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#172707 01/21/2008 2:27 PM
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Cordon bleu is also a French meat dish (usually pork), layered like a sandwhich with prosciutto and cheese - way too filling for our modern tastes. But delicious.


Alexa Fleckenstein M.D., physician, author.
http://members.authorsguild.net/fleckenstein/blog.htm/
Waterdoctor #172715 01/21/2008 5:12 PM
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Welcome waterdoctor. You might want to add your approximate locaton to your profile as it is frequently helpful.

I've never heard of pork cordon bleu. It's always chicken cordon bleu around here. I wonder if the French actually eat it (fwiw, Wikipedia says it's a variation of schnitzel).

Myridon #172717 01/21/2008 5:17 PM
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I thought Schnitzel Cordon bleu was made from veal with cheese and ham.


Ceci n'est pas un seing.
zmjezhd #172724 01/21/2008 7:13 PM
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Till today I'd never heard cordon bleu used in any other way than
" Côtelette cordon bleu à la Suisse". Pork cutlets filled with slices of ham and Gruyère cheese. (cutlets,so bone and all)

Heavy indeed; invented for mountaineers, I suppose. I remember I had cordon bleu in Switzerland and the embarrassment of not being able to finish my plate.

I think pork is the classical recipe, but since long cordon bleu
is done with chicken fillets, veal, even fish and vegetarian variations.

Seen the number of threads some Cordon-Coordination would be wished for , lest we get lost in cordon bleu.

BranShea #172730 01/21/2008 8:44 PM
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I'm not sure that I've heard just "Cordon Bleu", it's usually prefaced with "Chicken", so perhaps that says something.


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Not necessarily. Would anyone offer you a serving of Diane with duchess? Or au vin? Some florentine with nicoise perhaps? Some Suzette or Melba to finish?

With "Search English pages" on:
"cordon bleu" chicken -pork = 210,000 ghits
"Chicken cordon bleu" = 190,000 ghits
"cordon bleu" pork -chicken = 14,000
"Pork cordon bleu" = 1240

Last edited by Myridon; 01/21/2008 9:15 PM.
Myridon #172733 01/21/2008 9:24 PM
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yeah, it looks as if it's usually prefaced with "Chicken".

:¬ )


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Waterdoctor #172736 01/21/2008 11:25 PM
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Regarding the mention of 'blue moon' involving a 'long period of time'. A blue moon, as I understand it, is a full moon coming in a month that already has had a full moon. This does not occur very often. Thus, the reference is not so much a 'long period of time', but rather rarity.

JCS #172741 01/22/2008 12:06 AM
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Originally Posted By: JCS
the reference is not so much a 'long period of time', but rather rarity.


I'm with you there, JCS. The phrase "once in a blue moon" does seem to indicate the period of time from one blue moon to the next which would lead to the shift in meaning. In present usage it refers to the second full moon in a month, but originally it was the third full moon in a quarter that had four full moons. In this case a quarter is defined as the period from an equinox to the following solstice or from a solstice to the following equinox.

JCS #172755 01/22/2008 2:21 AM
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Originally Posted By: JCS
Regarding the mention of 'blue moon' involving a 'long period of time'. A blue moon, as I understand it, is a full moon coming in a month that already has had a full moon. This does not occur very often. Thus, the reference is not so much a 'long period of time', but rather rarity.


well, that could be two ways of saying the same thing, depending on how you look at it. if it's a "long time" between occurrences, that could be considered rare, no?

welcome, J!


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BranShea #172817 01/23/2008 5:05 AM
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the vegetarian option: cheese, sliced open and stuffed with layers of cheese and, and, um, cheese.
The vegan variation gets really interesting.

JCS #172830 01/23/2008 1:45 PM
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Thanks for pointing out what 'blue moon' means. Never really understood or saw it.
Only know the word from a songline: 'Blue moon, you found (or saw) me standing (or crying)? alone,etc.' (Sorry for mentioning songs all the time. They played a big part in learning the language).



BranShea #172842 01/24/2008 4:02 PM
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Switching to blue moon, here's something:
What Is a "Blue Moon?"

Usually, a moon's cycle lasts 29 1/2 days, called the moon's synodic period. During the months of the year, excepting February, it is possible that a full moon could appear twice. When this rare occurence happens, about once every two to three years, it is called a "blue moon."

The expression "blue moon" dates back to the time of Shakespeare. If someone said, "He would argue the moon was blue," the average sixteenth century man would take it the way we understand, "He'd argue that black is white."*** This meant that a blue moon was something absurd, which led eventually to a second meaning, that of "never." To say that something would happen when the moon turned blue was like saying that it wouldn't likely happen.

In the 1940's, astrologists and meteorologists started using the term to describe when the moon takes on a blue coloration. This happens when small atmospheric particles interfere with light, causing a bluish tint to the moon's appearance from earth. The particles can come from things such as forest fires and volcanic eruptions. However, this only occurs "once in a blue moon."

From: Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives

I was trying to find a site where you could listen to the song Blue Moon of Kentucky, but the link here doesn't work. But YouTube has a clip of the Father of Bluegrass, Bill Monroe, doing it. He wrote it in '46 or '47.
Bill Monroe

Jackie #172845 01/24/2008 4:25 PM
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Woe!! Bill Monroe! Thanks for giving the whole story about the blue moon as the link refuses to connect. I'll be on the lookout if there's ever a blue moon here.
Not only the moon , also the grass is mighty blue in Kentucky!

BranShea #172855 01/25/2008 2:19 AM
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Oh, I'm sorry--I checked both links before I posted, and again just now, and they still work for me. You didn't miss much by not hearing Bill sing, but he sure could pick.

BranShea #172857 01/25/2008 3:01 AM
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Kentucky blue blue (the plant) is a native american bamboo.

bamboo is a specific kind of grass (and how it differs from other grasses is lost (to me in the details)

It is a bluish green (not so blue as a blue spruce, but blue when it is seen next to other grasses) (and while its natural distribution extends beyond kentucky, it is found extensively there)


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