muso wrote on Mar 10^th, 2012 at 11:22am:


You would have a point, if only symbols didn't represent things and were the thing itself. The world is full of tinpot principalities who do a big talk with symbols. England could be represented with a dandelion; but it's still 'Good morning' the world says and not 'Madainn mhath'. I rather like the idea of being represented by three stretching pussycats. If I ever become a media mogul I'll use it.

Let's get serious 

(A) is for Artichoke

It's a thistle y'know, that's some kind of symbolic peace offering

Milk Thistles with Chickpeas and Spinach

For the vegetable stock:
Onions, Garlic, Celery. Leek,Tomato, Soy sauce and Sesame oil

For the thistles:

Onions, Leeks,  Zucchinis and Thistles (Milk thistles, not the prickly sort)
Red wine
A bunch of spinach
Macadamia nuts

Let’s start preparing the vegetable stock. Fry the onion, a couple of mashed garlic cloves, the leek and the celery over a high heat, so that the vegetables start to a brown. Then, place the vegetables in a casserole with cold water together with a tomato, a generous splash of soy sauce and a little bit of sesame oil. Be careful with the sesame oil, as it has a very pervasive flavour.

It's best to start preparing the stock the previous day. This way, the flavours will be concentrated and the stock will have settled down. The result is worth it.

Chickpeas are best soaked overnight in water unless you have a pressure cooker. With a pressure cooker, they take about an hour to cook properly. Without a pressure cooker, allow a couple of hours. Don't cook at  too high a heat or you'll burn them. Once the chickpeas are tender, cool them down and retain the chickpea stock.

Before starting to prepare the stir-fry, we need to cook the thistles. Cut the ends if they are dry and remove the stringy parts. Then chop the thistles as you wish, and now we can prepare the stir-fry. Now proceed to fry the vegetables as always, first the onion, and then the leek and the thinly chopped zucchini. Add the thistles, fry until these get a brownish colour, and wash down with a generous splash of red wine. Leave the mixture to boil down and then add the vegetable stock a bit at a time until the thistles are tender. The thistles will be well cooked after approximately half an hour. If you don't have enough vegetable stock, use water.

When the thistles are almost ready, prepare a frying pan over a medium heat and toast the chopped macadamia nuts. Add the raw spinach leaves and lightly fry both ingredients. Be careful at this point because the spinach leaves contain a lot of water so it will spit at you.

Finally, add the chickpeas and the spinach to the thistles. You can add as much vegetable stock as you want. You can also add the chickpea stock and  this will result in a thicker texture.

'Well defended' may actually be a marker for 'good to eat'. Stinging nettle is probably the most tasty and nutritious greens to eat. A quick dip in boiling water removes the sting of course.



I'll pay Auld lang syne, I've reached my 'being bad' limit But you must know the Scots were forced into independence by the Romans, who built a wall across and labelled the land beyond as 'Picts' which basically translates as 'bugger'em'.

I haven't tasted fresh milkthistle, although I've taken it in various herbal medicines on occasion. I used to let them grow in my garden as they're not only tasty to birds and small animals, but the milk is excellent for their health and a cure for some ailments.

Pass me the BACON!

Annie Anthrax wrote on Mar 11^th, 2012 at 10:28am:


Now I must address this Annie, because the artichoke heart is required eating. I thotoughly recommend growing them if you have a garden because (a) they're quite expensive to buy and easy to grow. (b) They have to be picked at the optimum moment.

They are steamed and are best eaten while talking for a lunch time snack. The edible bit is the little dab of flesh at the base of each sepal and finally the centre.

If the artichoke is too developed the centre has the parachutes of the thistle seed too developed; a bit like eating asbestos fibre. If it's too underdeveloped... well it's not too bad actually what you lose on the roundabout (the dab on the sepals) you gain on the swings, (the centre or 'heart').

Smear your steamed artichoke with butter, grate over salt & pepper, squeeze a lemon over it and pull off the sepals one by one and scrape off the base between your teeth. Maintain an elegant pose 
the deeper you strip, the more edible flesh is exposed.

Jars of hearts that are marinated can be bought. These are delicious, great in salads, but not the same as the fresh and lack ceremony.

Dsmithy70 wrote on Mar 14^th, 2012 at 12:42pm:


That's what's called cherry picked data smithy. How many 51 y/o's look like the one on the right? 

It all comes back to statistics. You can't use one contrary example to show that statistical trends are wrong.  In fact any statistical trend will have a small number of contrary examples.

This picture might amuse you:



Here's a 70 year old Vegetarian who doesn't look bad at all for her age.

http://prime.peta.org/contest-sexyveg-over50-winners.php