Silversea Water Cooler: Part 3, Welcome!

[UKCruiseJeff]

I know you should never offer uninvited recipe or cooking tips, but there is an under-used but very simple method of cooking asparagus that transforms them.

 

Prepare a mug of bouillon from the kettle and a cube or from a tub of powder and put aside.

 

Heat up a frying pan that has a lid until quite hot and add a slug of olive oil and add the asparagus and so they become slightly caramelised whilst you sort of stir fry them. After a minute or so add the bouillon and slam the lid tight and hold it down. A minute or two later and the bouillon would have evaporated off leaving tender and tasty asparagus. A knob of butter added at this stage doesn't go amiss. Finish with a sprinkling of very coarse sea salt. Cooks perks mandate you can take one to test it still has bite.

 

The science is that you are caramelising the chlorophyll and intensifying the flavour. If there happens to be a little asparagusy boullon left in the pan add a slug of double cream and decant into an esspresso cup for an amuse bouche.

 

A particular seasonal passion of ours.

 

Jeff

 

Example in context:

 

 

Camera

iPad

 

Focal Length

4.28mm

 

Aperture

f/2.4

 

Exposure

1/40s

 

ISO

64

 



 

 

 

 

Camera

i

Edited March 8, 2017 by UKCruiseJeff

[Camillus112]

Oh, Jeff, I'm very grateful for the recipe. I'm sure it will be delicious! And it is rather simple. Since I don't have the fresh asparagus for tonight, I'll have to do the steamables, but next time I'll be sure to report how I "performed" as a real cook.

[UKCruiseJeff]

I spend far too much time thinking about food, don't I!

 

Jeff

 

 

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[Camillus112]

And you are stimulating me to get involved in cooking!!

[UKCruiseJeff]

M

 

Just finished ep 1 of The Good Fight ...... Great!

 

Miss Alicia though ...

 

Thanks for the pointer.

 

 

Jeff

 

 

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[mysty]

So glad you liked it J! I miss Alicia too! I think it may well work without her though.

[UKCruiseJeff]

...... thanks Carla! ;)

 

Good afternoon Coolers .... a lovely sunny day!

 

Today was the end of the broth of God ... and a bowl of Hainanese Chicken rice with some prized scrapy bits of slightly caramelised rice. The broth was better this week, a bit more spicey and so was today's dish.

 

Jeff

 

 

 

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[mysty]

Greetings Coolers! We have sun today! Unfortunately the star is not exactly warming things up. A chilly 27 F.

 

J....(or perhaps I should address you as Noff) that dish looks amazing! And the broth of God is something I will gently suggest that Myster attempt. :)

 

We're off to visit daughter and family this weekend. Hopefully the weather co-operates.

 

Have an awesome weekend all!

[jpalbny]

Not much sun here today. Well, it was bright for a few hours while we were at work, but cloudy and gray upon our return home. Thought 43 degrees would be nice enough for a walk but with the lack of sun and preponderance of wind, we cut it short and came home to cook dinner early. A simple F&W recipe called "Angry Shrimp Pasta." Whole shrimp, panko bread crumbs, lots of sliced garlic, grated lemon peel, and some red pepper flakes, cooked in olive oil and seasoning. Add cooked fettucine and some pasta water to get the right consistency. Freezer to table in about 15 minutes.

 

 

Working this weekend. Hopefully the schedule lightens up a touch after this. Have a great night all.

[UKCruiseJeff]

Nice dish JP,

 

Carla, watched the episode 2 last night. Great series. Diane has had something done to her nose I think .

 

Salmon and pea lattice with some stove charlottes.

 

Jeff

 

 

 

 

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[UKCruiseJeff]

This little chap has been tapping on the window all morning and wants to be let in.

 

Jeff

 

 

 

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[ShotsnCruises]

Good morning cruisers! It is tough to be back from our wonderful cruise aboard the Wind. I will be writing a FULL review throughout the day and posting on the boards.

I haven't even hooked up the camera yet, so I don't know if I will be posting picture.

I am at work for my 1st day back, and LAST day ever at this company. Feels really weird. I wouldn't have come back at all if it wasn't for all that Paid Time Off, I wanted to paid for!

[jpalbny]

Aw. How cute, Jeff. Bring him in and warm him up...

 

 

 

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[Camillus112]

Aw, not cool, JP!

[Camillus112]

Jeff, just a quick note to let you know that I never did asparagus of any kind the day DH was supposed to grill steaks. The day turned very dark and cold, depressing, and we just ordered pizza. I guess I am a gentile in this thread of wonderful cooking....

[jpalbny]

ShotsnCruises! Welcome back and looking forward to your review.

 

Speaking of cruises. Time to share some really exciting news that I've been sitting on, until I was sure it wasn't a hoax.

 

We booked Silver Explorer some time ago, for 15 days in October-November 2017. We took our usual category, a low-level suite on deck 4.

 

Our TA got a call last week that due to a configuration change, our cabin was no longer available. Would we mind an upgrade? Um...OK...what type?

 

So we went from a 400 sf expedition suite on deck 4, with two large windows, to a 700 sf grand suite on deck 7, with a balcony, included laundry, and our own personal espresso machine!

 

We are beyond excited. This will be the nicest room we've ever had on SS. What luck...they had to upgrade us 3 full categories, because the intervening category rooms were all taken. No charge.

 

Now we're busy finishing the planning for our post trip to Easter Island. This will be an amazing trip. Can't wait!

 

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[Tothesunset]

Oh, well done, JP. Great news. That has quite brightened up a gloomy afternoon in Lincolnshire.

 

I notice that all the Vista suites are now waitlisted on our Cape Town - Cape Town cruise so if anyone from SS is listening then, yes, we would suffer the ignominy of being upgraded to one of the big suites if we absolutely have to.

[jpalbny]

Jeff, just a quick note to let you know that I never did asparagus of any kind the day DH was supposed to grill steaks. The day turned very dark and cold, depressing, and we just ordered pizza. I guess I am a gentile in this thread of wonderful cooking....

 

We usually run out of steam by Friday of our on-call weeks, and give up on cooking. It's hard to get motivated after working all day. So no need to feel bad about it.

 

I have some boneless pork "ribs" thawing. If I get motivated, I will pound them into cutlets and make some Schweinschnitzel. If not, we'll order something. It's 50-50 at this point. And I agree with you, the weather is not conducive to cooking on the grill at all!

 

But we have leftover pepper steak for lunch today, which I'm really looking forward to. Of course, Chris mentioned last night that I'm serving meat to her twice on a Friday in Lent, and asked if I was trying to get her in trouble with her religion. (as if; we haven't been to church in 15 years). I told her that I assumed we'd be going to the fiery underground place, and I wanted us to have the "E-Z Pass" lane! :D

[spinnaker2]

Wow.

Busy Friday with lots of fun information and food photos.

 

Enjoy it!

[57 varieties]

JP that is quite an upgrade. Lucky you!

 

 

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[UKCruiseJeff]

Good afternoon all .....

 

Shots .... end of an era for you, it must be full of mixed feelings for you. I remember my last day with "The Corporation" ... a dreadful day with me wondering what on earth I'd done to my family giving up a fantastic job with an unworthy salary, car, the odd jaunt in the company jet et al for the uncertainty of starting a business that all my mates said would never work. The end of employment is a tough day but I hope it heralds a new era of freedom for you. And now you are full of Wind, looking forward to the piccies and narrative.

 

Camels ... sorry to hear of the grub!

 

JP - WHAT A LUCKY *&%$£# you are! Really looking forward to those piccies of you and Chris in ll that space with a wonderful bottle or three. I suspect your more gregarious than me but I recall the space in 801 and 802 forming a nice biggy on Whisper (or was it Shadow ... I can't remember ....) had me pretty much locked in for a lot of meals and things. So lovely having space on a cruise.

 

Tonight are the last two of the current batch of dough balls for pizza, so they are three weeks fermenting slowly in the fridge into what I hope will be a lovely pair of sourdough pizza tonight.

 

Jeff

[Camillus112]

Welcome back, Shots!! Looking forward to your comments and pictures. Exciting future in your new ventures.

 

JP @ Chris. What a lucky couple you are. You should play lottery since you are on a winning streak. We've never even seen what a grand suite looks like on SS. Best we've done is 745 (Winter Garden extension). We will have 634 on Whisper for next cruise.... right alongside the launderette! Oh well, we'll cope.

[UKCruiseJeff]

935f!

 

 

Jeff

 

 

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[ShotsnCruises]

Thanks for the welcome back everyone! I wish I could say it was my last day of work ever, but its not... I start the new job Monday, but it will be a much better environment for me, and have more freedom and flexibility. That also means more TIME to cruise and more MONEY to pay for cruises!

 

I am working on my review. It is slow going, but I will get there. I am going to try to go through pictures tonight. The camera is buried somewhere in the pile of luggage and laundry that awaits me this weekend.

[Camillus112]

Jeff, your before and after are much more appetizing than the ads for face cream are believable (or should I say not believable?). Yummy!