oysters

Ingredients:
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12 Oysters in Shells
1 tablespoon (15ml) Low-Calorie Margarine
1/2 teaspoon (2ml) Lemon Juice, fresh
1/2 teaspoon (2ml) Tabasco Sauce
Instructions:
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Scrub and rinse the oysters under cold running water. Place the oysters around the edge of a large microwave plate (two may go in the middle if necessary).
With the microwave on HIGH, cook for 5 to 7 minutes or until the shells open; turn the plate every 3 minutes for even cooking.
Remove the oysters from their shells with a shucking knife. Place them on a heated dish and keep them warm.
Meanwhile, combine the margarine, lemon juice and Tabasco sauce in a small microwave dish.
Cook on HIGH 20 to 25 seconds or until the margarine is melted. Serve with the oysters.
Source: Diabetic Microwave Cookbook, by Mary Jane Finsand

Harissa from Marnie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQehggX63pE

Marnie sent this recipe on Facebook and I was excited.  I had never heard of Harissa. 
I made it today with some variations:

I did not have cumin so I used a curry
I did not find whole corriander so I used the ground
I did not have one small halapeno pepper
I did not use any olive oil.
I did not have a mortar and pestil but used a wooden spoon.  Only the caraway needed the grinding anyway and that worked fine.

Things I added to the process:

I scraped out the insides of the jalapeno peppers with a grapefruit knife and it worked great.
I blended in the serving bowl with the little hand puree tool.  This makes for less waste, and although it takes more time than the blender, it saves cleanup and gives me more control of just how blended I want the mix to be.

I took the inside of the peppers, the outside of the garlic, and any other leftovers and put them in the water I used for the blanching process.  I'll cook them a long while and when I'm done have a bit of spicy vegetable broth.

Where I could I used organic.
Bruce's garlic
Organic red pepper
Organic spices
I could not find a good organic hot pepper but these came from a local market, raised locally.

I also found that both the grinding of the heated spices and the blending of the mixture cleared my sinuses.  I'm trying this the the next time I am congested or when I have a migraine.

I cooked accompanied by Jazz Decades
http://www.wgbh.org/programs/Jazz-Decades-282


I went off the no carb part of the diet and opened a bag of organic blue corn ships, poured a bit of organic cabernet
http://www.williamgladstoneimports.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=42:santa-julia-cabernet-sauvignon-organic&catid=24:argentina&Itemid=2
and along with the sounds selected by Ray Smith had the perfect compliment to a rainy day.

Here is the results along with the tool for making puree ($2 at the thrift store here)






Here is the results along with NPR radio pumping out the Ray Smith selected sounds from Boston's   WGBH

 

Meanwhile, Elizabeth was taking this photo of a red shouldered hawk (or possibly a merlin female- the results are muddied as they always are with these birder types) who came down on the unfiished foundation next door to check out the situation.  She could not stay for harissa, but she did allow some nice pictures.

Ladyfish recipes

most people throw back these fish due to lots of bones and soft flesh and meat
i saw one of my Filipino friends collecting these fish left and right from other fishermen looking to throw them back off the pier
i asked him how he could eat these fish and this is what he told me to do

first fillet the ladyfish leaving the skin on (dosnt have to be perfect or pretty)

next take a spoon and scrape the meat right off the skin (it comes off very easilly leaving all the bones stuck to the skin)

mix the meat with bread crums, spices (to your likings, one egg per fillet, chopped onions and garlic

shape into little patties or balls and fry

butter beans

January 15  2013

I made a fine slow cooker of lima beans today and I'm very sorry I ever bought a can of butter beans. These are wonderful cooked with nothing but water and desired spices or hotsauce added later. And for those delighted in little things as I am, the removable ceramic pot in this new slow cooker meant it was easy to soak the beans in the same bowl I used the next day for the cooking. Saves dishes. Technically, I could have done that in the old fashioned variety, but it is a bit awkward dumping the soaked beans in the collander out of those heavy old cookers where the pot was not removable.
Dry beans cost about a third as much as canned beans. Comparisons are not easy because they can't be done by weight. A canned bean is much heavier because it is filled with water before it is purchased. The dry beans take on weight in the soaking.