The temperature is below freezing here for about the first time this year. Warmer weather will return by Sunday. I guess steel gray skies will be the rule, not the exception, for a while. And we might have a few snowflakes on Saturday morning, according to some forecasts.
The trees on the horizon in the photo above and the one on the right weren't there when we moved here 15 years ago. They've grown up on a plot of vines that was abandoned back then. All the vines and posts and support wires are still in there. For eternity, maybe, or until somebody comes in with a bulldozer to knock it all down.
The holidays are almost here. For our Christmas dinner, Walt has ordered a guinea fowl capon from our favorite poultry vendor at the Saturday market in Saint-Aignan. Today, to ward off the cold, I'm going to make a dish I haven't ever made before, if I remember correctly: Swiss steak — an old-fashioned American classic. From what I've been reading, there really isn't much Swiss about it except that the process of tenderizing steaks by pounding them into thin slices is called "swissing"...
I never knew that, about the "swiss" part of the steak. I remember it as a kind of not-awfully-good thing somewhere between a chop and a hamburger. Will be interested to see how yours turns out. There will be pictures yes?
ReplyDeleteYes. Swiss steak is round steak or flank steak. Salisbury steak is made with ground beef. I hope I'm not disappointed with my version of Swiss steak. I tasted the sauce (aromatic vegetables and tomato) before the beef went in and it was delicious. Now it's all in the oven.
ReplyDeleteSame here--never knew that there was a term, swissing. I hope we get to see pictures!
ReplyDeleteHere's a definition of "to swiss" — a term I had never heard before either. It's kind of like "French fries", where "French" or "frenching" means a way of cutting potatoes or other foods into strips or lengths before cooking them. We just ate today's Swiss steak, and it was pretty good. The sauce was better than the meat.
DeleteSwiss steak was something I remember eating in the 60s growing up. I haven't thought about it in decades. I like retro old-fashioned dishes, so it will be interesting to see your version. Retro food is popular here, the first example that comes to mind is an iceberg lettuce wedge with traditional chunky blue cheese dressing.
ReplyDeleteThe row of trees that has sprung up is quite attractive. I wonder what variety they are?
I think they are black locust trees, called acacia by people around here.
DeleteThose trees are so nice to see.
ReplyDeleteI think they look like a hairbrush.
DeleteThey do look like a hairbrush lol.
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