76

Food / Shrimp Avocado Salad

« on: April 30, 2016, 11:49:10 AM »

Shrimp Avocado Salad

Ingredients

1 lb peeled and deveined shrimp, cooked
1 c avocado, pitted, peeled, and diced (about 1 1/2 avocados)
1 c corn, fresh (about 2 ears)
1/4 c red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3 tbs lime vinaigrette (see link below for making your own)

Directions

Boil shrimp in salted water till just pink and firm (around 3 to 4 minutes)

In a large bowl, combine shrimp, avocado, corn, onion, salt, and pepper. Pour vinaigrette over mixture. Stir gently to combine. Chill before serving.

Lime Vinaigrette Recipe link

77

Social network | SEO - Social network / Re: North Korea News

« on: April 30, 2016, 11:38:15 AM »

Something I do not believe most Americans are aware of.

EMP alert: 2 N. Korean satellites now orbit over U.S.

http://www.wnd.com/2016/04/emp-alert-2-n-korean-satellites-now-orbit-over-u-s/

78

Other topics / Re: Those who have questions about the USA...

« on: April 30, 2016, 11:25:09 AM »

The ethics of this issue is a tricky one. Mainly because of the moral issues that religion has with monkeying with trying to be God. Much of genetic research here has been stunted by the religious influences dealing with this matter.

Will it be done? Certainly, the question is where, not if this will occur.

You hear a lot about stem cells and stem cell research and this is a direct result of influence in politics. It is why they are using stem cells and not the real cells that they are attempting to recreate. Because they are blocked with in this country of certain methods and federal funding needed to finance this research. It is only recently during the presidency of Obama that this restriction has been lifted.

I do not wish you to feel like I am judging here. I am merely stating facts and you are welcome to draw your own conclusions on the matter. Some of it I see and agree with on both sides, some of it I do not, and it's a mixed bag.

At present you will see no Elvis clone, nor of one of Einstein, from the US. Mainly because the research has been delayed through politics and is now trying to catch up with much of the rest of the genetic research world. The fact that it is possible to pick certain traits to be more likely to be present and of high influence in a fertilized egg by picking those characteristics prior, is still at this point a no-no. England had enough troubles over Dolly, the cloned sheep. It is Dolly that triggered the political jerk knee response from pressure from the religious communities that something had to be done.

I offer you this news report of years gone by to understand the issues and the results of these issues.

http://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000002496111/dolly-the-sheep.html

79

Food / Re: Rice and Gravy

« on: April 30, 2016, 10:49:12 AM »

Right. Every recipe is welcome! But personally we may prefer more X than Z and B than C.

Hey, I guess 1 h. and half is enough. Mojo?

I will always go to my fall back that a recipe is not a blue print but rather a guideline. By the same token, it is your time, your taste buds, and your wallet, that sees the recipe chosen or not chosen according to your personal tastes and abilities. This is as it should be.

I am quite sure that many of these recipes will be totally strange to the culture being a more common food here and not so common elsewhere. I always by preference want to try things I've never tasted before. Cookbooks and recipes are how this knowledge is transferred when the cook can not be there leaning over your shoulder to say it should be done this way or that.

If you have no liking, aren't equipped with the necessary ingredients, or tools to cook with, all is good. You find one you do like. That's what choice is about. *winks*

80

Food / Re: Rice and Gravy

« on: April 30, 2016, 10:35:42 AM »

How long a recipe takes, especially this one more depends on your level of experience in doing it than anything else. Notice the recipe tells you how to adjust the thickness to your liking. The trial and error to learn exactly how much ingredient to use (water) consumes a lot of unnecessary time once you have become proficient at it. Once you know exactly how much water to use first time, you've knocked a lot of prep time off your cooking time.

Same with the heat of the cast iron pan. Once you know how hot you need your pan to do the sauteing, you no longer have to guess and adjust. You set the pan on the burner early and it's ready when you are. Each of these are one little trick you learn in the process.

The rice cooking normally takes 20 minutes. Nothing says you can't cook the rice at the same time on another burner. Making the gravy once you have it all down pat probably won't take more than 20 minutes so that about the time your rice is ready so is your gravy.

A lot times in the evening rather than munch on snack foods, we make grill cheese sandwiches. It takes me about 5 minutes from walking in the kitchen to first sandwich done. Mainly because of two things. Made so many of them, I have it down pat to a tee, knowing what to pull out first and what I need before I need it to have it on hand. The second item that speeds this process up, is there are two of us in the kitchen at the same time. While I am preparing the cooking utensils and gathering the other items, the lady is defrosting the bread, gathering the items I haven't gotten and by the time the sandwich is ready, everything unneeded has been put back up. You can't do this without the experience ahead of time of knowing what you need, when you need it, and how you need it on hand before you need it.

81

Food / Re: Santa Fe Stuffed Chicken

« on: April 30, 2016, 10:18:54 AM »

You'll love these as a sample then of other places serving spicy hot foods. Nor is this the only ones. I read of another using the ghost peppers in their food, in England requiring a waver. The guy that ate it wound up in the hospital with part of his stomach lining consumed by the food.

One would think at the start that these signing waivers to absolve responsibility to the business as a gimmick. Not so, it's the real m^ccoy.

82

Other topics / Re: The Natchez Trace

« on: April 29, 2016, 05:57:45 PM »

83

Food / Rice and Gravy

« on: April 29, 2016, 05:34:38 PM »

Rice and Gravy

"rice and gravy" is a staple in South Louisiana. It is one of the first things you learn to cook. Any meat including chicken can be used.

Ingredients

1 pound round steak or beef steak
1 large onion
1 bell pepper
 salt and pepper to taste
2 c rice

Directions

Prepare 2 cups of rice.

First you need a black iron pot (cast iron) or a Magnalite pot. Cut up the steak into bite size portions. Salt and pepper the meat. Put a small amount of oil in the bottom of the pot so that the meat will not stick. Heat the oil on medium heat and then add the meat. Stir while browning the meat. Don't be afraid to burn it; it will not burn if you keep turning it.

Once the meat is browning, add a little water at a time. Once the meat is really brown and the water has evaporated, add your onions and cook until the onions turn brown. Add the bell peppers and start to cook them. Add enough water to cover the meat let it cook until the meat is tender. Reduce the water to make thicker gravy. If the gravy is too thick, add more water. If too thin, cook down some more. The more onions you have, the thicker your gravy will be.
The browner your meat, the darker your gravy will be. Serve that wonderful gravy and meat over rice....hence rice and gravy!

In the last 15 minutes of cooking, you could add minced green onions and fresh minced garlic.

84

Stars / Re: Bruce Lee

« on: April 29, 2016, 05:19:32 AM »

I feel like I'm going back to school here. You folk just keep on educating me. *chuckles*

Thank you all for your contributions.

85

Stars / Re: Bruce Lee

« on: April 29, 2016, 12:20:20 AM »

Fantastic images here. Things I've never seen before. Being a Bruce is a national hero of China, you have much more access to his history than we do.

Thank you all for showing these.

86

Other topics / Re: The Natchez Trace

« on: April 29, 2016, 12:07:52 AM »

A lake is usually a land locked water body, which forms naturally. A reservoir (there are exceptions to the rule) is normally man made to create a body of water from which cities will draw their water supplies from. Under this lake, which you do not see in the images, are drowned forests, where just the trucks and roots of trees remain. You would see those if the water level was really down lower. I think there is also a drowned town in this lake where the residents had to move when the water started rising because of the dam. Of course they had plenty of warning it was coming and the state/government offered to buy their land before it was flooded. Some folk just don't give up.

From Wiki, here is the definition of a reservoir.

87

Food / Re: Santa Fe Stuffed Chicken

« on: April 28, 2016, 11:58:34 PM »

Various regional areas of the US have different cooking styles or types of recipes that mark their origin. Such as Tex-Mex, or Santa Fe. Tex-Mex is normally a mixture of Texas and Mexican in preparation.

Santa Fe is often marked by hotter spices, often using ingredients such as chipotle pepers in adobe sauce. Chipotle peppers is merely the jalapeno pepper that has been smoked and dried to give it flavor. It is then packed in a sauce. I was surprised the first time I used adobo sauce in how hot it was. I was thinking that maybe I shouldn't have put so much in the recipe I was making. Turns out the cooked dish is not as hot as the product by itself. All the flavor and little of the pepper heat comes through.

88

Other topics / Re: The Natchez Trace

« on: April 28, 2016, 11:23:40 AM »

Great topic!

Thank you, Костов. It is my hope that folks enjoy the pictures.

⫷ ⫸⫷ ⫸⫷ ⫸⫷ ⫸⫷ ⫸⫷ ⫸⫷ ⫸⫷ ⫸⫷ ⫸⫷ ⫸⫷ ⫸⫷ ⫸⫷ ⫸⫷ ⫸⫷ ⫸⫷ ⫸⫷ ⫸⫷ ⫸

Here in the first set of photos is another part of the original Trace.

The second set of photos is of the reservoir that the Trace runs along for a short stopping point. It has a dam at the other end to maintain the water level.

89

Food / Re: Two dishes from 'Million'

« on: April 28, 2016, 10:50:49 AM »

I'm guessing that Million is a restaurant. I did a search for it and came up with three locations. One in Hawaii, one in San Fransisco, and one in Istanbul.

90

Food / Santa Fe Stuffed Chicken

« on: April 28, 2016, 05:13:56 AM »

Santa Fe Stuffed Chicken

Ingredients

8 oz. pkg. Monterey Jack cheese - divided in half
8 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1 1/2 Tbs grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 cup butter - melted
1 Tbs butter
1 Tbs all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 sm red bell pepper - diced
1 sm green bell pepper - diced

Directions

Place 1 chicken breast between two sheets of wax paper. Working from the center to the edges pound with a meat mallet until flat and rectangular shaped. Repeat with remaining breasts.

Cut half of the cheese in 8 slices. Wrap each flattened chicken breasts around a slice of cheese. Secure with wooden picks or uncooked spaghetti noodles.

Combine the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, salt, cumin and pepper. Roll the secured chicken pieces in the melted butter and then in the bread crumb mixture. Place chicken breasts in a 13" X 9" baking dish, being careful not to crowd them. Drizzle remaining butter over the breasts.

Refrigerate for 1 hour or freeze to bake later (baking time will be increased by about 5 to 10 minutes).

Bake in 400 degree oven for 25-30 minutes, or until chicken cooked through.

Grate remaining cheese. Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in flour. Whisk in milk. Bring to a simmer. Add cheese and reduce heat. Simmer until thick, stirring constantly so cheese doesn't burn.

Place chicken on plates, pour sauce over, and top with diced peppers.