This story flew way under the news radar, one can't help but wonder if that would be the case if the corporate parent was Halliburton and not the HJ Heinz Co.
State sues to force warnings on tunaCanners say they'll fight disclosing mercury on labels
California Attorney General Bill Lockyer sued the makers of Chicken of the Sea, StarKist and Bumble Bee tuna Monday, demanding that they warn consumers about toxic mercury in albacore and chunk light canned tuna.
Using the state's tough anti-toxics law, Proposition 65, Lockyer is arguing that even chunk light tuna, which is typically much lower in mercury, may exceed safe levels for the contaminant particularly damaging to fetuses and growing children.
You might notice that the SF Chronicle doesn't make the connection with StarKist tuna and Heinz...an oversight?
Today's Wictory Wednesday Wecipe, is a quickly prepared entree...perfect for a lazy summer afternoon. You may use fresh or canned tuna, either are delicious. Named for the restauranteur who shared his recipe years ago:
Linguine Alla Leo
At Leo’s this dish was always made with fresh seafood, but I’ve made it successfully with tuna canned in oil (NOTE: DO NOT USE water packed tuna), canned baby clams and frozen shrimp.
Ingredients:
6 Oz fresh Tuna or one can of oil pack Albacore Tuna
4 Oz *baby clams
4 Oz cooked shrimp
½ Cup diced yellow onion
¼ Cup diced green pepper
¼ Cup diced red pepper
½ Cup thinly sliced fresh button mushrooms (small size)
2 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
½ Teaspoon of fresh Oregano or ¼ Tsp of dried
¼ Cup roughly chopped flat leaf parsley,
4 Tablespoons of Capers
4 Tablespoons **Calamata Olives, pitted and sliced in half
¼ Cup Olive Oil,
¼ Teaspoon Red pepper flakes
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 Lb dried or fresh Linguine
Method:
Cook pasta according to directions, drain, and return to pot, drizzle with a tablespoon of olive oil, toss to separate and cover, set on the back of the stove to keep warm until needed.
Heat the olive oil in a large sauté or frying pan, add onion, green & red pepper, garlic, mushrooms, oregano and red pepper flakes. Gently sauté over medium-high heat for 5-8 minutes, until the veggies are translucent, but still crisp, add the fresh tuna cut into 1/2 inch chunks and cook five minutes more, lightly salt to taste.
NOTE: If using canned tuna, drain the oil and plop the whole can in the center of the pan, do not break up, the tuna will separate on it’s own into bite-sized pieces.
Add clams, shrimp, parsley, capers, and olives. Gently mix and simmer 3-5 minutes, to heat through. Uncover the pasta, add the seafood mixture and gently toss to mix. Either plate or turn out into a large serving bowl, garnish with a few grinds of black pepper and serve immediately. Italians never serve seafood with Parmesan cheese, but if you like tangy grating cheese on seafood pasta, then by all means, pass freshly grated Parmesan at the table. I like a salad of simply dressed baby greens and a loaf of crunchy cabatta bread to complete the meal.
Serve a chilled imported Pieropan Soave '02 or a Dry Creek Fume Blanc ’02 from California; however your favorite Pilsner or Pale Ale would be great too.
*Rinse canned clams under cold running water in a sieve and drain well. If using fresh whole clams you must steam them in a little white wine until they open and remove from the shell prior to making the dish. Never use raw clams and discard any unopened clams.
** Substitute oil packed, salted, green Sicilian or Nicoise olives but do not use ripe or California style olives.
We all enjoy an occasional tuna sandwich, however, unless you want a steady diet of Teresa Heinz, you best set out the nets for Dubya. Every Wednesday, I ask my readers to volunteer and/or donate to the Bush 2004 campaign.
If you've already donated and volunteered for the Bush campaign, then talk to your friends and enlist them in this battle to keep the ketchup in the bottle.
If you're a blogger, you can join Wictory Wednesdays simply by putting up a post like this one every Wednesday, asking your readers to volunteer and/or donate to the Bush campaign. And do e-mail wictory@blogsforbush.com to be added to the Wictory Wednesday blogroll, which will be part of the Wictory Wednesday post on all participating blogs:
Posted by feste at June 23, 2004 03:45 PM | TrackBack