Wednesday, January 12, 2011

pathetic gile

assalamualaikum. haluuu!

yes, permulaan 2011 aku pathetic gile. wuwuwu. T___T eh bkn permulaan lah, start november 2010 lagi. bkn nak salahkan takdir, nak salahkan tuhan ke ape. NO. it just aku nak luahkan je. salah aku sendiri btw.

yg buruk tu dari aku, so siape-siape tak yah terase kalau aku termarah ke terkasar bahase ke, time bahase lemah lembut tapi terase jgk, minta maaf. korang je yg salah fhm, niat aku bkn camtu pun. so thats mean, yg buruk tu dr aku je. jd jgn risau ttg aku ckp yg buruk tu dr korang. not even close.

nak menangis pun tak gune. bukan leh jd emas pun. or bukan terus jadi shah rukh khan pun. nak kongsi dgn org lain pun kadang, org lain tu yg terase bahang ke-malang-an aku plak. siap ade org kutuk belakang lg ckp menangis tu lemah.

waklu. aku tahan marah, then aku nangis, kire kuat lah tu. sebab aku tahan nafsu marah aku. aku nangis sorang je. tak susahkan ko pun. buekkk :P

heyyaaa. ape lg mau jadi eh? cam x de motif je hidup. wawawa. serabut seyh. ape ingt aku ta ingt tuhan ke? tuhan lagi tahu.

satu-satu benda kecik yg buruk jd. nape tak kasi bende besar terus, terus terguling masuk tsunami mati terus. senang ha. pftt.

betullah org cakap ' kau ckp senanglah. try kau kene' . tapi yerla, at least org tu sedapkan ati kte, dgr keluhan kte. kte nak marah die plak hapekejadah? muahaha.

lagi satu. ble kau betul-betul jatuh kan. kau akan dgr rakan kau ckp, dont give up and so on. itulah yg termampu mereka lakukan. tu je. so kau kene lah pandai sendiri nak hidup! ok! redah je.

lagi 1 yg best. time tu kau nampaklah sape hitam sape putih. dan kau nampaklah kelemahan diri kau sendiri time susah. :)

chaw!

A Fish Dish for Wooing and Wowing

Fish with Teriyaki Sauce
Katherine Fulton wooed me and wowed me with this recipe in the opening stages of our relationship. At that point, almost 21 years ago, we were unaware of the mercury these wonderful deep sea fish were ingesting. Knowing the health dangers as we do now, I choose to eat them only occasionally and to buy them from a fish purveyor whom I trust to get the best and safest available.

I served a Lemon Barley Pilaf (from my May 19, 2010 blog) and a light salad of cucumber, jicama, lettuce, and avocado, along with the fish.





2 pounds fish, thick fillets or steaks (tuna and swordfish both work well)
¼ cup chopped scallions, garnish

Marinade:
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup tamari or soy sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger root
½ cup mirin
OR as a substitute for the mirin
¼ cup sherry or sake with 2 teaspoons sugar and
¼ cup white or rice vinegar or fresh lemon juice

1. Combine the marinade ingredients.
2. Rinse the fish fillets or steaks and place them in a deep bowl. Pour the marinade over the fish and chill for ½ to 1 hour. Remove from the fridge and let sit at room temperature for about 15-20 minutes before cooking.
3. Place the fish with the marinade in an oiled plan. Cover and bake at 350°F. for about 20 minutes or until the fish flakes easily with a fork.
OR
Remove the fish from the marinade and grill or broil it, basting occasionally with the marinade. Cook for about 3 minutes on each side so as to keep it a little pink in the center.
OR
If you want to use a grill pan on the top of the stove, heat it over medium-high heat. Remove the fish from the marinade and cook it for about 3 minutes on each side so as to keep it a little pink in the center.
4. If you grill, broil, or pan grill the fish, heat the remaining marinade in a small saucepan until it boils. Pour into a small bowl and serve with the fish.
5. Garnish the fish with chopped scallions.

4-6 servings
Adapted from The Moosewood Collective’s New Recipes from Moosewood Restaurant

Make Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

Given below Ingredients of Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe



  • 1 1/4 cup Fine Wheat Flour (Maida)
  • 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 1/2 cup Butter
  • 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
  • 1/4 cup Sugar
  • 1 small sized Egg
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Essence
  • 1 cup Chocolate Chips
  • 1/2 cup chopped and roasted Walnuts


Chocolate Chip Cookies

Given below Method to make Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe



  • Mix the flour, baking soda and salt evenly in a bowl.
  • With the mixer running, beat butter, sugar and brown sugar together until creamy.
  • Add the egg and vanilla essence.
  • Now add flour.
  • When flour is fully blended mix the chips and walnuts.
  • Preheat the oven to 190 degrees.
  • On a tray place a large ungreased cookie sheet.
  • Now drop a spoonful of the batter on the sheet 2 inches apart.
  • Bake for 10 -1 2 minutes.


Given below Video to make Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe



Make Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

Given below Ingredients of Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe



  • 1 1/4 cup Fine Wheat Flour (Maida)
  • 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 1/2 cup Butter
  • 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
  • 1/4 cup Sugar
  • 1 small sized Egg
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Essence
  • 1 cup Chocolate Chips
  • 1/2 cup chopped and roasted Walnuts


Chocolate Chip Cookies

Given below Method to make Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe



  • Mix the flour, baking soda and salt evenly in a bowl.
  • With the mixer running, beat butter, sugar and brown sugar together until creamy.
  • Add the egg and vanilla essence.
  • Now add flour.
  • When flour is fully blended mix the chips and walnuts.
  • Preheat the oven to 190 degrees.
  • On a tray place a large ungreased cookie sheet.
  • Now drop a spoonful of the batter on the sheet 2 inches apart.
  • Bake for 10 -1 2 minutes.


Given below Video to make Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe



Two Winter Salads

Orange and Black Olive Salad
The oranges on the tree outside my kitchen window are pretty sparse this year. I had my trees trimmed at precisely the wrong time—when the fruit was just forming. But trimming was exactly what the tree needed to make abundant fruit next year—if I can just hold on. The store-bought varieties are quite flavorful so I can still make this wonderful winter salad.

















6 navel or temple oranges
1 cup pitted Kalamata olives
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped or pressed
1 teaspoon sweet smoky paprika
¼ teaspoon hot smoky paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons chopped parsley

1. Peel and section the oranges: First cut off the stem and the navel ends of the orange down to the flesh. Then cut off all the peel and white pith from the orange, starting at the top and working around the orange. It is easiest to do this with a serrated knife. Next section the orange by cutting on one side of the membrane and then on the other to release the orange piece. Continue your way around the orange. Squeeze the juice from the membrane into the bowl with the oranges. Refrigerate if you are not serving right away. You can do this the day before you are going to serve it.
2. Just before serving, drain the oranges, saving the juice. Arrange the olives and the oranges on a serving dish.
3. Make a dressing of the olive oil and the remaining ingredients, except the parsley; pour it over the olives and oranges. Add some of the reserved juice if the oranges need a bit more sauce; you can drink the rest. Sprinkle with parsley and stir in slightly. Serve at once.

Serves 4-6
Adapted from Paula Wolfert’s Couscous

Tabbouleh Cracked Wheat Salad
Elias Abusaba, our dear friend and a remarkable poet, would make us his version of Lebanese tabbouleh every time he and Mary Edith came to dinner. Nothing could compare to his. After he died, I was on my own and have tried my best to duplicate his wonderful salad, although I must confess (please forgive me, Elias) I don’t chop the parsley, green onions, and mint by hand. In memory of Elias…

















½ cup bulgur (cracked wheat)
Juice of 1-2 lemons equaling about 6 tablespoons
3 Romas or other tomatoes, seeded, juiced, and chopped (you want about 2 cups chopped)
Note: Romas are pretty good during the winter—but are certainly not local. You can also use sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil, thinly sliced.
2 cups chopped parsley (1½ - 2 bunches) using a food processor
½ cup chopped green onions (4-5 green onions) using a food processor
½ cup chopped mint, using a food processor
1 tablespoon dried mint
½ cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
Pinch of allspice, optional
Pinch of cinnamon, optional
½ teaspoon cumin, optional
Salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup olive oil
Lettuce for serving

1. Soak the bulgur in 2 cups water for 20 minutes. Squeeze well with your hands, removing as much moisture as you can.
2. Put in a bowl and add the lemon juice and tomatoes. Let sit for 30-45 minutes to absorb the liquid or until the grain is tender.
3. Add the parsley, green onions, fresh and dried mint, cucumber, spices, if desired, salt, pepper and oil. Mix well.
4. Just before serving, taste for seasonings. Adjust as needed. You can serve the salad on a bed of greens or use the leaves to scoop it up.

6 servings
A combination of two recipes: Cassie Maroun-Paladin’s Foods of the Lebanon and Claudia Roden’s The New Book of Middle Eastern Food

Three Desserts to Enliven Winter Evenings

I know, I know, I know, it’s January and we’re all trying to take off the few extra pounds we took on over the holidays. So why in heaven’s name would I want to give you recipes for three absolutely delicious desserts? Well here is my reasoning. People are still having birthdays and need a nice cake. Friends who adore desserts are still coming over for dinner and asking as they walk in the door “What’s for dessert?” You still might have some apples in the fridge from your tree in the backyard or cranberries in your freezer. And Lavender Shortcake, who can resist these little squares of lavender goodness to remind us that better weather lies ahead? If none of these things convinces you to try one of the three, set this blog aside and pull it out again in April, but by then your apples will most likely be gone.

Jamaican Rum Cake

















1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ dark or light rum
6 tablespoons crushed walnuts, optional
Rum Syrup, see recipe below

1. Preheat the oven to 325ºF. Grease and flour a 9- or 10-inch spring-form pan.
2. Cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until they are fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, blending until smooth.
3. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, rum and nuts, mixing until smooth. Pour into the prepared pan.
4. Bake in the oven for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until the cake bounces back when pressed gently in the center. A 9-inch pan may take a little longer.
5. Prepare the syrup. See recipe below.
6. When the cake comes out of the oven, poke it with toothpicks. Pour the hot rum syrup over the hot cake.
7. Let the cake cool before removing from pan.
8. You might want to microwave each piece before serving. You can serve it with rum raisin ice cream which is yummy but not necessary.

Rum Syrup

½ cup (1 stick) butter
½ cup sugar
½ cup dark or light rum

1. Put the butter and sugar in a small saucepan. Stir to combine as the butter melts.
2. Add the rum and bring to a boil for a few minutes.

10 servings
Adapted from Joan Nathan’s The New American Cooking

Sally Schmitt’s Cranberry and Apple Kuchen with Hot Cream
I have had The French Laundry Cookbook on my shelf since November 2003—a long time. In these seven years, I have made exactly one recipe from it. This one, in October 2004. I swear it is the only recipe in the whole book that I felt competent to tackle. But it quickly joined my list of “keepers” and has become a fall staple. Sally Schmitt was one of the original owners of The French Laundry Restaurant. She and her husband passed the restaurant and this recipe along to Thomas Keller when they were ready to devote themselves to their apple orchards some distance to the north.

















6 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
¾ cup sugar
1 large egg
1½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
½ cup milk or half and half
3 apples
1 cup fresh cranberries, at room temperature, defrosted if previously frozen
Cinnamon sugar: 1 tablespoon sugar mixed with ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
Hot Cream Sauce, see recipe below

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Butter a 9-inch cake pan or spring-form pan. Put a round of parchment paper in the bottom of the pan.
2. Peel, quarter, and core the apples. Slice them into ¼-inch wedges.
3. Beat together the butter, sugar, and egg in a bowl large enough to hold all the ingredients until the mixture is fluffy and light in texture.
4. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Add the dry ingredients and the milk alternately to the butter mixture, beginning and ending with the flour. Do not overbeat; mix just until the ingredients are combined.
5. Spoon the batter into the pan. Press the apple slices into the batter, about ¼ inch apart and core side down. Work in a circular pattern like the spokes of a wheel. Put most of the cranberries in the middle of the cake and the remaining around the edges. Poke some into the dough. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
6. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until the cake bounces back when softly pushed in the middle. Set on rack to cool briefly or let cool to room temperature.
7. Serve the kuchen in a good-sized puddle of the hot sauce. Pass the remainder in a pitcher.

Hot Cream Sauce

2 cups heavy cream
½ cup sugar
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1. Combine the cream, sugar, and butter in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce the heat and let the sauce simmer for 5-8 minutes to reduce and thicken slightly.

8 servings
Adapted from Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry Cookbook

Lavender Shortbread Cookies

















½ cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
12 drops lavender essential oil
½ teaspoon salt
8 ounces (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
1 large egg
2 1/3 cups cake flour or unbleached regular flour
1 large egg white
1½ tablespoons dried lavender flowers
1 tablespoon sugar for sprinkling

1. In a food processor, blend the sugar and essential oil for 15 seconds, until well combined. Add the salt and the butter and pulse until the butter is well incorporated. Add the egg and pulse until incorporated. Add the flour and carefully pulse, until the dough forms small pebble-like shapes. Remove the dough from the processor and gently combine by hand until smooth. Wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
2. Roll out the dough to a thickness of ¼ inch.
Note: You may need to let it soften slightly before attempting to roll it out. Rolling it out between two sheets of plastic wrap may be helpful.
3. Line your rimmed baking sheet with parchment.
4. Cut the dough into rectangles and transfer to the baking sheet, leaving about 1 inch between each shortbread. Refrigerate for about 20 minutes. If you have bits of leftover dough, mush them together, chill slightly, roll them out to ¼-inch thickness, and add to the baking sheet.
5. Preheat the oven to 325ºF.
6. Whisk the egg white in a mixing bowl for about 10 seconds, until it is frothy. Remove the cookies from the refrigerator, brush with the egg white and sprinkle with sugar and lavender flowers, pressing them slightly into the dough.
7. Bake until the edges are just starting to turn golden brown, about 15-20 minutes. Let cool before serving. The flavor and texture are much better at room temperature.

Makes about 27 2x2 inch cookies
Adapted from Mandy Aftel and Daniel Patterson’s Aroma

Tonight's the Night

French onion soup with crusty baguettes and gruyere cheese



I've been enjoying flipping through my new cookbook, The French Country Table
 Remember?  
The one sitting pretty on my bedside table.
  Riley was looking through it over the weekend.  He is getting more and more interested in cooking. 
 I think that is so charming about him. 
 He really enjoys food.  It seems natural that he is becoming curious about how it is cooked.  He pointed to a french onion soup on one of the pages.  
It looked really delicious; however,  I was drooling a bit over the beautiful white bowls used in the photo.  I wanted to encourage this newfound interest in cooking he is developing so I suggested we make it. 
We did!
 It was delicious!
 Sauteed onions, white wine, fresh tarragon, crunchy bread and bubbly gruyere cheese.  A great combination for an easy dinner.


 Now he is suggesting we cook something new every weekend.
  How fun.
  A new hobby is emerging. 
What a cool son. 



Here is our soup.

Make Gulab Jamun Recipe

Given below Ingredients of Gulab Jamun Recipe



  • 1 cup Carnation Milk Powder
  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tablespoons butter -melted
  • Whole milk just enough to make the dough

For the Sugar Syrup

  • 2 cups Sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • Oil for frying


Gulab Jamun

Given below Method to make the Recipe of Gulab Jamun



  • Make the dough by combining the milk powder, Bisquick, butter. Add just enough whole milk to make a medium-hard dough. Divide the dough into 18-20 portions. Make balls by gently rolling each portion between your palms into a smooth ball. Place the balls on a plate. Cover with a damp yet dry kitchen towel.
  • Heat the oil on high and then lower the heat to medium. Slip in the balls into the hot oil from the side of the pan, one by one. They will sink to the bottom of the pan, but do not try to move them. Instead, gently shake the pan to keep the balls from browning on just one side. After about 5 mins, the balls will rise to the surface. The Gulab Jamuns should rise slowly to the top if the temperature is just right. Now they must be gently and constantly agitated to ensure even browning on all sides.
  • If the temperature of the oil is too high then the gulab jamuns will tend to break. So adjust the temperature to ensure that the gulab jamuns do not break or cook too quickly.
  • The balls must be fried very slowly under medium temperatures. This will ensure complete cooking from inside and even browning.
  • Sugar Syrup
  • The syrup should be made earlier and kept warm. To make the hot sugar syrup add mix the 2 cups of sugar to 1 cup of water. Add 4-5 cardamom pods, slightly crushed and a few strands of "Kesar". Mix with a spoon and then heat at medium heat for 5-10 minutes until sugar is all dissolved in water. Do not overheat, that will caramelize the sugar.
  • Transfer this hot syrup into a serving dish. Keep warm on stove. Add the fried gulab jamuns directly into the warm syrup. Leave gulab jamun balls in sugar syrup overnight for best results. They can be served warm or at room temperature.


Given below Video for make Gulab Jamun



Make Gulab Jamun Recipe

Given below Ingredients of Gulab Jamun Recipe



  • 1 cup Carnation Milk Powder
  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tablespoons butter -melted
  • Whole milk just enough to make the dough

For the Sugar Syrup

  • 2 cups Sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • Oil for frying


Gulab Jamun

Given below Method to make the Recipe of Gulab Jamun



  • Make the dough by combining the milk powder, Bisquick, butter. Add just enough whole milk to make a medium-hard dough. Divide the dough into 18-20 portions. Make balls by gently rolling each portion between your palms into a smooth ball. Place the balls on a plate. Cover with a damp yet dry kitchen towel.
  • Heat the oil on high and then lower the heat to medium. Slip in the balls into the hot oil from the side of the pan, one by one. They will sink to the bottom of the pan, but do not try to move them. Instead, gently shake the pan to keep the balls from browning on just one side. After about 5 mins, the balls will rise to the surface. The Gulab Jamuns should rise slowly to the top if the temperature is just right. Now they must be gently and constantly agitated to ensure even browning on all sides.
  • If the temperature of the oil is too high then the gulab jamuns will tend to break. So adjust the temperature to ensure that the gulab jamuns do not break or cook too quickly.
  • The balls must be fried very slowly under medium temperatures. This will ensure complete cooking from inside and even browning.
  • Sugar Syrup
  • The syrup should be made earlier and kept warm. To make the hot sugar syrup add mix the 2 cups of sugar to 1 cup of water. Add 4-5 cardamom pods, slightly crushed and a few strands of "Kesar". Mix with a spoon and then heat at medium heat for 5-10 minutes until sugar is all dissolved in water. Do not overheat, that will caramelize the sugar.
  • Transfer this hot syrup into a serving dish. Keep warm on stove. Add the fried gulab jamuns directly into the warm syrup. Leave gulab jamun balls in sugar syrup overnight for best results. They can be served warm or at room temperature.


Given below Video for make Gulab Jamun



Snowmageddon Day Two


Greetings from the ice rink which is still Atlanta.  I'm happy to report that both Henry and I remain alive, having not yet killed each other after two days trapped in the house together.  (Notice I say "not yet.")  We've had a few skirmishes (inevitable) but we're hanging in fairly well.  Of course, all bets are off  if we lose power (due to the ice weighing down the thousands of trees in our neighborhood).  Prayers that it doesn't happen would be appreciated!

It's pretty amazing though, when the highlight of your day is a walk (slide, actually) halfway down the hill which is our street.

So if you are me, you will define a cooking project for yourself and head to the kitchen.  Calories be damned!

In perusing my recipe files (in lieu of a newspaper this morning; they can't get around the city to deliver them),
I came across recipes for sticky toffee pudding from two restaurants here in Atlanta:  4th and Swift and Holeman and Finch.  "Great," I thought, "I'll make both of them and decide which one is better."  A restaurant showdown, of sorts.


The good news is I have a fully stocked pantry.  Need chocolate?  I have tons of it.  Flour?  Sugar?  No problem.  I even have pitted dates.  Guess my survivalist instincts are serving me well right now.  I'm a little low on heavy cream, but there are plenty of eggs and a gallon of milk in my fridge.  Dessert anyone?  No problem ... even when smack in the middle of Snowmageddon.


Long story short, I embarked upon the Sticky Toffee Project.  Made both recipes and began to draw my conclusions.  Until......

Oh, hell.  I know way too much about the Atlanta restaurant scene.   I suddenly recalled that the pastry chef from Holeman and Finch (Chrysta Umberger) had migrated to 4th and Swift.  Obviously her recipe went with her.  Well, duh!  So much for my little restaurant war.

Nonetheless, the two recipes were slightly different.  The 4th and Swift version (recently voted by the local paper as one of the best dishes in the city) was straightforward and unpretentious.  The Holeman and Finch adaptation had a few more layers of flavor due to the addition of rum in the batter and rum, dark brown sugar and a handful of chocolate chips in the sauce. 

The winner?  Well.........  I liked the "cake" part from the Holeman and Finch recipe best, but I didn't care for the chocolate in the sauce.  As for the 4th and Swift variation, I liked the sauce better, but still thought it needed a little more punch.  I consulted with my son Andy, whose food instincts and palate I trust implicitly.

Here is our winning result.

STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING  (adapted from Chrysta Umberger)

For the cake:
8 oz. pitted, chopped dates
1 cup water
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg (I used extra-large)
1 tablespoon dark rum
2 cups all-purpose, unbleached flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 325-degrees.  Grease a 13 x 9 x 2-inch rectangular pan.  Line bottom with parchment paper and grease that as well.  Set aside.

Place dates and water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat.  Bring to a boil then remove from heat and stir in baking soda and vanilla extract.  Let cool for 15 - 20 minutes or until just lukewarm.

In electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter until smooth.  Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, scraping down sides of bowl several times.  Add the egg and rum and beat until just combined.  In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt.  Stir in the cooled date mixture and combine gently.  Add to butter mixture and beat on low speed until just combined.  Do not overbeat.

Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake until golden and sides pull slightly away from the pan, 20 - 25 minutes. 

For the sauce:
2 cups dark brown sugar, packed
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
2 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon dark rum
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
Pinch of cayenne pepper (ground)

Place brown sugar, butter, cream and rum in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes or until mixture thickens slightly and large bubbles appear.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract, salt and cayenne.

To finish:
 Use a skewer or toothpick to poke holes all over top of cake.  Spoon 1/2 of the sauce over, allowing it to soak into cake.  Return cake to oven for 5 minutes or until sauce starts to bubble and cake is heated through.  Let cool briefly, then serve with remaining sauce and freshly whipped cream, if desired.

Serves 10 - 12







*  This is a wonderful ooey-gooey dessert, perfect for those times when you are stuck in the house for an extended period and have nothing better to do than stuff yourself repeatedly and watch your thighs expand by the minute.

*  Don't let the dates deter you from trying this recipe.  You won't even know they are in there.  When combined with the hot water and baking soda, they just dissolve into kind of a "mush" which gives the finished dish texture and a depth of flavor.

*  Looks like we are in for another 2 to 3 days of this ridiculous captivity.  I could be in big trouble......size 18X, here I come!

Link of the Day

Left Coast Rebel: Arizona Killer Fits Tea Party Profile Perfectly

Tuscan Butter Bean Soup


One of the many things I love about going to the Farmers' Market, is finding unusual vegetables you can't find in the supermarkets. I got this Cavolo Nero, a.k.a Tuscan Kale, a.k.a. Dinosaur Kale, a.k.a. Black Cabbage (I love the first name most; makes a vegetable sound posh.) With that, I decided to make a hearty bean soup for the winter nights. You can use any type of bean, or even a mix, it originally calls for canellini beans, which are the normal shaped/sized white beans you see, but I had butter beans. They're giant!

Compare: Red adzuki bean v.s. Black bean v.s. Butter bean

Tuscan bean soup is traditional Italian peasant fare, so even though I've seen many recipes adding a bit of bacon or pancetta here and there for more flavour, I've decided to keep this really cheap and simple and rustic.

Tuscan Butter Bean Soup
serves 3-4

2 large onions, chopped
2 sticks of celery, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 large tomatoes, peeled and chopped (original recipes call for canned but I didn't have any)
1 cup butter beans, soaked overnight and rinsed
1 large head of tuscan kale, chopped into bite-sized pieces
2 bay leaves
1 tsp of dried thyme (or 3 sprigs thyme)
1 tsp of dried oregano (or 1 sprig oregano)
2-3 tbspsextra virgin olive oil
salt, black pepper
parmesan (optional)

1. Place the beans in a pot, bring to a boil, and let it simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours till just soft, but not mushy.
2. In a large pot, over medium heat, saute the onions, carrot and celery until onions just turn translucent.
3. Add the garlic and the tomatoes, cook until tomatoes cook down.
4. Add the herbs, then the stock, then the beans and the bean cooking liquid if necessary.
5. Cook for another half an hour, before adding the kale, and cooking another 20 min or so until the beans and kale are both tender.
6. Serve with shavings of parmesan (opt) on top.

This soup keeps really well, in fact it gets better the day after. The peasants used to make enough to last 3 days, they reboil on day 2 with a bit of bread, and then on day 3, they reboil again with the stale bread which thickens the soup and gives a thick thick hearty stew called ribollita. I wish I left enough to try how that will work out.

A Thought on Political Violence

Barack Obama seems concerned about what the Arizona shootings portend for future political violence. I think he'd find out more about such matters if he sat down and interviewed his Chicago neighbors, Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dorn. You know, the ones who hosted his first political event. The ones who are unapologetic about blowing things up in the name of politics. That might be more productive than talking to a paranoid schizophrenic.
(T)he available evidence dates Loughner's fixation on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords to at least 2007, when he attended a town hall of hers and felt slighted by her response. In 2007, no one had heard of Sarah Palin. Glenn Beck was still toiling on Headline News. There was no Tea Party or health-care reform. The only climate of hate was the pervasive post-Iraq campaign of vilification of George W. Bush, nicely captured by a New Republic editor who had begun an article thus: "I hate President George W. Bush. There, I said it."

Do you suppose the NYT or 60 Minutes has considered interviewing Bill Ayers about the Arizona shootings? Nahhhhhh.

Chinese Black Bean Soup



More pregnancy/confinement food haha. Beans this time(: They're just fantastic in soups and stews because they help thicken the soup up, and they add body and fullness. Chinese soups are not just about taste, they're more like tasty tonics.

For instance, in this soup, the black bean (a.k.a. black turtle bean. how cute is that! NOT black-eyed peas.) is known to be a rich source of protein, fibre and antioxidants, and in TCM terms, it tonifies the kidney, strengthens the yin, and nourishes the blood. The red jujube dates are very common in Chinese soups, they not only sweeten the soup (not in the sugary way), but helps to harmonize the effect of all the other ingredients or herbs in the soup to nourish the blood, spleen and stomach. And since this soup (like many Chinese soups) make use of pork bones to give it that body and flavour, is an excellent bone broth, full of calcium and more.

Chinese Black Bean Soup
serves 2-3
Ingredients
200g pork with bones (my mum prefers pork ribs. I just use any meaty bones that my butcher gives for free)
2/3 cup black beans, soaked and rinsed
6 red jujube dates, pitted
3-4 dried scallops
2l water


Method
1. Blanch pork bones in boiling water (you'll see some disgusting scum floating in the water). Drain and discard the water.
2. Combine all ingredients and bring to a boil for 5 min, then simmer for at least 2h. Or transfer to a slowcooker like I did, on low for 6h, or on high for 3h.

UPDATE: I left it on high for 6h by accident, and ended up getting a super flavourful and thick soup, and the..white bones? tendon? (someone enlighten me what this part is) became soft enough you could slurp it out. Usually my slow cooking already results in them being soft enough to chew on, but this was like..
I like (:

The Fate of the Mentally Ill

Here's something to think about: For every victim of a murderously violent schizoid there are hundreds of mentally ill people who die on the street. You see them every day, begging at street corners. At some point in time, they'll die in their pathetic, little encampments under a bridge or in a thicket down by the river.

At a time when diversity and rights and concern for the environment are spoken of endlessly, it's a testament to the impotence of our society that such poor creatures as these wander about uncared for while we talk and talk and talk about social justice.

Loughner wasn't a homeless beggar, but he was insane. Tim brought up the key conundrum in a comment elsewhere on this blog.
I like to think that all of us who haven't committed any crimes have the right not to be pulled off the street and incarcerated, not just the mentally ill. I seriously hope that she isn't proposing that government officials be given the authority to haul in anybody that they deem to be "insane" and therefore a "danger to the public". That's much too loose of a standard, they'd be able to pick up pretty much anybody that the government found annoying or inconvenient.
All of life being imperfect, there is no answer to this. There are trade offs to everything that we just have to accept. We've chosen to prevent the government from rounding up political dissidents by labeling them as mentally ill in the same way as we have chosen to allow citizens to protect themselves by allowing them to carry weapons. Sometimes the crazies get guns and shoot people. It's going to happen. Life is imperfect.

Meanwhile, congresswomen get the best of care and the mentally ill die under bridges.

For some time I've wanted to collect a gallery of photos of the San Diego homeless to share on this blog, but I just can't bring myself to do it, even from a distance with a telephoto lens. They are, after all, God's children, too, not animals to be filmed on safari. This post will just have to go photoless.