Portagee Joe's Cafe Shrimp Bisque

Click Me for More Photographs

This recipe comes from Eggs I Have Known by Corinne Griffith. It was Miss Griffith's Coconut Bars that so delighted Clark Gable. I write about those elsewhere. Of course, this cookbook is out of print.

I have not yet made this bisque. I am going down to the Italian Market to get the shrimp today. I expect this dish to be delicious. I give it to you verbatim. Old cookbooks are low on directions. And I do not think this movie star actually ever cooked anything. We shall see. Nip and tuck.

Portagee Joe's Cafe was one of the small cafes which could be found along Fisherman's Wharf in 1950's Monterey California.

Portagee Joe's Shrimp Bisque

1 tablespoon Celery (chopped fine)
3 tablespoons Butter
2 cups Milk
1 cup cooked Shrimp (mashed fine)
1 wineglass Sherry
1 tablespoon Onion (chopped fine)
3 tablespoons Flour
3 cups Cream
1/4 teaspoon Salt
Paprika

Cook Celery and Onion in Butter over a slow fire for 5 minutes. Place in a double boiler and cook over hot water. Add flour. Add Milk, 2 cups Cream and put remaining 1 cup of Cream aside. Cook mixture until thickened. Add Shrimp, Salt and one drop of Tabasco Sauce (approximately) and reheat. Now whip remaining cup of Cream, add Sherry to Cream and Paprika. Remove soup from stove. Add whipped Cream and stir. Serves Six.

Ms. Mary Walker's Cucumber Soup

This is cucumber season. We are inundated with them. What to do? Make this delicious Cucumber Soup. I give it to you verbatim - straight from Ms. Walker's keyboard.

A note from Ms. Walker:
It's not my recipe. It comes from a 'Marks and Spencer' (British Dept. Store) cookbook called 'St. Michael's Cookery Book' - published in 1980, which I picked up at a flea market when I was visiting relatives a few years ago.

I don't need credit - but it you want to publish it and allot credit, it should be the original 'St. Michael's Cookery Book' by Jeni Wright..

Chilled Cucumber Soup
(VERY British)

2 tblsp butter for frying
1 onion (about 2inch) finely chopped
1 European cucumber diced (WITH skin and seeds - which is why it should be a European)
1-1/2 tblsp flour
20 oz hot milk
10 oz chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
And to finish - 1/2 pint heavy cream
chopped fresh mint
green food coloring - if desired

In 3 or 4 quart saucepan - saute onion and cucumber in butter - then cover and cook gently for about 5 minutes

Stir in flour and cook for a further 2 or 3 minutes - stirring constantly

Remove pan from heat and gradually stir in hot milk - stir thoroughly. Stir in the stock and return to heat. Bring to gentle simmer - stirring frequently. Season with salt and pepper and nutmeg

Lower heat - 'half cover' so steam can escape - and simmer very gently for about 20 minutes - stirring occasionally. Be sure it doesn't stick or burn.

Puree with an electric 'stick' blender or in a food processor. Should be consistency of heavy cream!

Allow to cool before refrigerating. Serve chilled with cream and mint - if desired. OR - in the winter I serve it hot with croutons. YUMMMMM!

Let me know what you think. I usually make a double batch so I can share with neighbors.
When cucumbers are in season and available I usually make the onion/cucumber sauté 'base' and freeze it until I'm ready to make soup - which is what I used this morning.

NOTE: If European cucumbers aren't available - you can use regular cukes BUT you would need to peel and seed them - so you would need 2 or 3 to equal one European.
Good Luck.

Ghetto Garden Fabulous

My New Fig among the Daffodils

My house is an HUD house I bought as a veritable shell a decade ago. I have had to dedicate any money I had to serious repairs like putting in a heating system and erecting a front door.

I love to garden. However, my garden gets the least investment in terms of capital available. Nevertheless, I have turned it from hard packed clay with a scraggly lawn I had to mow to its present state.

I scavenged antique bricks from old house and we made a walk. Who wants a lawn to mow? Not me. I use fallen tree branches to make garden beds. I use chunks of cement. I scavenge fallen leaves that others bag up for compost.

I write a lot about garden design here. Even so, I did not realize quite what I was doing until my Daughter suggested I get some nicer paving stones on a trip to the garden store. I recoiled. And I was not sure why. I mean, I just spent $50.00 on new fig trees.

And then the light dawned. I like the scavenging. Saves money so I can indulge in fig trees. It is a challenge. I just did not know it was a design theme. I scavenged every single one of those Iris and in another few weeks they will be glorious. I have the Herbs in and my Blueberries are doing fine.

My garden theme is Ghetto Fabulous. Example is the old ladder. It is a bean tower. I think it will be beautiful. We shall see. God bless my Daughter. Eventually she will whip me into shape. One way or another. Kind of like my garden.

Adopt a Penguin

Click Me!

Calling all Knitters. Sick Penguins need sweaters. Knit and purl, Darlings. 

For those wishing to donate a jumper, the island’s Penguin Foundation has created a handy knitting pattern guide. "Jumper" is Australian for sweater. 

If you cannot knit, send a bit of money. They probably need the gelt more than they need the jumpers. "Gelt" is Yiddish for money or treasure. Just my opinion. Money is always in good taste. 

If you love Penguins as much as I do, consider making a trip to see the Penquin Parade. Failing that, knitting a Penguin Sweater is a great way to pass knitting knowledge to a new generation and teach love of nature and geography. Get busy. Be Happy!

Click Me!