Posted on 08/24/2016 12:03:01 PM PDT by Jamestown1630
I recently picked up a nasty ‘bug’ that threw me into a six-day fever. No idea what it was, but I’ve never been laid-out so badly, or so little interested in food - all I could taste was salt, and salt was revolting. I finally hit on vanilla ice cream as tolerable, and ate nothing else for days. There are still some ‘notes’ that I can’t taste, and I’m craving the weirdest things: “MacDonald’s Fish Sandwich???” - my husband must feel that he’s got a pregnant lady calling him at work and demanding this-or-that be picked up on the way home. But, things are improving.
After visiting the doctor I had a prescription to be filled and, too sick to wander the store while it was prepared, I settled into the little waiting area by the Pharmacy. I can’t stand to sit and do nothing even when ill, and looked around for some diversion.
Across from me was an older Hispanic man slumped in his chair with his eyes closed, looking like a saint in an old Spanish painting. I wondered what malady had led him to sharing that space and existential misery with me; but he seemed so intent upon withdrawing entirely from earthly matters that I felt no invitation to conversation would be welcome.
Across the aisle were the Clearance Racks, which I had inspected earlier in the week. NEVER leave a drug or grocery store without checking these out – you can find some great deals for pennies on the dollar. I have gotten higher-end cosmetics that I might never have tried, toys for kids for Christmas, great stocking-stuffers, and a lot of closeout seasonal items, for almost nothing. My best buys this Summer were some leggo-like kits for my nephews, and a big supply of canning-jar lids, all gotten for 75 per-cent or less of retail.
By my elbow, I found a little diabetes pamphlet that included recipes, including one for Summer Squash; I modified it slightly, and came up with this:
Summer Squash with Feta Cheese
2 Summer squash and 2 Zucchini, shaved into thin, broad strips – you can use a mandoline (please don’t), a vegetable peeler, or one of the new spiral veggie slicers.
½ C. fresh Parsley Leaves, chopped
½ C.freshly -squeezed Lemon Juice
1 clove Garlic, minced
1/4 C. Olive Oil plus 1 tsp.
¼ tsp. Crushed Red Pepper
Salt and Black Pepper
1/3 C. crumbled Feta Cheese
Whisk together the ¼ C. Olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, parsley and red pepper in a small bowl and set aside.
Heat the 1 tsp. Olive Oil in a frying pan until shimmering, and saute the squash just 3 or 4 minutes, until slightly cooked and translucent. Let cool slightly, and then pour the reserved marinade over the squash, season with salt and pepper, toss well, and let chill for several hours. Before serving, toss the squash with the feta, adjust seasoning, and serve.
_______________________________________________________________________
Fried Zucchini Blossoms are something I’ve always wanted to try, and this looks like a good recipe:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/squash-blossoms-stuffed-with-ricotta-354966
________________________________________________________________________
Plain, steamed zucchini can be livened-up with this sauce. I originally found this in a low-fat cookbook back in the 1980s, so it didn’t include the butter, which can be added to make a richer sauce:
Mustard Sauce for Steamed Zucchini (Low Fat, but you can add butter :-)
Mix in a saucepan:
½ C. Chicken or Vegetable Broth
1 Shallot or Scallion, minced
1-1/2 tsp. fresh Tarragon
2 T. Dry White Wine
1 T. Arrowroot (or cornstarch)
1-1/2 tsp. Fresh Tarragon (or ½ tsp. dried))
1/8 tsp. Black Pepper
Cook uncovered 2 or 3 minutes. Melt in 1 T. butter, if desired.
Serve over steamed vegetables; especially good with Zucchini.
-JT
Bread used to be made with iodine - ALL bread, every bite. Now it's made with bromine - ALL bread. Bromine is a poison, but standard medicine is just fine with it, while getting the vapors over iodine, a known necessity.
YMMV
Thank you for the information. Is bromine in the flour, or added to the bread recipe? Would it be in the whole wheat flour that I bake with?
-JT
I’m sorry I don’t know if it’s already added to flour. I know commercial bakers use it in some capacity similar to iodine, which was used to make huge amounts of dough easier to kneed.
Several years ago influenza ran through my family of (then) six. I watched them go down like dominoes and they were miserable-I was willing to do anything to not catch it. Someone told me to eat raw garlic so I did. I don’t care how bad I smelled-I didn’t get sick. My strapping husband, who rarely gets sick, couldn’t even lift his head. I was the healthy care giver and so grateful.
My grandma said the same thing about sleep. Just remembering makes me miss her. And rest is so essential for recovery. I had a concussion two years ago and didn’t believe my husband regarding total rest. I didn’t recover until I gave in and did nothing but rest.
I’m going to remember the garlic hint. This may be why my husband so infrequently catches things - he makes his own salad dressing loaded with garlic.
-JT
Garlic works, but it must be raw and you will smell so awful that you can smell yourself. I made a tincture to use instead, but I’m not sure it’s as effective.
This is another favorite at our house:
Sauteed Zucchini with mint, basil and walnuts
Adapted ever-so-slightly from Deborah Madison’s always reliable “Vegetable Literacy.”
Serves 4 as a small side, or 2 as a meal.
1 pound zucchini (or any summer squash), sliced into 1/2-inch rounds
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3 small cloves garlic
10 mint leaves
5 basil leaves
1 heaping tablespoon capers, rinsed
2 tablespoons walnuts or pine nuts, lightly toasted
1 to 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Additional mint and basil, torn, to garnish
Ricotta and your favorite bread (optional, for serving)
Heat half of your olive oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add half the zucchini and sauté, flipping and turning every few minutes, until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Don’t salt them yet!
While your zucchini cooks, chop together the garlic, mint, basil, and capers so that they intermingle and turn into a sort of knife pesto.
When the zucchini is golden, remove it from the pan and cook the remaining zucchini in the remaining oil, just as you did the first batch. Then add the first batch back into the pan, along with the herb-garlic mixture and the vinegar, to taste. Taste for salt; add a good pinch, plus a few cracks of pepper. Toss well.
Scoop everything out onto a serving plate. Right before serving, sprinkle on the nuts and extra herbs as a garnish. I like to carve out a corner of my serving dish, dollop on a big pile of ricotta, and serve everything together with thick slices of crusty bread. It also makes for some mean crostini.
I remember reading a book about garlic, which included a section on how the Japanese had developed a way of folding the minced garlic into a tiny piece of edible paper - rice paper- so that it could just be swallowed down. The idea was that if you don’t chew it, you won’t release the odor-creating compounds.
My favorite way to eat zucchini or summer squash is off the grill. I use some oil in addition to spices and only go a couple of minutes, otherwise they get soft and soggy. Like them still with some crunch.
Hmm...interesting. I couldn’t make myself chew it so I chopped it into chunks and swallowed them like pills. I suppose cutting into it is like chewing. We haven’t noticed any odor with the tincture, but you have to brace yourself for the taste: vodka infused with garlic. Yikes!
Your body is going to smell like garlic no matter what; but I think the point of the edible paper was to avoid garlic breath.
I’ve also seen instructions for a garlic ‘tea’, used as a nasal wash; supposed to help with sinus issues, but I haven’t gotten around to trying it ;-)
-JT
Being sick is never fun, & it sounds like you were in misery! I’m glad you’re feeling better.
Did you ever read the James Herriot books...All Creatures Great & Small, All Things Bright & Beautiful, etc...? There was one story that has stuck with me over the years. Herriot was a vet in the Yorkshire Dales before WWII. He was called out to a farm & while treating one animal noticed another sheep in distress. When he finished with the first, he asked the farmer if he wanted him to look at the other one. The farmer said no, he couldn’t afford it & that creature would have to ‘take its chances’. The farmer was called away for a moment, & rather than leave it in agony Herriot decided to euthanize it & gave it a dose of whatever, & left the farm. Some time later he was called back to the same farm & after treating the animal he asked the farmer what had happened to that sheep. The farmer replied that it was the strangest thing, the sheep was asleep for three days & then woke up just fine! Sleep is HEALING, so when you’re sick the best medicine is just getting rest - although you obviously needed the antibiotics, too! :-)
We’ve been traveling, so I’ve been missing the cooking threads. The only thing I’d have to add on cooking squash would be my mother’s method of cooking the pattypan squash (that look like a clamshell). It’s not good for diets, as you slice the squash into chunks, brown in butter, add salt & pepper & then heavy cream. Yum!
The way I prepare it is somewhat similar to how you go about it in it’s simplicity. My favorite summer squash currently is heirloom “Round Zucchini”, and 3 inch diameter seems to be the best.
-Slice it about 3/8” thick, and then quarter or halve the bigger rounds to make bite sized pieces.
-Heat up a large cast iron skillet med/hot and ad EVOO.
-Add squash and cover for about 3-4 min, until it starts to caramelize.
-Flip it all so the caramelized side is now up and add salt, oregano, minced garlic, and shredded Parmesan and Romano cheese and cover, cooking another 3 minutes.
The caramelization from the hot pan gives the outside of the sliced squash a firm sweetness while the steam from covering it cooks the inside nice and tender. Sometimes I’ll add a small amount of chopped onion at the very start. Like grilling, it’s very simple and fast, and delicious!
Hi!
The only downside I’ve found to all of that ‘rest’, is that my body is taking a long time to accustom itself to verticality again - I’m dizzy! ;-)
Your pattypan recipe looks very good.
-JT
If you try that you are far braver than I!!
Well, you strain out the garlic, so it’s like an infusion.
Still...
-JT
I’ll also testify to the ability of garlic to fend off illness. I’ve found that it absolutely works, but only preemptively. When there’s a ‘cold’ bug going around I try to remain vigilant as to how I’m feeling. If I feel the very first signs of a cold, that little ‘tickle’ or very start of a scratchy throat, I’ll immediately eat a clove of raw garlic, and then follow it with some more every hour or so until the ‘tickle’ is gone. It has worked every single time so long as I take the garlic right away. Put it off an hour or so and it’s then too late. The other, and even better way to go about it is to just to eat a clove every morning and evening when in danger of being exposed to whatever bug is going around, but then there’s no way to avoid garlic breath, lol. I’d much rather have garlic breath than have the bug! I swear by this, but the key is timing: it’s preventative.
That is very useful information. I’m making an elderberry tincture as a prep for cold and flu season. Funny how we go through that much more quickly than the garlic tincture! Elderberry seems to help after the fact, but I’m pretty sure it’s effective only for viruses. Garlic is both anti viral and antibacterial.
There are lots of recipes now for ‘refrigerator’ type pickled garlic, which use the least heat possible in processing in order to retain the most of the raw benefits:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/easy-refrigerator-pickled-garlic.aspx
hmmm
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.