"Reality is not only stranger than we suppose but stranger than we can suppose" ... J. B. S. Haldane
Greek Stuffed Zucchini
5 December 2009, 11:36
Greek is not my favourite ethnic food, but there seems to be a big community here in Halifax. In early July there is the Greek Fest down the road from us at the Greek Orthodox Church. I have not been there, but I do go to a Greek corner store to get my kalamata olives & Greek olive oil. Yesterday we were in a different part of town and decided to go to Cousins Restaurant. I decided to have the Greek combo plate, because I couldn’t make up my mind whether to have the moussaka or the souvlaki, so have both with a stuffed green pepper & salad … um good.
Cousins Restaurant, corner of Robie & Lady Hammond, Halifax, NS
I am including a Greek dish that I have main many times and is very good. It may be a bit late in the season to get big zucchini, but hey, keep it in mind for next year … when your neighbour gives you those huge courgettes.
The ingredients are ;
- 4 pounds medium to large zucchini
- 1 1/4 pounds fresh tomatoes, chopped (or use canned)
- 5 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 3/4 cup parsley, chopped
- Sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper
- 3 cups cooked brown rice – (i always use white basmati)
- ½ cup grated cheese – (your choice)
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp sugar
- 2 tbsp currants or sultanas, or not if you don’t like them
- 3/4 cup ground almonds
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
Technique:
- Wash zucchini thoroughly and cut in half lengthwise. Then, using an instrument such as an apple corer, empty the pulp of each zucchini into a saucepan, being sure to keep outer shells intact. Add tomatoes, onion, garlic, 1 cup of oil, parsley, salt and pepper. Simmer until only a little liquid remains, then add rice and simmer until all the water has evaporated.
- When cool, add cheese, currants, almonds, and pine nuts. Stir with a wooden spoon until well mixed. Stuff zucchini shells carefully with mixture.
- Preheat oven to 425F. Place stuffed zucchini shells in an ovenproof container. Pour the rest of the oil over them and add salt and pepper to taste. Cook 1 hour in preheated oven.
- May be served hot or cold.
Serves 6.
Enjoy!!!
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Interesting Times
15 March 2009, 08:21
I will use the title from a Terry Pratchett novel I just finished reading. I have had some interesting things happen in the last couple of weeks.
Emily decided to have a Hannah Montana themed birthday party, and have it in our small house. The Friday before I baked the requested chocolate cake and prepared the loot bags. It turned out to be a great time, considering that by Friday we had only heard from a few parents confirming that their girls would be attending. By Saturday morning, we had an extra girl and one who on Friday couldn’t come, show up at the door. That meant we had 7 of 8 invited girls show up and scream, laugh and run around. Pizza was given along with the cake & ice cream … they left happily everafter.
The happy girls and a devil-angel Hannah Montana birthday party
The week following the birthday party, I had moved my office downstairs. I had been trying to set up a small home / office network, so we, C & I, could work more efficiently together. No way could I get Windows7 to recognize C’s Mac, homegroup sounds great as long as all other computers are running Windows7. The other advantage to moving my ‘office’ downstairs was that we could actually talk instead of emailing each other in the same house. The communication method of our age, talk face-to-face, no too old-school. What to do ?
I then remembered someone who said their husband worked for Apple. After send an email, receiving one back, looking at the one iMac he had for sale, phoning to see if he was home, getting the cash, driving to their house, talking for a couple of hours, doing the deal, putting it in my car, driving home, finishing the jobs I had to do in Windows, setting it up, removing the PC … here I am doing my first post from my new iMac.
The new computer, 2nd screen off to the left
Know for the most major change, I can bring my doggie here from NB. So a week ago this past Saturday, Emily & I drive to Moncton. We spend a few hours, helping my Mother do some computer stuff on her iMac, going to the Moncton Farmers Market and getting my dog ready to drive to Halifax. So after 10 hours, Feydrahn is now living with us in Halifax.
Feydrahn out for a walk/run on the trail in the woods behind our house
We are still going through adjustment period, especially C’s 2 cats. G-cat has been hiding out in the basement, while B-cat has come upstairs to go out and has ventured around the house a little, but with trepidation. The sardines yesterday helped a little, we wait … we wait.
G-cat doing her “damn dog” face
So another week, March-break here so Emily is off school. Life continues …
TAG … back to you!!!
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San Marzano Tomatoes & Pizza Sauce
30 January 2009, 11:30
So, a couple of weeks ago I went searching for San Marzano tomatoes to use to make my pizza sauce with. First off I tried, ‘European Gourmet Cash & Carry’, Kempt road, Halifax. I don’t think they have a website, so HERE is a link to an Article in ‘The Coast‘, our own free weekly paper. Sorry, not here … but lots of stuff, I ended up buying some jaggery & frozen paneer, that’s for another day.
Think, Randy, think … oh yes, The Italian Market, down near the corner of Young and Kempt. e voilà! … yes, two brands … yikes $5.99. Well now, OK, one of each, and while I am here, why not some squid ink linguine. I guess this needs a good Italian wine. I eventually make it back home, not spending too much on supper and once I figured it out, cheaper than eating out.
This is the label from one of the cans.
The San Marzano tomato is Italy’s most famous plum tomato, grown in Campania, the home of pizza — since the middle ages. The tomato is prized for its tart flavor, firm pulp, red color, low seed-count and easily removed skin. It is widely used in both pizza and pasta, though recently it has become famous around the world as the base for Vera Pizza Napoletana. It’s interesting to note that Naples lays claim not only as the home of pizza, but also tomato-based pasta dishes — both enjoyed by local royalty in the 17th century.
The San Marzano tomato is now protected by tight rules, like many wines, cheeses and even Pizza Napoletana, obtaining the DOP (Denominazione d’ Origine Protetta) label in 1996 from the European Union for the processed product. Watch out for domestic imitators using the San Marzano name — it’s like calling jug wine “burgundy” or bulk sparkling wine “champagne.”
These great tomatoes are the perfect start to the perfect pizza. The harvest of the San Marzano usually begins in August and continues until the end of September and sometimes later. It is a delicate crop and mechanization is not used. The labor required to train the vines, and the hand picked harvest (the true San Marzano is harvested multiple times, only when the fruit is completely ripe, not all at once) are two elements that lead to an increase in production costs.
Still, I think it’s worth it. Take a796ml / 28oz can of imported San Marzano tomatoes, hit it with a potato masher, and you have the perfect pizza sauce.
A nice nobbly plum tomato
The Sauce
You can use canned San Marzano tomatoes (Pomodori Pellati) to create a wonderful, and simple pizza tomato base. Use a potato masher to get a good sauce consistency. Don’t use a food processor or hand mixer, as those will break the seeds and give your sauce a bitter flavor. If you are using a brick oven, you should not cook the sauce. The hot oven will cook the sauce perfectly. If you are using a pizza stone in your oven, you might want to try cooking the sauce first. Try it both ways to see what you like.
- 1 can (28 oz) San Marzano tomatoes
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon of salt
- 1 teaspoon of oregano
Options
- 2 tablespoons of fresh basil
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar or lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon olive oil – don’t forget to swirl on your pizza right before you put it in the oven.
The Pizza
Time to eat
All this info comes from Forno Bravo, supplier of the finest Italian wood-fired pizza ovens for the house and garden, caterers, bakeries and restaurants.
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Using Windows7
21 January 2009, 07:56
So I have been using Windows7 for about a week, as my primary OS and it has been very stable and fast. It took about this long to get used to the new taskbar & Start menu … which I am really liking and am finally not missing my trusty ‘Quick Launch’ taskbar.
Improved taskbar and full-screen previews
The taskbar at the bottom of your screen is what you use to switch between the applications you’ve got open. In Windows 7 you can set the order in which the icons appear and they’ll stay put. They’re easier to see, too. Click once on the new large icons or bigger preview thumbnails and you’re ready to go. You can even see a full screen preview before switching to the window.
See what’s open with previews and easily control your Windows experience with the new Taskbar.
Jump Lists
With Windows 7, we focused on keeping the things you use most right in front of you. One example: The new Jump List feature. It’s a handy way to quickly reach the files you’ve been working with. To see the files you’ve used recently, just right click on the icon on your taskbar. So right-clicking on the Word icon will show your most recent Word documents. Plus, if there are other files you want to keep handy, you can just pin them to the Jump List.
A leap in efficiency: Jump Lists provide quick access to common tasks.
New ways to work with Windows
Windows 7 simplifies how you work with the windows on your desktop. You’ll have more intuitive ways to open, close, resize, and arrange them. You can drag open windows to screen borders, so you’ll no longer have to click on tiny objects in the corner of a window to make it do what you want.
Maximize a window by dragging its border to the top of the screen, and return the window to its original size by dragging it away from the top of the screen. Drag the bottom border of a window to expand it vertically.
It’s easy to copy files or compare the contents of two windows by dragging the windows to opposite sides of the screen. As your cursor touches the edge, the window will resize to fill that half of the screen.
To see all your desktop gadgets, just drag your mouse to the lower right corner of your desktop. That’ll make all the open Windows transparent—making your desktop, and the gadgets on it, immediately visible. Want to minimize all your windows? One click and it’s done.
Now you see them.
Now you don’t: See through to the desktop with invisible windows.
If you use it … Tag You’re It!
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Yuletide part 2
24 December 2008, 10:05
21st of December, the shortest day of the year. The start of the dark-half and the day of Yule. We made a long garland of cranberries, popcorn and dried apples to decorate our Yule tree for the animals. A few friends popped over and we trekked back in the woods behind our house to our Yule tree.
Putting the garland on the Yule tree
Sacrificing unwanted thoughts on our Yule fire
As we watched the fire, we then went inside as the snow started and had a nice meal and some mulled-wine with friends. Until the light returns … tag you’re it!
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Yuletide part 1
21 December 2008, 08:05
So another day? No the day we enter the dark half of the year. Also a day for celebrating and sacrificing. We have our treats for the animals ready. Later we bring our garlands of popcorn, cranberries and dried apples out to our Yule tree to leave for the animals. And of course it will be Christmas in a few days, so here is our tree that we did last night.
Our first ‘official’ X-mas tree in Halifax
Today we will visit our Yule tree, back in the woods, with some friends. Then come back and make some Mulled wine, food and prepare our fire. Then around 4:30-5:00pm we will light our fire. I hope everyone has a great Yule day, we are expecting some snow, so should be a nice winter atmosphere to have an outdoor fire. Hot chocolate for the children and some warm drinks for the adults and some sacrificing of old objects to prepare for the dark time of the year.
We wish all the very best for the festive season … tag you’re it!
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The Omnivore’s Hundred
2 November 2008, 12:25
- Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
- Bold all the items you.ve eaten.
- Cross out any items that you would never consider eating (or eating again)
- Optional extra: Post a comment http://www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.
To make the filling out of this form and generating the HTML for it a bit easier, ![[info]](http://stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
reddywhp has played around with some PHP. Go to http://reddywhip.org/lj/foods/ and fill it out there. After filling it out, you will be given the code to copy and paste into your blog.
Livejournal users, remember to use your LJ-Cuts!
- Venison
- Nettle tea
- Huevos rancheros
- Steak tartare
- Crocodile
- Black pudding
- Cheese fondue
- Carp
- Borscht
- Baba ghanoush
- Calamari
- Pho
- PB&J sandwich
- Aloo gobi
- Hot dog from a street cart
- Epoisses
- Black truffle
- Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
- Steamed pork buns
- Pistachio ice cream
- Heirloom tomatoes
- Fresh wild berries
- Foie gras
- Rice and beans
- Brawn, or head cheese
- Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
- Dulce de leche
- Oysters
- Baklava
- Bagna cauda
- Wasabi peas
- Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
- Salted lassi
- Sauerkraut
Root beer floatCognac with a fat cigar- Clotted cream tea
- Vodka jelly
- Gumbo
- Oxtail
- Curried goat
- Whole insects
- Phaal
- Goat’s milk
- Malt whisky from a bottle worth $120 or more
- Fugu
- Chicken tikka masala
- Eel
Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut- Sea urchin
- Prickly pear
- Umeboshi
- Abalone
- Paneer
McDonald’s Big Mac Meal- Spaetzle
- Dirty gin martini
- Beer above 8% ABV
- Poutine
- Carob chips
S’mores- Sweetbreads
- Kaolin
- Currywurst
- Durian
- Frog’s Legs
- Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
- Haggis
- Fried plantain
- Chitterlings or andouillette
- Gazpacho
- Caviar and blini
- Louche absinthe
- Gjetost or brunost
Roadkill- Baijiu
Hostess Fruit Pie- Snail
- Lapsang souchong
- Bellini
- Tom yum
Eggs Benedict- Pocky
- Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
- Kobe beef
- Hare
- Goulash
- Flowers
- Horse
- Criollo chocolate
Spam- Soft shell crab
- Rose harissa
- Catfish
- Mole poblano
- Bagel and lox
- Lobster Thermidor
- Polenta
- Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
- Snake
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