Today( well, actually, yesterday, since this blog post was begun prior to midnight and finished after!), Mr. G and I drove up to Decatur, AL to visit our youngest daughter, who is in the hospital being treated for an infection. It was a lovely day for a drive, and we had a nice visit, or as nice a visit as one can have in that setting.
We thought about stopping at a barbeque place and getting something to bring home for supper, but discovered that our favorite place was closed on Sundays. I told Mr. G that we had a nice fillet of Alaska cod in the fridge that I'd bought yesterday. We could have that. The drive home was quite pleasant, with very little traffic on the interstate or on the side roads when we exited the interstate. I spent some time trying to think about what we could have with the cod, and remembered that we had a mango and some pineapple in the fridge, and a lovely mint plant in the greenhouse, so that was the basis for the meal I planned on the trip.
After fussing over the dogs and feeding them, letting the cat out and back in, watering the greenhouse plants and setting up the lights in the greenhouse, I took inventory of what we had on hand for a quick supper.
I decided to make a mango, mint and pineapple salsa to go with the cod, and cook some rice as a side dish. Most of the salsa recipes I've seen call for red onion, lime and cilantro-none of which I had, and I don't really like cilantro anyway. So I dug around in the fridge, cupboard and greenhouse and came up with a mango, pineapple, an orange bell pepper, a jalapeno pepper, a lemon, a shallot and the mint.
I have mangled many mangoes , trying to cut them, but finally bought a mango slicer, shown here in the pic, hoping it would solve all my mango slicing problems. It didn't, because I just don't seem able to push it down over the mango with enough force, so I have reverted to my trusty chef's knife to do the job. I did find a few videos on how to slice a mango and learned some handy little tricks. I've posted one here that I found very helpful..
I cut the mango and pineapple into cubes, removed the seeds from the peppers and chopped the bell pepper and jalapeno into rather small pieces, and after rinsing , drying and stacking the mint leaves, cut them into strips, as in a chiffonade. I minced the shallot and sauteed it in butter in a saucepan, removing half when it was tender, and leaving half in the pan to flavor the rice. I mixed the mango, pineapple, cooked shallots, peppers, and mint in a medium bowl, sprinkled them with salt and peppe, added a few drops of lemon juice and placed the bowl in the refrigerator while I prepared the rice and fish.
To the butter/shallot mixture remaining in the saucepan, I added 1/2 cup of jasmine rice and heated over medium heat, sautéed until the rice turned translucent, then white. I then added a cup of chicken broth to the saucepan, brought it to a boil, turned the heat to low, covered the pot and cooked it on a slow simmer for a bout 13 minutes until done.
While the rice was cooking I rinsed and dried the fish. The fillet was quite large, so I cut it into four sections. I used the "double dip" method to batter the fish: first I dredged the pieces in flour seasoned with salt and pepper, then dipped them in a beaten egg, and finally dredged them in cornmeal. I heated some olive oil in a frying pan, and sautéed the fish, two pieces at a time, so as not to crowd them in the pan, until it was browned to a lovely golden shade. Almost any flour/cornmeal variation can be used here, depending on how adventurous you are -- spelt flour, masa, polenta. I used unbleached white flour and organic yellow cornmeal this time, because that's what I had on hand.
The fish looked lovely on the plates snuggled next to the rice and blanketed with the salsa. And it tasted good, too! A nice, quick, tasty, healthy meal, coked from scratch and served up in a hurry. After all, tonight was the season finale of Downton Abbey and one wouldn't want to be tethered to the stove at such a time and miss the whole thing, would one? ;-)
When I was very young, I liked to suck on lemons. Something about that delicious, tart, juicy, sunshiny fruit made me happy. Even today, I prefer tart and tangy over sweet and syrupy. Except for Nutella- I love the sweetness of Nutella. But I digress. . .
I use lemons a lot. Lemon slices stuffed in a roast chicken; lemon juice drizzled on sauteed fish; lemon pie, lemon curd, lemon in sauces and salad dressings; lemon zest in cakes, cookies, soups,sauces; candied lemon peels as a garnish. Lemons are so useful and so versatile. And so tasty!
But lemons are also useful around the house. For years, I have used lemons to rub stains out of my cutting boards. I've dipped lemon halves in baking soda or salt to use as a scrub for the kitchen counters, and lemon juice is great for removing stains from lots of things.
For several years, I've been trying to get away from using harsh chemicals around the house. I bought a steam mop for the floors which not only gets the floors sparkly clean but saves a lot of money since I no longer need to buy floor cleaners. I've used vinegar to clean the windows (This isn't a new idea- I can remember my mother using nothing but vinegar water and newspapers to clean and polish windows when I was young). I've combined vinegar and baking soda to clean the drains in the sink and to scrub burned food off pots. And now, thanks to One Good Thing by Jillee, a wonderful blog with household tips, recipes and other good stuff, I've discovered a new way to use lemons and vinegar together. Jillee has a recipe for lemon vinegar, and since the neighborhood Piggly Wiggly had bags of lemons on sale, I couldn't resist.
First I cut the lemons in half and squeezed out the juice. While doing this I came to the conclusion that we need a more efficient juice extractor. My little citrus reamer is fine for doing one or two lemons but it's hard on the wrist when you're juicing a whole bag of lemons. But I got them all juiced- enough to fill up an ice cube tray for the freezer. Now, when a recipe calls for just a little lemon juice, I can use a lemon juice cube, or use several to make a glass of lemonade.
After juicing, I cut the lemons into quarters and put them in canning jars. There were enough lemons to fill one quart jar and one pint jar. I then filled the jars with white vinegar and capped them. Now they are tucked away in the cupboard. After two weeks I'll take them down, strain the liquid, mix it 50/50 with some water, put it in some spray bottles and try it out. I can hardly wait!
I was trying to think of a song about lemons, and of course, Led Zeppelin's Lemon Song came to mind, plus one or two others. But they were all on the depressing side, and I wanted a happy lemon song. I finally found Happy Lemon! Enjoy :-)
The last few days have been rainy, windy, gray days with no sunshine to brighten things up. So it was a lovely surprise to be greeted by the sight of little green plants popping up in the trays I seeded last week.
You can barely see them, but that's the Swiss Chard on the left and some basil on the right. I seeded the basil a bit more thickly than I would have liked. Well, actually, I shook the packet a little too vigorously and the seeds are so tiny that there was no way to fish them out of the vermiculite, so I'll have more little seedlings of basil to pot up and may have to make a much larger area for basil in the herb garden.But, really, can one have too much basil? I think not ;-)
There is something so exciting about those first seeds emerging. Like the jonquils that pop up, sometimes through the snow, they are little messengers from Mother Nature, sent to let us know that winter will end soon and Spring is on its way. I'm excited about the prospect of having the tomatoes and eggplants emerge soon, and sowing more seeds. I've already set the fluorescent lights over these two sprouting babies to make sure they get about 15 hours of light a day. I was able to turn the lights off for most of the day today because we had beautiful glorious sunshine streaming in the greenhouse, making artificial light necessary only when the sun faded.
Yes, Spring is on the way! There may be more dull, gray days of winter before us, maybe even some snowy days, but there will be more sunny days, too, and Spring WILL come!
We'll join in the Jamboree At the Codfish ball. OK, to be honest, we didn't go fishing, attend a ball or even eat codfish balls, but we did have cod for supper tonight. I used a recipe published in Bon Appetit in 2006: Baked Cod and Potatoes with Horseradish Cream Sauce. It's an easy recipe, with a minimum of dirty pots and pans and it gives me a chance to hone my skills on the mandoline. I have never been able to slice potatoes or anything else into perfectly even slices, which is why I love my mandoline- it lets me slice a potato or a bushel of potatoes, or other veggies into slices of exactly the same thickness so they cook evenly. And the best part is, I haven't sliced off a finger yet! My mandoline is a French-made Bron that does many things I haven't yet had the nerve to ask it to do (fear of finger-loss), but any good, sharp mandoline will do the same thing, I'm sure. Here's a picture of it in action with the red potatoes for tonight's meal:
You just set the blade for the thickness you want, set the hand guard on its guide rails, position the potato (I cut the larger ones in halfso they are easier to fit in the hopper of the hand guard) and begin slicing. It's best to use a steady, fast motion maintaining the proper pressure as you slide the guard.
In no time at all you potato slices that are of an even thickness.
I dipped the potato slices in a mixture of mayonnaise, mustard with horseradish and lemon juice, then, after shaking the excess mixture off the potato slices, placed them in a single layer on a baking sheet and baked them in a 400 º oven for about 13 minutes, until they were just beginning to turn brown.
Meanwhile, I dipped two cod fillets in the same mixture, then sprinkled them with salt and pepper and placed them on a baking sheet and baked for another 10 minutes or so until the flesh was opaque and tender. The timing will depend somewhat on the thickness of the fish. I placed the potatoes on the plates and topped them with the fish. I served creamed spinach with this.
I think I might try to jazz up the sauce a little next time, it seemed somewhat blander than I like a sauce to be-- especially one with horseradish! Otherwise, it made a nice, easy meal. The lighting was not good for these pics and they aren't the best quality, but they give a fair idea of how it turned out, I hope.
And about the song lyrics that opened this post- - they are the from the song, Catfish Ball, featured in the 1936 movie, Captain January, starring Shirley Temple (Ihad forgotten just how cute and talented she was!). Here's a video of her performing the song. See if you can guess who her dance partner is :-)
Or elderberry syrup, or jelly or pie, or in my case, elderberry tincture. Elderberry, which contains vitamin C, A and B
also contains flavonoids, sugar, tanins, carotenoids, and amino acids, has a long history as an herbal remedy. Rosemary Gladstar, in her book, Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health, notes that elderberry syrup is the most popular herbal cold remedy in Europe. Native Americans used elderberry for a number of ailments, and recent preliminary scientific studies have shown elderberry extract to be an effective treatment for Type A flu if taken at the first sign of symptoms.
I keep a bottle of elderberry tincture around and have found that if Mr. G and I take a spoonful at the first sign of a scratchy throat or flu-like symptoms, it seems to keep whatever we were coming down with at bay. We've gone several years now without suffering the flu or even a major cold. It may not work for everyone and shouldn't be considered as a replacement for traditional flu preventatives and medications, but it has worked well for us so far.
A few years ago we would gather wild elderberries, but it was often difficult to get to the berries before other critters had harvested them, so I ordered an elderberry bush from Possum Creek Herb Farm. It has grown like wildfire, and is a lovely sight in May and June when it is in full bloom. I sometimes gather and dry the elder flowers to make elderberry tea, which is quite delicious sweetened with local honey.
When if has finished flowering, the berries form, green at first, then turning red, and finally a deep purple. That is when they are ready to harvest. Here in Alabama, they are usually fully ripe by the middle to end of July.
Sometimes, though, there are few berries left to harvest. I've found umbels picked clean by birds and bugs. But usually I can gather enough to make a nice jar of tincture, if not enough for pies and jelly.
It's important to separate the berries from the stems completely, as the stems, leaves and bark are said to be toxic if ingested. I have decided not to test this out on myself or Mr. G and am VERY careful to keep the stems out. Some people use a fork to remove the berries, and others freeze them first, which is said to make removal easier, but I just use my hands and fingers and that has worked well for me so far. Once the berries are separated, I rinse them and drain them in a colander, then put them in a clean canning jar, filling it 1/2 to 3/4 full of berries. I then fill the jar with the solvent or menstruum, completely covering the berries. I use 100 proof vodka. You could also use gin brandy or rum. If you do use alcohol it should be at least 80 proof. The proof tells you the percentage of alcohol- 100 proof 50% alcohol, 50% water, 80 proof is 40% alcohol 60% water. The alcohol serves as a preservative, but if there is a health condition or other problem that precludes using alcohol, glycerin or vinegar can be used instead, but I have never tried that.
Once the jar is filled, I cap it and place it in a dark cupboard for about 2 months. I try to shake or turn the jar at least once a day, since it seems to help speed up the extraction process, but I don't think it's crucial and have been known to skip several days without dire consequences.
This jar had been sitting for less than a week, and the liquid had already turned a lovely dark color. After a couple of months, I strain off the liquid, bottle it up, label it and we are all set to face flu season with a little more confidence. We usually just take a teaspoon full a couple of times a day when we first begin to feel symptoms, but you could also add the tincture to juice, water or herbal tea. We have found that it rarely takes more than one or two doses to do the trick.
So we have been feeling fine this flu season with our tincture, but I may be lucky enough to have a bumper crop of berries this summer. Maybe even enough to make a tincture AND some elderberry wine. Then we can sing "Elderberry Wine" along with Elton John :-)
Way down south in Birmingham
I mean south in Alabam'
There's an old place where people go. . .
That's the opening of "Tuxedo Junction," a jazz song co-written by Birmingham Native Erskine Hawkins, played by his orchestra and later recorded or covered by many famous orchestras and solo performers, including the Glenn Miller Orchestra, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and The Manhattan Transfer.
Tuxedo Junction is a real place in the Ensley Section of Birmingham, in the 1700 block of 20th. Street. Once a busy business hub and the site of a jazz and blues club at a streetcar crossing, there is little physical evidence remaining to attest to the vibrancy of the area depicted in the song. The building, now an office building re-named the Nixon Building, still stands, and little more than a historical plaque and the memories of a few folks who lived in that era mark the spot where musical history was made, but there is evidence that those memories are becoming stronger and are being passed on, because every summer, the "Function in the Junction" celebrates the musical heritage of the area with a parade, music, food and activities celebrating the history of Tuxedo Junction. I was fortunate to attend one of the very first revived "functions" and really do have the t-shirt to prove it!
Birmingham has gotten a lot of bad press over the years, much of it well-deserved. But Birmingham today is a very different place from the Birmingham people saw in the news during the news coverage of the Civil Rights Struggles of the 1950s and 1960s. We still have a lot of problems, but we have moved forward in so many ways. We have so many beautiful places, talented, vibrant and caring people of all races and socio-economic groupswho believe in Birmingham, its potential and its future. And we have an artistic climate encompassing art, music, theater and all the rest that can well hold its own with any place that is considered among the best. And beer- we have some very good beer!
I visited two of my favorite areas in Birmingham today: Pepper Place in the Lakeview area, and Avondale, a newly revitalized and thriving area of Birmingham with a long and varied history.
Today was a beautiful, sunny day- a little on the chilly side, but not anything to complain about. My first stop was at Pepper Place,site of several specialty shops, antique stores and a thriving Saturday Farmers Market in the summer. Rod, owner of Owl's Hollow Farm, braves the winter weather to set up a stand there to display his hydroponic veggies plus eggs, pork, cheese, bread, honey and jams and jellies from Owl's Hollow and several of his neighboring farmers. I came away with eggs, spinach, onions, sweet potatoes and red potatoes. I got so involved talking, though, that when I got home, I discovered that the beautiful stalk of Brussels sprouts didn't make it home with me- I must have left them behind. Drats!
After loading the goods in the trunk of the car, I went round the corner to Charlie Thigpen's Garden Gallery. There are so many wonderful, whimsical things there that I wish I could buy one of everything, but I settled for a few lovely botanical notecards and some seeds.
From there, I headed for Freshfully market in Avondale, a newly reopened and renovated store that carries products made in Alabama- with a few out-of-state items like Florida strawberries for those (Me!, Me!) who find it very hard to be total locavores in the dead of winter! Their renovation includes a lovely wall with the store logo, painted by local high school art students. Today the wall was serving as a backdrop for a sushi class that was being set up while I was there. Lots of stuff happening at Freshfully- tomorrow, there's a yogurt -making class!
From Freshfully I drove to V. Richards, where I was lucky enough to park close to a beautiful camellia bush in full bloom. The camellia is Birmingham's official flower, despite the fact that it isn't a native plant, which is a shame, since we do have many perfectly wonderful native plants.. But the camellias are a beautiful sight, blooming their hearts out in the winter.
V. Richards has a wonderful selection of poultry, meat and fresh fish, plus an extensive wine and beer selection and a good selection of produce, much of it local. Today, they even had edible orchids! So pretty. But I passed, since edible orchids are not on my menu plan for the coming week. They were lovely, though.
I did buy a nice flounder fillet,,which we had for supper tonight, dipped in egg, coated with french-fried onion crumbs, sauteed in peanut oil and served with anchovy butter. Yummy!
I hope your day was as pleasant and enjoyable as mine. The weatherman is predicting quite a few cloudy, cold and rainy days for us in the coming week with little hope of sunshine, so today's sunshine and warmth was a gift much enjoyed and appreciated..
And if you aren't familiar with "Tuxedo Junction" or even if you are and just want to hear it again, here it is for your listening pleasure!
They're here!! Today has been a very good day. Not only did I discover that our income tax refund had already been direct deposited to our bank account, but the first order of garden seeds from Pinetree Garden Seeds arrived in the morning mail!
There are so many good reasons for growing your own plants from seed: economic, environmental, greater choice of varieties and colors, preserving heirloom varieties, avoiding GMO veggies, and so on. But aside from all those reasons, there is something just so satisfying about the whole process, and for me, at, least, seeing seeds break the surface and lift their heads to the light is a wonderful and exciting experience!
I like buying seeds from Pinetree because there are fewer seeds in a package, which means less waste and less seeds I have to carry over from year to year and run germination tests on, since I hate to waste seeds. After reading Mel Bartholomew's Square Foot Gardening, I began using his single seed sowing method which made a lot of sense. Sowing just the number of seeds I needed also alleviated the guilt pangs I suffered when thinning out little seedlings that had struggled hard to break free of their seed cases and emerge victorious, only to be rudely plucked from the soil and discarded!
Having already made space in the greenhouse a few days ago, and having disinfected my seed starting containers, I was ready to begin sowing. I use basically the same equipment in the greenhouse that I used before we had the greenhouse: A large black plastic mortar mixing box, heat cables, a fluorescent light, a few plastic flats without drainage holes, and a variety of recycled plastic containers such as yogurt, cheese, margarine tubs and some containers that gourmet dog food came in. I punch drainage holes in the bottom of these and have found that they last very well and can be reused several times.
First we put some sand in the bottom of the mortar mixing box, then bury the heating cables in the sand.
I like to start my seeds in vermiculite rather than a seed starting mix because I've always had good luck with it. The vermiculite moistens easily and it's very easy to extract the seedlings for repotting without damaging their roots. After making sure they all have drainage holes (I use an ice pick to punch the holes), I fill the tubs with the vermiculite, then place them in a plastic flat half-filled with water. Once the vermiculite is evenly moist, I remove the tubs and begin to sow the seeds, using a Popsicle stick marked with the seed name and sowing date, and place them in a dry flat on top of the sand.
I then place a piece of clear rigid plastic, like Plexiglas, over the mortar box and plug in the heating cable. I keep a thermometer inside the mortar box to monitor the temperature, which I try to keep at around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. On sunny days the greenhouse heats up and we don't need to plug in the cables. Even when the outside temperature is in the 20s and 30s, with the sun shining, it sometimes gets so warm that we need to vent or remove the cover. I keep an eye on the moisture so that the containers don't get too dry or too moist, and water the containers by putting water in the flat so the the containers are watered from below. This method seems to help avoid the seeds damping-off. I don't fertilize at this point, since seeds contain all the nutrients they need to germinate, and once the seedlings have developed their first true leaves I prick out and transplant them into individual containers filled with potting soil and begin to fertilize them. So now, all I have to do is wait for that magic moment when I see little crooks of green poking up through the vermiculite, ready to greet the world! At that point, I'll keep the temperature a little cooler and bring on the lights so that they will develop into sturdy little seedlings ready to move into the garden when the soil is warmed by the spring sun.
I love blue cheese, except maybe for Limburger, which is a little too smelly, even for my taste. But Stilton, Roquefort, Danish blue, Gorgonzola-- I love them. Especially Gorgonzola. Last week I had some that needed to be used up, along with some Mascarpone and a package of Prosciutto. So I combined them with some linguine, spinach, garlic and herbs and made something quite tasty and satisfying.
I had about 4 oz. of fresh baby spinach from Owl's Hollow Farm, a hydroponic farm near Gadsden, Alabama. Even though the spinach is young and tender, I still like to stem it, because I don't like stems in my spinach. It's an extra step, but I find it a worthwhile one. I love adding Mascarpone to dishes like this for the creaminess it imparts. Ibegan by stemming, rinsing and drying the spinach, then putting the water on to boil for the linguine. You could use another pasta such as penne, fusilli, cavatappi, etc. but I had linguine on hand, so that's what I used. Here's the recipe. Let me know if you try it and enjoy it or have any suggestions for improvement. 1/4 lb. pasta 4-6 oz. fresh baby spinach, stemmed, rinsed and dried 3 oz. pkg thinly sliced Prosciutto, cut into strips 1/4 lb crumbled Gorgonzola 1/2 Tbsp minced garlic 1/2 Tbsp dried basil 1/2 Tbsp dried oregano 3 Tbsp olive oil 3 oz. Mascarpone cheese salt & pepper to taste Cook pasta until al dente according to directions on package. While pasta is cooking, heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in a heavy skillet. Add prosciutto, garlic, basil and oregano, stirring to combine and cook over medium high heat until lightly browned, about two minutes. Remove from heat and add spinach, tossing to combine. The heat will wilt the spinach. Drain cooked pasta and return to pot. Add remaining tablespoon of olive oil, prosciutto spinach mixture from skillet, Mascarpone and Gorgonzola. Toss until well combined and cheeses are melted. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve. If you, too, are a fan of Gorgonzola you might enjoy listening to this old Leslie Sarony Gorgonzola song from the 1920s:
It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.
~Carl Sandburg
Sometime during the night, fog crept in, blanketing everything in a smoky mist. Usually, our fog disappears quite early, but this morning it hung around until ten or so
Finally, sunbeams began to break through, and within just a few minutes the sun was shining and the fog had moved on, leaving dew kissed grass sparkling in the sunlight. It turned out to be lovely, warm and bright day, a perfect day to work outdoors. But then I thought about my seed order that should be arriving in a few days, about the awful mess the greenhouse is in and how I'd be lucky if I could clear even a small space to start seeds. So I decided to tackle the greenhouse. To my dismay, in addition to housing the plants that spend the summer on the deck, my very small greenhouse seems to have become a repository for all things garden related (and some that aren't) that need a transitional home before being consigned to either a permanent place or the junk-pile. Thus I was confronted with a hand truck, a stepladder, step stool, various rake heads, hoe handles, and sundry broken tools, cricket buckets, cracked plastic pots, and the list goes on. I have been turning a blind eye to all this when I go in to water the plants, gingerly stepping over and around the mess but it had reached the point where it was becoming a safety hazard.
First, I dragged out the hand truck and some of Mr. G's other things and told him to find them a new home. Then I filled a large trash receptacle with things to send to the dump. It was looking better already! But now I could clearly see the weeds that had been flourishing under the benches and set about pulling them up. Then I noticed that there were signs that little rodent visitors had been scurrying along the tops of the benches, so I began to move all the plants, one section, at a time to clean the bench surfaces. It was in the process of moving the plants that I made an exciting discovery!
A tall stem was rising from one of the aloe plants- with buds on top! I have NEVER had an aloe plant send up a bloom stalk before so this was quite an exciting discovery.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that one day soon I'll go in the greenhouse and be greeted by sunny yellow flowers on this stem!
It's been a good day: The greenhouse looks much better, the seed starting area is all ready and waiting for the seeds to arrive and be sown and I may soon be enjoying the sight of my first-ever aloe bloom!
For years, I'd read and heard about using a pressure cooker to can foods and speed up the cooking process but had always been afraid to try it myself. I had visions of explosions of green beans and beef stew splattering the ceilings and blowing out the kitchen windows! I had a water bath canner for making pickles and jams and for canning tomatoes and saw no need for a dangerous pressure canner with its dire warnings about seals and gaskets, valves and pressure settings. One Christmas, Mr. G even bought me a lovely All American pressure canner with dials and valves but no intimidating gasket, with the idea that I could can green beans and other veggies from the garden and farmer's market and put up jars of chicken stock. I was unconvinced. That canner has been sitting, unused, in its box on a shelf in the basement for several years now. But then a year or so ago, I read about electric pressure cookers, and for some reason, they, with their friendly digital displays and blinking lights, didn't scare me as much. So I bought one, and , with instruction/recipe booklet in hand, made one of the tenderest, most delicious beef pot roasts we have ever eaten! And in less than an hour, from start to finish, WITHOUT blowing up the house!. I was hooked! Since then I've cooked soups, stews, chowders, short ribs, pork chops, chicken with dumplings and many other dishes and have plans to try out many other recipes, including cheesecakes and other desserts. My latest "meal under pressure" was Sausages with Onions and Peppers, adapted from the Cuisinart recipe booklet that came with the cooker. This calls for the following ingredients for 4 servings: 4-6 oz. Bucatini Pasta or other pasta, cooked according to directions on package. 1 Tbsp. Olive Oil 1-19 oz. package of Italian sausages, each cut into three sections (I used Johnsonville Mild Italian sausages) 2 small to medium green bell peppers and 1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced into rings. 1 large sweet onion, cut into vertical slices 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped 1/2 Tbsp Italian herb blend 1/2 cup organic chicken broth or stock salt & pepper to taste
Cook pasta according to directions on package.
Add olive oil to cooking pot of pressure cooker. Select browning and when oil is hot, add sausages, being careful not to overcrowd. If necessary, cook sausages in batches and remove to a plate as each batch is browned. Cook until brown on all sides, about 3-5 minutes.
Add peppers, onions, garlic and Italian seasoning to pot and stir for 2-3 minutes.
Stir in chicken stock and cook for one minute. Return the sausages and any accumulated juices back to the pot and stir gently to mix in with the other ingredients.
Cover with the lid and lock the lid in place. Cook at high pressure for 4 minutes.
Use quick pressure release to release pressure and remove lid carefully, allowing steam to disperse. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Keep warm with lid off until ready to serve.
"...trout
that doesn't think two jumps and several runs ahead of the average
fisherman is mighty apt to get fried." ~Beatrice Cook, Till Fish Do Us Part, 1949
Mr. G and I are lucky to live fairly close to the Sipsey Forkof the Black Warrior River, where the tailwaters below Smith Dam stay cold enough year-round to support the rainbow trout that have beenstocked there regularly since 1974.
Here's a pic of our daughter fly casting on the Sipsey when she came home for a visit last February.
She and Mr. G did manage to catch a few trout then, but trout fishing hasn't been very good for the last few months because the power company turbines have been running full blast making fishing difficult, but when Mr. G read that the turbines were going to be off one day last week, he decided to brave the chilly weather and head for the Sipsey.
Despite the cold he had a very good day. He released most of the fish he caught, but brought five (the creel limit) nice trout home and set about cleaning them. He usually butterflies them, removing the backbone and most of the rib bones, but leaving the skin on. Butterflied this way, they can be stuffed, baked, or pan fried. I decided to pan fry these. Here's how I do it: I prefer not to have them stare at me, so usually cook them without the heads, but that's a personal preference. First, rinse the fish, then dry them thoroughly to prevent the formation of steam as they cook. If you have some clarified butter or ghee on hand, use that; if not, use regular butter tempered with a little olive oil and heat over medium high heat until the butter foam begins to subside. Just before putting the fish in the pan, I dredge them in a mixture of wheat flour and corn flour seasoned with salt and pepper. I prefer corn flour rather than the coarser corn meal as the fish seem to need less cooking time and turn a beautiful golden brown without being crunchy. Cook, turning once until both sides are golden brown and the flesh is cooked through. Most directions say to cook fish until it flakes, but I agree with Julia Child, who said, “if the fish flakes, it is overdone.” Rather, cook it until the fish is "springy." You can test this by pressing it with your figer, but this can be hazardous unless you have asbestos fingertips, so you might want to gently stick a fork in the fish. If the flesh is nearly opaque and the flesh separates easily, it is done. Cooking time varies depending on the size of the fish and your stove, but usually takes about four to six minutes per side.
If you 'd like some blues music while you enjoy your delicious fish, here's Dr. John singing "I'm Gonna Go Fishing" Enjoy!.
