants to copy it.

President's Choice have recently come out with several new flavours
of snack crackers. They started off with a low introductory price,
then a stupid high regular price followed by a very low clearance
price. I had tried and liked them when they first came out but I
boycotted them after the price skyrocketed. I guess a lot of people
did because I stumbled across a big bin of assorted flavours at less
than half price. So I picked up six boxes of them. The PC jalapeno
and cheddar corn bread cracker is perhaps my favourite of the bunch.
                                                        
Island Farm Victoria Style cream cheese is made by a subsidiary of
Saputo Cheese, again a Canadian company. It is very soft and
spreadable even right out of the fridge as it has a high moisture
content (64%) and pretty healthy with just 18% BF. It is quite
tasty, way better then Philly, but of course not as rich as a real
cream cheese. We are using it a lot as a butter substitute in
sandwiches.

LiCo "marinated" mussels come from the Lim F Jord Company AS of
Denmark and the marinade is really a brine: water, vinegar, sugar
and salt. They really ought to be labelled pickled mussels. Very
good flavour and texture.

Of course everyone knows Frank's sauce.

The others have been cooking too. For a BIL's birthday dinner,
Neekha made two desserts with the help of the younger two: a
chocolate cake and a trifle sort of thing made of cubed angel food
cake and assorted fresh berries all tossed in whipped cream.

Roslind made a stroganoff-like dish out of round steak. She cut three
steaks into little strips while they were half frozen, seasoned them
and threw them in the crockpot all day. After she came home from
work she added the mushrooms and sour cream. Not really a stroganoff
but easy to make and a hit with all.

My latest purchase: hemp hearts. These are hulled hemp seeds, fresh
(they need to be refrigerated to avoid going rancid or moldy) and
soft, not dried and full of omega 3 essential anti-oxidant yadda
yadda. But I bought them and am reporting on them here not for their
alleged health benefits but because they are darned tasty. A cross
between a wheat germ taste and nutty would be the best way to
describe them. I am experimenting with them by sprinkling them raw
over sundaes, porridge, salads, soups and on peanut butter
sandwiches. (Certified THC free BTW.) They are going to become part
of my regular rotation along with pumpkin, sunflower, flax and
sesame seeds. I plan to use them in breads and muffins too although
I am advised some of the health benefits are lost in cooking.
       
I'll close with one of Charlee's latest quotes: "Lexi was the
miracle child but I am the present child."


Cheers

YK Jim


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