Scarlet Magnificence - Not Since 1913: an August/September Story

More than 34 million sockeye salmon returned to the Fraser River this year, the highest number since 1913. The run gave the commercial fishery its first opening in four years, and provided native communities with the fish they had to forgo last year for ceremonial feasts. What did it mean for me...low cost salmon at the store!

A slideshow of the Adams River sockeye salmon run this past fall, pretty incredible!  Here's a CBC TV news story of the same thing.

For a Cold Weekend in B'ham: Persian Eggplant Stew

Recipe: 'Mitra Stricklen's Khoresht Bademjoon'

Chicago
by Molly O'Neill
November 19, 2010

Mitra Stricklen, a graduate student in anthropology at the University of Chicago, a gardener, cook and local food advocate, adores eggplant, particularly her mother's Persian-style sweet-and-sour eggplant. Ms. Stricklen says she carries the recipe for khoresht bademjoon in her head to farmers markets and modifies the basic formula to suit what is best in the market that day.

Serves 6
Ingredients:

• 2 large eggplants
• Kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 yellow onions, sliced
• 1⁄4 cup vegetable oil
• One 14.5-ounce can whole tomatoes or 6 large tomatoes, roasted and peeled
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 cup water or vegetable stock
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• Persian Herbed Steamed Rice (Chelo; page 63), for serving

Instructions:

1. Cut the eggplants into thick slices. Generously salt both sides of each eggplant slice and let drain in a colander for 15 minutes so the salt can pull out the bitterness.
2. Rinse the slices and pat dry.
3. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a skillet over low heat and add the onions. Cook until soft and golden brown, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes.
4. Heat the vegetable oil in a wide, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat and fry the eggplant slices until golden brown on each side. Remove from the oil and drain on a wire rack set over a baking sheet or paper towels.
5. In a large saucepan, combine the tomatoes, 1 tablespoon salt, the cinnamon, pepper, nutmeg, water and lemon juice and mix well. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the eggplant slices and cook for 5 minutes more.
6. Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with the fried onions. Serve with chelo.

Excerpted from One Big Table: 600 Recipes from the Nation's Best Home Cooks, Farmers, Fishermen, Pit-Masters, and Chefs by Molly O'Neill. Copyright 2010 by Molly O'Neill. Excerpted by permission of Simon & Schuster.

One Big Table: 600 Recipes from the Nation's Best Home Cooks, Farmers, Fishermen, Pit-Masters, and Chefs 
By Molly O'Neill 
Hardcover, 880 pages
Simon & Schuster 
List price: $50

BELLINGHAM - location, temperature, location

Bellingham, WA, 48°45′19.12″N 122°28′43.54″W / 48.7553111°N 122.4787611°W / 48.7553111; -122.4787611 (Bellingham City Hall) --> the northernmost city of more than 50,000 residents of the 48 contiguous states. Further north than all of Maine.

It is a misconception that Maine has the most northernmost point in the Lower 48. However, this is due to the type of map it is. A Lambert Equal-area conic projection, for example, appears to say that the western tip of Washington state is aligned with the northernmost tip of Maine. If you look at a cylindrical projection, you will see that the states bordering Canada west of the Great Lakes are well above the latitude that Maine sits on, and Minnesota has a small triangular tip at the border of Manitoba.

• Northwest Angle/Angle Township in Lake of the Woods, Minnesota 49°23′04″N 95°09′12″W / 49.384358°N 95.153314°W / 49.384358; -95.153314 (Northwest Angle) — northernmost point in the 48 contiguous states
• Sumas, Washington 49°00′09″N 122°15′06″W / 49.00249°N 122.25162°W / 49.00249; -122.25162 (Sumas, WA) — northernmost incorporated place in the 48 contiguous states (Because of a 19th century surveying inaccuracy, the international border lies slightly north of the 49th parallel here.)

Bellingham temperature range:
      Winter  32/51
      Spring  40/67
      Summer  48/71
      Fall  33/58
      Annual Precipitation  36.17"
      Annual Snowfall  8.60"

Monday, 27 Sept. 2010 - CNNMoney/Editors of Money Magazine say Bellingham is #5 of top-25 places to retire:

1. Durham, North Carolina
2. Hanover, New Hampshire
3. Lexington, Kentucky
4. Prescott, Arizona
5. Bellingham, WA

Thursday, 23 Sept. 2010 - National Geographic identifies Bellingham as an adventure town.

Off of Daylight Savings Time and a Chicken Vegetable Barley Soup

So last night we gained the hour, and this morning it was light earlier.  I'm glad I went to bed early and got up with the start of daylight.  At 5pm tonight it was dark, and by 6pm absolutely "pitch black". Soup for a Sunday:

• 1 cup celery, sliced
• 1 cup carrots, sliced
• 1 cup onion, sliced
• 1 cup mushrooms, sliced (I used crimini)
• 1 can (15 1/2 oz.) chopped tomatoes
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 bay leaf
• 2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1-2 TBS rosemary (1 sprig fresh)
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 TBS parsley flakes
• 1-2 cups chicken, cooked and cubed
• 1 cup barley
• 2   32 oz. cartons chicken broth (or I used 1 carton chicken broth, 1 carton mushroom broth)
• salt and pepper to taste (I also threw in some whole peppercorns. Remove them and bay leaf before serving.)
• OPTIONAL: grated cheese sprinkled on top bowl when serving, or TBS of sherry in bottom of bowl before spooning in soup

I put it all in a crock pot and cooked on high for about 4 hours (or until carrot and barley are done). So good.