Don't Feed The Birds

For once we're venturing out, not too far, just about an hour and a half north to Bachman Lake bordering Dallas Love Field airport. This is actually a great place to take your kids and/or family to walk around the lake and watching airplanes coming in.

Like any other airport, Love Field has a problem with birds, this year collisions with fowl have increased ten-fold compared to last year (2016), according to an article in the Dallas Morning News.

Dallas City Council has now agreed on financing for a new high-tech infrared/electro-optical detection system called Pharovision, which could detect birds in real time, up to five miles away from the airplanes to improve the security of everybody involved.

Besides using other natural methods as well, like planting grasses birds dislike or using pyrotechnics to scare them away, they also put up some signs some years ago on the northern end of the airport, where it touches Bachman lake, prohibiting people from feeding the wildlife.

Even though modern aircraft can withstand collisions with birds up to five pounds, if a flock of birds crashes with the jet engines, they may damage that engine on impact, as in the famous "Miracle on the Hudson," where a flock of Canadian geese took US Airlines flight 1589 down and had the pilot do an emergency landing on the Hudson River. Miraculously there were no fatalities in this incident.

But it's not just mother nature, the planned new bird detection system would also warn the controllers of drones flying illegally in the airspace around the airport, people trying to enter the premises or simply detect FOD, Foreign Object Debris, like dead birds after a collision laying on the runway.

Both photos are available for editorial use through Dispatch Press Images or as prints for sale.

Sources: Dallas Morning News, Dallas City News

One Way Or Another: Hatch Chile Chicken

Cordon Bleu, mostly made out of pork, cheese, and ham was a staple of my diet growing up in Switzerland. My mom would cook these breaded, filled schnitzels about once a month for lunch, veal was simply too expensive and only used rarely. Forward several decades and a move to Texas and I incorporated the idea with butterflied chicken breasts filled with Hatch Chile and cream cheese.

Naturally, I was quite excited when my wife brought me some Hatch Chile. Chicken Cordon Bleu sounded simply too good. In our little local store, we bought some chicken breasts but we did not realize that these breasts were supposed to be grilled as they were still attached to the rib cage. They way, they were butchered, they couldn't be butterflied and just for a moment, my excited cooking spirit took a damper.

But then I had the idea to simply slice the chicken into strips, pan-fry them and then let them simmer in my own created Hatch Chile sauce. Over medium-high heat, I fried the chicken pieces in a mixture of olive oil and butter till they all changed color from pink to white, some pieces actually spotting some brown frying spots. A couple of turns of salt and pepper from our mills were followed by a good splash of (optional) white wine. I then added about 15 ounces (420g) of Hatch Chile, three tablespoons of left-over sour cream, four tablespoons of whipped cream cheese, half cup of Half & Half and three thinly sliced, (optional if you like it hot) deseeded jalapenos. A handful of parsley was added to also give it just a little bit of color. With a reduced temperature, I let the whole mixture simmer, making sure that the dish never 'dried up."

Served over rice with just a sprinkle of more parsley as a garnish on top, the dish was spicy, but the heat of the peppers was not overwhelming, it just had the right bite (pun intended) to it. It was actually my wife who encouraged me to share this with the readers of this blog. Obviously, this is super-easy to fix but will reward all your taste buds.

Ingredients:
2 large chicken breasts sliced
15 ounces (420g) of Hatch Chile
3 tbs Sour Cream
4 tbs Cream Cheese (whipped)
1/2 cup (1 1/2 dl) Half & Half
3 Jalapenos sliced and deseeded (optional)
Big splash of white wine (optional)
Parsley
2 cups of Rice

E guete!