Listing of the Numeral Issue Almost Complete, Thai Barbecue Chicken Recipe and On Target to Finish Queen Victoria by the End of September

These late nights every Tuesday and Thursday are really helping me catch up on the backlog of lotting. I not only managed to list all the stamps I set out to list on Tuesday but managed to finish two more values from the set as well: the 5c and 6c, as well as scan the 7c. Yesterday was Steph's day to work from home, so I spent it getting the remainder of the Queen Victoria Canadian material ready for lotting, so that I can hopefully power-lot it all tomorrow as well, since Steph is going out tomorrow night as well.

Here are some of the nice  1c, 2c, 3c, 5c, 6c, and 7c values from the Numeral Issue that I listed on Tuesday:

   

        

      

I still have the 7c, 8c, 10c and 20c values to list, which I hope to do today. Then tomorrow, I can work on the 1898 Imperial Penny Postage Issue and the 1899 2c Provisional Stamps. Next week, I can work on the 1898 Special Delivery Stamp, the 1875-1888 Registered stamps and pre-confederation provinces. This will put me in striking position for the last week of the month, to finish Queen Victoria by listing revenues. My total inventory listed right now is just shy of 1,400 lots. The remaining Queen Victoria should take the total to about 1,700 items. October and November should be sufficient to cover Edward VII and King George V. 

Last night I tried a recipe for Thai Barbecue chicken that was just to die for, and I just had to share it here. You will need (to serve 2 with 5 skewers each):

10 bamboo skewers soaked overnight in water (critical as they will burn up and fall apart on the barbecue otherwise)

3 large chicken legs

4 cans of coconut milk each 350-375ml. 

1 10cm piece of fresh turmeric 

1 5cm piece of fresh ginger

4-5 hot chili peppers (I used some Jalapenos that I had in the fridge)

2 tablespoons of tamarind sauce

100g of brown sugar

300g shallots

1 entire head of garlic peeled and separated

1.5 tablespoons of salt.

Trim the meat of the chicken legs and freeze the bones to make stock with later. Cut the chicken trimmings into cubes that can be threaded on the skewer or strips if they are narrower than cube size. Place the cut chicken into a large plastic freezer bag. 

To prepare the marinade, combine in a food processor, a pinch of salt, one of the cans of coconut milk, the turmeric and the garlic and process until smooth. Add the marinade to the bag and place in the fridge for 1-3 hours. 

The barbecue sauce will take about 30-40 min to prepare, so you want to prepare the accompaniments for the meal while you are making the sauce. I made coconut rice to go with it. I probably should have made some vegetables too, and I would recommend a simple mango salad, or some stir-fried Bok Choy, or some other green vegetable. Whatever you serve can be relatively plain as the sauce is going to be very flavourful - so much so that you won't want to waste any. 

To make the sauce, pour a can and a half of the remaining three cans of coconut milk into the food processor. Add the ginger, chili peppers and shallots and process until smooth. Set aside. Now bring the rest of the coconut milk to a boil, stirring clockwise in a large saucepan until oil begins to form on the surface. This will take about 15 min. Once this stage is reached, add the mixture from the food processor and continue to boil over medium heat for another 5 min or so, stirring constantly. Then add the tamarind sauce and brown sugar. Continue to boil over medium high heat until thick. 

While the sauce is boiling, turn on the barbecue,take the chicken out of the fridge and remove the chicken from the marinade and thread it onto the waterlogged skewers. Put the skewers on a plate. Ladle some of the boiling sauce into a bowl to use for basting the chicken. When the barbecue reaches high temperature, place the skewers on. Baste every 2 minutes or so and then turn them over. Repeat this until the chicken is cooked. 

By the time the chicken is cooked, the sauce should have thickened to a point where it can be used as a dipping sauce. Serve the skewers and accompaniments along with a small bowl of dipping sauce for the chicken.