A Blaze of Bright Blue: June 2013

Friday, June 28, 2013

Happy Friday

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Credit: NASA, ESA

This Hubble image shows two interacting galaxies. A small elliptical galaxy on the lower left and to the upper right a once spiral galaxy is being stretched out of its classical shape resulting in a cascade of new star formation (bright blue stars). These two galaxies are 400 million light years away.

Thursday, June 27, 2013

2013 National Geographic Photo Contest

Photo by Ignacio Palacios/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest

Hamersley Gorge
Karijini National Park is one of the largest and most photogenic national parks in Australia. The park is famous for its sheer gorges, waterfalls, sparkling rock pools and cool swimming holes. Karijini is about 275km south of Port Hedland and 100km east of Tom or Paraburdoo. The park is all about exploring serpentine tunnels of marbled rock, clambering over boulders, squeezing through narrow tunnels, inching your way along ledges, paddling through subterranean waterways and descending deep into chasms which have been eroded into the landscape over two billion years.

Photo and caption by Ignacio Palacios/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest

Planet Earth seen through hundreds of lenses at National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Doma Unconstitutional

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Go Wendy

Stir Fried Sweet And Sour Eggplant

Stir Fried Sweet And Sour Eggplant

2 long Chinese Eggplant, cubed and sliced thinly

3 Tablespoons Soy Sauce

2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 Tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons cornstarch

2 Tablespoons grape seed oil

2 Tablespoons salt

1 Tablespoon of peeled and grated ginger

1 Tablespoon of chopped garlic

1/2 cup chicken bouillon or water

Wash, slice and dice the eggplant. Place the cubed eggplant in a large bowl sprinkle with the salt mix well and then cover with water. Soak the eggplant for 30 minutes to an hour. Drain the water, rinse very well and drain on paper towels. Mix the soy sauce, red wine vinegar, garlic, ginger, sugar and cornstarch-reserve sauce. Heat the grape seed oil until very hot, add the eggplant and stir fry until seared and well done 8 to 10 minutes. Eggplant soaks up the oil quickly just occasionally sprinkle the bouillon or water while stir frying to prevent sticking or add more oil. When the eggplant is done add the sauce, stir until the sauce is thick and the eggplant is evenly coated. Serve steaming hot!

The Daily Bread

Recipe here

Monday, June 24, 2013

The Daily Bread

Recipe here

The Bread with a crunchy sesame seed top.

Friday, June 21, 2013

Happy Friday

Credit: European Southern Observatory

NGC 1532 is a spiral galaxy located 70 million light years away in the constellation Eridanus.

Wallpaper

Thursday, June 20, 2013

The Daily Bread

Recipe here

Sesame seed top.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Adobo Chicken

Chicken Adobo after the sauce has been reduced

Adobo chicken is a classic dish from the Philippines. Remarkably easy to prepare yet delivers a comfortable aroma and the well being of traditional mom's cooking. My good friend and fellow gustatory gaucho, Jay told me about this wonderful chicken recipe. We cooked different recipes, I've incorporated some of Jay's ideas into this simple recipe.

Adobo Chicken

6-8 chicken thighs

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon peppercorns

3 bay leaves

5 chopped garlic cloves

1 can light coconut milk

Spread a teaspoon of olive oil over the bottom of an 6 quart stock pot. Place the chicken thighs skin side down in the cold pot. Turn the heat to medium high and brown the chicken 7-10 minutes, turn the chicken over and brown the remaining side for about 7 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the chicken cool for a few minutes, then drain off all the chicken fat. Add the remaining ingredients to the pot, bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove the lid, turn the heat up to high and boil until the liquid is reduced by about half. Serve with rice.