Receta Pesto Potato Salad; French Doctors; Weekly Menu
Bedside manner.
One hears about it on the medical television shows.....
Doctors are supposed to have a 'good bedside manner.'
I think that means they are supposed to be pleasant, concerned, helpful, kind and caring.
American doctors (or so the TV shows lead me to believe) receive some, albeit cursory, training in 'beside manner'.
French doctors don't bother.
Don't misunderstand.
They are very concerned about their patients. At times there might be 4 or 5 of them in a patient's room, discussing the patient, the surgery, the progress, etc.
They just don't bother to discuss anything with the actual patient.
And why should they? Did the patient go to medical school? Does the patient have anything of worth to contribute to the conversation?
Naturally, the patient will be asked questions - how do you feel, does this hurt, etc.
Once answered the patient will be ignored until the next question.
Are you familiar with the countless ads for drugs of any and all types everywhere in the US?. Somewhere in the ad it will say something like: 'Ask your doctor if X is right for you.'
Don't bother to ask your French doctor.
In France, you go to your doctor and present him or her with your problem. He determines the cause of the problem and prescribes a course of treatment.
If you tell him that you saw an ad for a drug in a magazine and you thought it would work better....
He would tell you not to be silly and send you on your way.
After all, he or she has spent the better part of their lives studying, learning and practicing how to take care of you.
All you did was read the ad in the magazine in the waiting room.
Or worse, someone else did and told you about it.
What has got me pondering the vagaries of doctors? It's been 3 days and we still are not quite sure what the surgery involved for mon mari.
He's been visited by lots of doc's but they only talk to each other. He's doing well, able to sit up and take nourishment as it were....
We figure that when the docs are all confident that everything is as it should be, all healing at the expected rate, they'll be a bit more chatty and explain what they did.
Maybe tomorrow....
Then they'll schedule the 6 month follow-up appt. and disappear.
Something else that will be disappearing shortly, with the advent of autumn's cool weather, is basil.
Make Pesto while you can!
And remember - it's not just for pasta...
This is a very creamy potato salad. As usual, we try to keep the calories and fat down by using yogurt rather than mayonnaise.
- Pesto Potato Salad
- 2 medium potatoes, about 12oz (350gr)
- 1/4 cup (2oz, 60ml) pesto
- 1/4 cup (2oz, 60ml) Greek or plain yogurt
- Slice potatoes into bite-sizy chunks. Cook in boiling, salted water, partially covered, until done, 10 - 12 minutes. When done, drain and put into serving dish. Mix pesto and yogurt. Add to potatoes and stir gently to coat. Serve.
- Pesto
- 2 cups basil, leaves only, lightly packed - meaning somewhere between crushing it into the measuring cup and dropping it in lightly
- 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan, to measure cut in small cubes
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 3/4 - 1 cup good olive oil - enough to get the consistency you want for the sauce
- 2 cloves garlic
Put everything but the oil in a blender. Add 1/2 cup oil and blend. Add more oil as needed. It really depends on how tightly you packed the basil. I used 1 cup of oil. It will keep about a week in the refrigerator, up to 9 months in the freezer.
In
addition
to
this,
for
the
week of August 6 we have Grilled Salmon with Pesto Sauce, Caprese Salad with Avocado, Vichyssoise, Greek Lamb and Vegetable Kebabs, Tuna and Barley Salad, Hot and Sour Pork Chops.....
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