Its a Southern Tradition to eat Back Eyed Pea’s on New Years day, it is believed to bring prosperity. So why not make this Ghanaian inspired dish based on Red Red.
Ingredients:
2 cups of pre soaked black eye pea’s
1/2 onion
2 tomatoes
1/2 cup wild shrimp
chili pepper flakes
2 cups of vegetable stock
red palm oil or vegetable oil
salt and pepper to taste
Method:
heat oil and saute onion until translucent then add tomato and reduce down to a paste.
add the vegetable stock, shrimp and black eye peas and simmer for 30 minutes.
The following wonderfully creative and tasty recipe comes from Mangos chili and Z
I absolutely love this method of cooking potatoes. I learned this trick a few years ago from a Whole Foods grilling demonstration. After a sample of the finished product, I couldn’t get to the produce department fast enough to purchase banana leaves and potatoes. The only place I can find banana leaves right now is at H-Mart in the freezer department.
Banana leaves are used as a kind of wrap in Thai cooking. Banana leaves not only look beautiful, but also lend a subtle aroma and taste when foods are cooked inside them. They can be used for grilling, baking, or steaming foods. While functioning as a wrapping material, they also lend a hint of flavor to your food that is very pleasant.
With our mountains as a backdrop, it gets dark in Denver around 4:30 p.m. these days. I usually use the grill for this recipe, but with our dark days, baking works just fine.
Potatoes in Banana Leaves:
1 medium onion, sliced
6 medium potatoes peeled and thinly sliced, preferably with a mandolin
Salt and pepper
Ementhaler Cheese
olive oil
1 banana leaf (thawed if not fresh)
Lay the banana leaf on a buttered baking sheet. I also sprayed the top of the banana leaf with Pam. Scatter potatoes and onion on the leaf. Toss with a bit of olive oil. Generously add salt and pepper and grated Ementhaler Cheese.
Fold and make a packet with the leaf and secure with toothpicks. Bake 350 degrees 30 minutes. (Depending on the thickness of the potatoes, you may need to bake up to 40 minutes.)
This photo is steamy rather than blurry. When you first open up the packet, the steam and flavor pleasantly hit you right in the face.
I served the potatoes with an easy and delicious shrimp dish that I prepared in advance. I love this recipe.
Shrimp Salad with Lime Zest:
1 cup kosher salt
6 cups cold water
2 1/2 lbs medium shrimp, shelled and deveined
3 Tbs heavy cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 Tbs fresh lime juice
1 1/2 tsp finely grated lime zest
1/4 cup finely diced celery
2 Tbs finely chopped dill
1 Tbs thinly sliced garlic chives
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Prepare a bowl of ice water.
2. In a large bowl, dissolve the kosher salt in the water. Add the shrimp and let stand for 30 seconds, then rinse well. Add the shrimp to the boiling water and cook until firm and pink, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain the shrimp and transfer to the ice water to cool. Drain again and pat dry.
3. In a bowl, beat the cream until stiff. Whisk in the mayonnaise, lime juice and zest, and stir in the celery, dill and chives. Add the shrimp and toss well. Season with table salt and pepper and serve.
Make Ahead. The shrimp salad can be refrigerated for up to 5 hours. Serves 4.
New Research shows that a diet rich in Omega 3 fatty acids, abundant in oily fish, is protective for our eyes. The study looked at 1837 people with early signs of macular degeneration and followed them for 12 years.
The people with the highest intake of Omega 3 had a 30% lower risk of their eyes deteriorating. This is very significant for the 1.75 Million Americans with the condition and by eating more oily fish such as salmon, mackerel, sardines, herring and tuna the risk of the disease is decreased.
During the darker months of winter there is often not enough sunlight to make vitamin D. This vital nutrient has been in the spotlight in recent months for its protection against heart disease, diabetes and overall good health. It was also been shown that low levels make it harder to lose weight and 9% of our children have low levels.
Wild Alaskan Salmon is one of the best dietary sources containing 360 IU (International units per 3.5oz).
Here are some other great sources:
cod liver oil - 360 IU per 3.5 oz
Salmon - 360 IU per 3.5oz
Mackerel - 345 IU per 3.5 oz
Tuna (canned) 250 IU per 1.75 oz
One cup of Milk - 98 IU
So yet another great reason to enjoy our fresh wild caught and delicious salmon.
An Italian Christmas revolves around faith, family and an abundance of food. Throughout the holiday season, food plays an integral part in the celebration. Women spend days, sometimes weeks preparing their family’s favorite recipes that have often been handed down for generations. Every region, city, and country town have their own ritual foods for the Christmas season that are prepared in great quantity to be shared with family and friends.
Although the season may start at different times depending on the region, December 24th and 25th are the most important days, often involving a two-day feast. Traditionally due to religious beliefs, the Christmas Eve meal is a plentiful fish feast, with course after course being offered. A typical Christmas Eve meal might include an antipasto seafood salad, or an offering of seafood and vegetable antipasti, followed by a pasta dish or two such as spaghetti with tuna, fettuccine with smoked salmon, or perhaps a risotto with mixed seafood. Next come the main entrees, such as baccala’ (a dried salted cod dish ), the traditional eel, a light baked salmon, or a wonderful stuffed trout. A myriad of side dishes are added to complement these dishes such as rosemary roasted potatoes and other seasonal vegetables. A salad will follow to cleanse the pallet, then the desserts are offered. Christmas desserts can be a selection of Italian cookies, filled with figs or nuts, buttery fruit tarts, or fried and sugared sweets like zeppole, or struffoli. Usually, as well as a vast selection of sweets, a selection of fruits, both dried and fresh are offered with a assortment of nuts.
On Christmas Day, the feast continues, and is often started with a stuffed pasta, such as tortellini or cappelletti, most often served in a broth. The next course may be a stuffed capon, or a goose, in northern Italy while in the south, the seafood feast is continued. The meal is completed with a number of complementary side dishes such as artichokes cooked in white wine, or a gratin of vegetables roasted in the oven. Desserts will be offered once again, particularly the famous Christmas sweet breads, panettone in particular. It might be stuffed with ice cream, served with a chocolate sauce or served plain with a sweet wine. Other Christmas sweets which have bread in their name-pane speziato, panforte, or pandoro, are not really breads at all, but more typical of a sweet bread filled with spices, nuts and dried fruits. These breads are often offered as gifts throughout the holiday season, and it wasn’t unusual for our family to have almost a dozen panettone in our cupboards when the season was over.
An Italian Christmas is one of abundance. No matter what the regional differences may be, there is always lots of food, love and family. Whole families come together to celebrate with traditions that have been handed down for generations, to share old traditions, and to begin new ones.
Buon Natale!
First Posted By Deborah Mele
So why not have seafood this Christmas with an Italian theme!
The following Recipe comes from Three Hungry Tummies, an Australian food blog filled with amazing Asian dishes.
serves 4 as part of a Chinese meal;
you’ll need;
Ingredients:
500g Any white firm flesh fish, sliced and marinated with dash of soy, dash of sesame oil, white pepper and Chinese wine for 5 minutes.Coated with corn flour just before frying.
1 bunch of flowering chives, cut into 3″ length
1 knob of ginger, sliced thinly
1 tbs of cooking oil
3 tbs of oyster sauce
dash of light soy
dash of white pepper
dash of sesame oil
1/2 cup of water
a little cornstarch solution
Fry sliced fish briefly, this prevents the fish from breaking down during the stir frying process.
Fry ginger with cooking oil and dash of sesame oil til fragrant, add in the flowering chives. Fry on high heat for 30 seconds.
Return the fish to the wok, warm through, add the rest of the ingredients and thicken very slightly with cornstarch solution.
A spicy fish curry served with plain cooked rice and a green salad.
For 4 people you will need :
Ingredients:
250g fish fillet or steak preferably tuna, those big steak pieces will do well for 4, or any other kind of firm fish like mackerel) , cut into 1 inch cubes
1 small onion sliced
2 garlic cloves pound or grated
4 pods cardamoms, ends snipped
1 inch piece cinnamon
1 sprig curry leaf
1 pandan leaf cut into big pieces (I asked Peanut about this she stated that it is not necessary)
1 tsp cumin powder
1 ½ tsp chilli powder
½ tsp ground pepper
¼ tsp turmeric,
1 tbsp tomato paste or 1/2 tsp tamarind paste
200ml pkt or a can of coconut milk, not coconut cream
Salt
Oil
Method:
1.In a small pot or saucepan, heat about 2 tablespoons of oil. Add onion slices and sauté till the onion is translucent.
2.Switch off heat .Pour 100ml coconut milk into a measuring jug, add 400ml water , stir and pour this into the saucepan and add the rest of the ingredients .
3. Place the pan back over the stove , bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer and cook till the fish is cooked., give it a stir every now and then.
4. Add 80ml of coconut milk, simmer for about 1 minute, stir , adjust seasoning, and if you think it’s too spicy add about ½ tsp sugar.
Serve with plain cooked rice and green salad
To make a Maldivian green salad, you need 1 small onion, sliced thinly into half moons, put this in a bowl add salt a red chilli ( de seeded if you like) and juice of 1/2 lime juice or lemon juice . using your fingers scrunch up the onions so they start to go soft and release their juice. Add finely sliced greens, it can be any type of lettuce or spinach, mix carefully adjust seasoning, and more lime juice if you want.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is proposing a catch shares system. It is believed that this will prevent over fishing and replenish depleted stocks. The proposal states it will not impose the system on any fishery but sees it as a good option for sustainable fishing.
Catch shares imposes a strict overall catch and then divides the catch among the buyers. It allows fishing companies to have ownership in the system. It is felt that this system will halt the race for fish where fisherman try to catch as much fish as possible before the season ends.
Whereas in a shared system they could take as much time as they liked and collect until their quota is reached. It also allows them to sell more fresh fish at a higher price. Currently there are more than a dozen such programs in the Country. But they take a long time to set up the committee wants to make this an easier and faster process.
Fishing groups so far like the draft especially the fact that fishing companies can choose whether or not this is a good option for them.
In Alaska catch share programs for sablefish and hailbut are a success but in the case of Crab it is not so clear cut.
We will continue to follow this story as it unfolds.
The last year has seen surprisingly low numbers of salmon returning home to spawn along the yukon river. It is this fact that prompted Gov. Sean Parnell to ask for an additional $ 1.3 million in funding to study the Yukon river salmon. To try and get to the bottom of their low numbers and invest in better sonar equipment to better estimate numbers.
The villages along the Yukon depend on salmon as a valuable source of income it is also a staple in their diets. The mushers in the area didn’t even catch enough salmon this year to be able to feed their sled dogs.
So this proposal is much needed and will hopefully be passed.
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