Crabmeat Stuffed Sole

I've been craving fish and tonight I prepared the following recipe which I found on Epicurious. It's a baked sole fillet stuffed with crab filling which I served with steamed brown rice and roasted asparagus. If you're not sure about fish and worry about the flavor, sole has a nice mild flavor, as does tilapia. Because it's mild, it makes for a nice canvas of other flavors like the crab and pepper just as in this recipe. The adaptations I made to the original recipe included using low fat sour cream in place of mayonnaise, green onion (instead of bell peppers) and using lemon zest and garlic in the stuffing (instead of preparing a separate breadcrumb topping).

Crabmeat Stuffed Sole
recipe adapted from Epicurious

For crab stuffing and fish:
1 cup crab meat (either jumbo lump or crabsticks, chopped)
1 1/2 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream
1/4 cup finely sliced green onion
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
4 (4-oz) gray sole fillets
1 teaspoon finely grated fresh lemon zest
1 small garlic clove, minced
salt & pepper to taste

Prepare stuffing and fish:
Preheat oven to 450°F.

Mix crab, mayonnaise, green onion, parsley, lemon zest and garlic; and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Lay sole fillets flat with darker side up and season with salt and pepper. Divide stuffing among fillets, mounding on thicker half of each. Fold thinner half of fillet over stuffing, tucking end under to form a packet.

Arrange stuffed fillets on a baking sheet (I used my stoneware baking sheet) and bake in upper third of oven until just cooked through, about 20 minutes.

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Foodie Freebie Friday: Trader Joe's!

This Foodie Freebie Friday announcement is a bit late because it's been quite a weekend of packing and planning for our upcoming move! We are super excited about it all and I'm thrilled with the new kitchen I'll be working in. The view from my kitchen and the rest of our condo is absolutely breathtaking... and definitely allows me to love the city of Chicago more and more. Stay tuned on Friday when I'll have pics of our new place to share!

One thing both my husband and I had to be comfortable with is heights. We will be moving on the top (46th) floor of a downtown highrise building and being that it is a corner unit, we have a gorgeous and unobstructed view of Chicago - definitely in the heart of it all. Fortunately we don't have the fear of heights, otherwise this wouldn't be the place we'd call home!

A specific requirement of where we live is dependent on the proximity to a Trader Joe's grocery store. I have a great love of Trader Joes grocery stores... probably too big!

Just what is this thing we call Trader Joe’s? Well, we’re a grocery store, sure, but really so much more. Our shelves are stocked full of delicious foods and beverages from the basics like milk, bread and butter to more exotic fare like imported cheeses, organic produce and hand-tossed pizza from Italy. We taste every product before we decide to sell it, and we guarantee you’ll like it.*

You might expect indulgences like these to come with unbecoming prices. But at Trader Joe’s, we’re as much about value as we are about great food. In other words, we keep our costs low, cut out the middleman whenever possible and pass our savings on to you in the form of terrific everyday prices. So you can afford to be adventurous without breaking the bank. -- Trader Joes

Trader Joe's has quite a following of fans. There's even a website dedicated to the specific products they offer (www.traderjoesfan.com) as well as a cookbook, Cooking with All Things Trader Joe's.


And speaking of fears early on, I can't help but mention my love of "Fearless Flyers." If you're not familiar with what these are, these are the creation of Trader Joe's:

The Fearless Flyer has been likened to a cross between Consumer Reports and Mad Magazine. We're not sure who said that, but we think they pretty much got it right. The Fearless Flyer is kind of like a newsletter, a catalog and a bit of a comic book all at the same time. It’s our chance to give you loads of interesting (hopefully) information about our products. And along the way, we like to toss in some witty (we try) tidbits and even a few old-fashioned cartoons. -- Trader Joe's

So this week's Foodie Freebie Friday, a lucky reader will be receiving a box of Trader Joe's goodies! I'll be sending you some of my favorite Trader Joe's products to enjoy and have a culinary adventure with!

Some guidelines:
- Giveaway is only for those who live in the United States. My apologies to my international readers!
- You must have a valid email address so that you can be contacted if you win.

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment about:
- What culinary fears do you have in the kitchen? Is it a specific ingredient you're hesitant to work with? Is it a technique you're not comfortable attempting? Or maybe you overcame a culinary fear? I'd love to hear about it!

Deadline: Thursday, March 5, 2009 at 12 midnight CST.

One Winner will be randomly chosen by Random.Org's Interger Generator based on the number of your comment and will be announced on Friday, March 6, 2009. Good luck!

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Stephen Harper Fails to Honor National Autism Strategy Commitment

On Friday long time autism champion and Charlottetown MP Shawn Murphy questioned federal Conservative Health Minister, Leona Aglukkaq, below left, on the Harper government's failure to honor its commitment to convene a meeting of the provincial health ministers with the objective of developing a national strategy on the treatment and support of Canadians with autism.

Instead of directly answering the question Health Minister Aglukkaq dissembled and did not acknowledge either the commitment to convene a meeting of Canada's health ministers to develop a national autism strategy or the Harper government's failure to honor that commitment.

It is time that politicians like Stephen Harper and Leona Aglukkaq started earning the designation "Honourable" that comes with their positions and start honoring their commitment to autistic Canadians and their families to convene a meeting of provincial health ministers and develop a real national autism strategy to provide for treatment and support for autistic Canadian children and adults.

Please Prime Minister Harper, and Health Minister Aglukkaq, honor your commitment to autistic Canadians and their families.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Health

40th PARLIAMENT, 2nd SESSION

EDITED HANSARD • NUMBER 020

Friday, February 27, 2009

Health

Hon. Shawn Murphy (Charlottetown, Lib.):
Mr. Speaker, on December 5, 2006, every member of the House, including the Prime Minister, supported Motion No. 172. The motion directed the minister of health to convene a meeting of the provincial health ministers with the objective of developing a national strategy on the treatment and support of Canadians with autism. Unfortunately, the previous minister of health and the present Minister of Health have totally ignored this motion.

My question is for the present Minister of Health. This is a very important question and Canadians are looking for an answer. How long does the government intend to ignore Canadian families dealing with autism?

Hon. Leona Aglukkaq (Minister of Health, CPC):

Mr. Speaker, I recognize that autism is an important health and social issue that represents challenges to many Canadian families. I can assure the House that the government is showing leadership by focusing attention on building the autism evidence base that future actions by our partners will be well informed.

We are delivering results. In 2007 we announced the funding for a chair of autism research and innovation at Simon Fraser University and, over the last seven years, more than $27 million have been spent on related research by CIHR.

autism

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Parmesan Pull-Aparts

Nice fluffy and light rolls!

So this is my third entry into what was suppose to be a 4 part series throughout the month of February (and yes, I am sadly aware that it is March already, but only just!!!). This is all part of our Gourmet bread challenge and BYOB (Bake Your Own Bread) hosted by Sandy of At the Baker’s Bench. You could say that I was one batch behind. I keep threatening to catch up but that just may not be in the cards...


For my third and final entry I had to try the Parmesan Pull-Aparts. They looked and sounded like ones that we get at a small local restaurant here and I couldn't wait to try them. Gourmet Magazine describes them as brioche like in texture without all of the extra work! Sign me up.

When you are done here please be sure to head over to my baking buddies sites... Andrea of Andrea's Recipes; Claire of The Barefoot Kitchen (who also designed our cool badge!); Kelly of Sass & Veracity; Courtney of Coco Cooks; and Sandy of At the Baker's Bench ~ I'm sure they'll have something wonderful going on in their ovens too.

My 9 inch pan turned out to be only 8 inches hence the overflowing appearance...

Parmesan Pull-Aparts

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons instant yeast granules
• 
  
• 1 tsp mild honey or sugar
  

• 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons for sprinkling


• 1 1/4 cups grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese


• 1 teaspoon salt


• 2/3 cup milk, warmed to 105-115 degrees F (I used 1% )


• 3 large eggs, divided


• 5 tablespoons butter, softened, cut into tablespoon-size pieces


• 1 tablespoon water

Directions:

1. In the mixing bowl of a stand mixer, combine yeast, sugar, flour, salt, and cheese; whisk together. Add milk and beat at low speed with the paddle attachment until dry ingredients are moistened.


2. Increase speed to medium and beat in the first egg. Add second egg and beat well. Stop mixer and scrape down sides of bowl and paddle occasionally. Continue to beat until a soft, sticky dough forms, about 2 to 3 minutes.



3. Start beating in butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, until dough is elastic ~ about 2 more minutes. The dough will still be very sticky at this point.


4. Scrape dough into center of bowl, sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons of flour.



5. Cover with a sheet of plastic wrap and a kitchen towel. Let sit at warm room temperature for about 2 hours, or until dough has doubled in size.



6. Gently punch dough down but don't knead it. Turn it out onto a floured surface. Don't worry ~ the dough will be very gassy and light, but it won't be all that sticky. The flour you dusted it with before will keep it from sticking to the bowl; it should come out fairly neatly.




7. Gently form the dough into a rectangular shape. Go easy here ~ you don't want to press the gas out of the dough, you just want it to form a rough rectangle so it's easier to cut into equal pieces.



8. Cut the rectangle in half lengthwise, and then into 12 equal parts.




9. Roll each part into a ball and place in a greased 9" x 2" cake pan, leaving space between the balls.



10. Cover with a tea towel and let rise in a warm, draft-free place for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours, till rolls have puffed and fill the pan.



11. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Mix remaining egg with 1 tablespoon water and brush over tops of raised rolls in pan. Bake until golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes.



12. Remove pan from oven and run a thin-bladed knife around the edge of the pan to loosen rolls. Invert onto a large spatula or a small rack and then invert again onto a cooling rack. Cool at least 20 minutes before pulling apart and eating.

Makes 12 rolls

Made even better reheated with some garlic butter and more Parmesan! How could that not be good???

Will I make these again? I loved these rolls. Out of all the rolls (yep all 3 of them) these were my favorite. They were simple, elegant looking and fast. All things that are incredibly important to me.

Despite me being late and being short one recipe I loved doing this challenge with my fellow bakers! I think the main thing that it did was remind me how incredibly much I like getting my hands into some yeast breads and kneading with my hands. Don't get me wrong I love the recipes where I could use my KitchenAid but I really LOVED the ones I created with my hands. I have promised myself that I am going to start making some of my weekly bread using the old fashioned hand kneading method!!!


I am submitting this to Sandy of At the Baker’s Bench for her BYOB event as well!


As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

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CHOCOLATE CHIP CAPPUCCINO BISCOTTI (a folk ballad)

HOME ON HER RANGE
(sung to the tune of Home on the Range, preferably with a banjo strumming along)

“Oh, give me a home
where my Furkids can roam
and where I can stay cozy all day.
Where the snow is up to my ears,
For 10 months of the year,
And the sky rains Biscotti all day.

Home, home on the range
Where Ira and the cats love to play,
Where the cupboard is packed, with good things it is stacked
From my good friend who’s so far away…”

In the past several months, I have made a handful of very close friends via the internet, a Sisterhood of like minds, passions and cravings, fueling laughter and calming tears. I find it difficult to believe that I have not always been friends with these bright, funny, caring women.

One of these friends is a Pioneer in the truest sense of the word; living in the snow-bound wilderness of a northern state a mere stone’s throw from the Canadian border (“I can see Canada from my house!”), huddling up at night with her pets under handmade quilts in front of a blazing fire, she grows her own food, chops her own firewood, builds her own furniture, shoots and skins moose with her bare hands… uh, no, sorry, that last one is someone else (well, you-know-who would have made a much better choice if he had chosen my friend for VP).

Completely self-sufficient, more than a little stubborn, she refuses failure and would rather do things by herself or at least do things her own way. And once she starts something, there is no turning back. Car broken? She walks or bums rides from her neighbors (but only if she must) until she can buy the piece and fix the damn car herself. Or she doesn’t go anywhere. Need shelves? Firewood is chopped, measured, cut and fit. If she needs something, whatever she needs, she learns how to make it herself.


She is an outdoorswoman extraordinaire, naming trees and plants, growing fruit, taming animals, hacking her way through the surrounding wilderness in summertime and battling the harsh winters using only her wits, her muscle and her hardheaded determination. And we all marvel at her gorgeous photos of the nature around her, the nature at her feet.

And she is extremely warm hearted, caring and good. Many of us have felt her reach out through her computer screen – virtually, spiritually, emotionally – offering kind words, sage advice, heart-felt encouragement, coaxing out stories and feelings in order to sooth our fears and make us laugh. She is wiser than she would ever admit to and funnier than she’ll take credit for.

And in return, she has received as she has given. I have offered what I can, sending boxes of chocolate and listening when she needs her own comfort and advice. We distract her with laughter when we know she is down and truly marvel at her many talents.

And I know her weaknesses : She loves chocolate. She loves coffee. She loves biscotti.

And if I could walk across the ocean and the miles of land that separate us to bring her these Cappuccino Biscotti, there is no doubt in the world that I would. I would fix the coffee as she stoked the fire and we would sit down together for Biscotti, coffee and a nice long chat.


CAPPUCCINO BISCOTTI
Adapted from the Joy of Baking website

This is a combination of all of Pioneer Woman’s favorite things : biscotti delicately flavored with coffee and a hint of cinnamon studded with mini chocolate chips.

3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups (280 g) flour
¾ cup (150 g) granulated white sugar
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
Rounded ½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 rounded tsp instant espresso powder or instant coffee powder
Rounded ½ cup (3 ½ oz, 100 g) mini chocolate chips


Preheat oven to 300°F (150°C) and place the rack in the center of the oven. Line a baking/cookie sheet with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs and the vanilla extract.

In a large mixing bowl, blend the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and coffee powder/granules and whisk together or beat with an electric mixer on low for 20 or 30 seconds to combine well.


If using mini chocolate chips, blend into the flour mixture now.


Gradually add in the egg mixture and beat until a dough forms. If using larger chocolate chips, stir them in now.


Turn the rather sticky dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead very briefly until you have a smooth, well-blended dough. Do not add in too much flour, just enough that this sticky dough can be handled.


Divide the dough in half. With floured hands on the lightly floured work surface, form each ball of dough into a log about 10 inches (25 cm) long and 2 inches (5 cm) wide. Carefully transfer the logs onto the prepared baking sheet spacing them about 3 inches (7.5 cm) apart to allow for spreading.


I sprinkle the surface with granulated sugar and ground cinnamon which gives the final, crispy outside of the biscotti a sweet, cinnamony touch.


Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until firm to the touch : (I have found that baking them for the longer time will give you less tender, crispier biscotti. I baked mine for 35 minutes and the biscotti were fully cooked at the end but more tender than they usually are.)


Remove from the oven – do not turn the oven off – and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
Transfer the logs, one at a time, to a wooden cutting board. With a good, serrated knife, cut each log crosswise on the diagonal into ¾ inch (2 cm)-wide slices. Cut slowly and carefully to avoid the biscotti breaking or crumbling.


Arrange the slices on the lined baking sheet (you can place them close together as they will no longer spread) and bake for 10 minutes.


Open the oven and flip all of the slices over, slide back into the oven and cook for an additional 10 minutes.

Remove from the oven and cool. This will make 20 to 25 biscotti.


These can easily be stored for days and days in an airtight, preferably metal cookie tin.


My Taste Tester had one for breakfast the day after I baked them. After taking a bite, chewing, savoring and swallowing, he said “Really good! And Cappuccino is exactly the word for them. They taste just like a cappuccino.”


Ah! Here’s to you, my very dear friend, Pioneer Woman!

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Severe Autism and Perpetual Self Injury: 109 Hits Per Hour

109.

As in 109 hits per hour by an autistic child injuring himself/herself. This information was provided as part of a case study reported in a recent Johns Hopkins Newsletter. The study reported that, ECT, or electroconvulsive therapy, was used to treat an autistic child who was hitting himself/herself 109 times per hour. The report states that the therapy resulted in a reduction from 109 to 19 hits per hour, permitting behavioral therapy and even attendance at educational programs - a substantial improvement in the child's quality of life.

Apart from the outcome of the ECT therapy, about which therapy Christine has commented and raised some very serous concerns, the perpetual nature of the self injury engaged in by this autistic child shows how utterly absurd the idea is that we can not discuss autism in terms of functioning labels or degree of severity. It is extreme denialism to suggest that a child who injures himself/herself 109 times per hour is not severely affected by his/her autism. It is extreme denialism to suggest that such a child is anything other than low functioning. It is extreme denialism to suggest that a child, or an adult, who injures himself 109 times per hour, who injures himself perpetually, does not suffer from a serious medical disorder. It is extreme denialism to suggest that a person who is perpetually injuring himself, herself does not require treatment and, if possible, a cure.

Ari Ne'eman, Amanda Baggs and Michelle Dawson can appear on CBC, and other ill informed, gullible news media, pretending to speak for all persons with autism, and declare that they do not want to be cured of their autism. But they have no right to make such declarations on behalf of those autistic persons like the child in the Johns Hopkins report who injured himself/herself 109 times per hour until treated.

autism

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