Tuesday, May 28, 2019
Pasta Carbonara
Bacon and Egg Pasta. We all have pasta and eggs and real Parmesan cheese in our fridge and then all you need is some bacon. Tonight, from start to finish, making a bowl of carbonara took 21 minutes: sauteed the bacon, boiled the water and cooked the pasta, grated the cheese, whisked up the eggs. And added a lot of black pepper, ate it with the remainder of a nice Tuscan red wine and it was everything I wanted in a quick bowl of delicious pasta. Simple, not complicated, made well. Can't beat it.
Reading Laurie Colwin again.
Realizing that I have never read every page of her two books on food, realizing that I have always wanted to make Black Cake and understanding that as often as I have made Mustard Chicken I still need to look at the words, I sat down on the couch with both "Home Cooking" and "More Home Cooking" on Sunday while it was pouring rain. Published in 1988 and 1993 respectively, mine are first editions that I love. Ask me to give up my cookbooks, I will claim that these two are not cookbooks but essays on life with some food involved, and thus I will never give them up.
On a rainy day there is not a better use of my time than reading Laurie Colwin explain to me, the reader, how simple it is to make soup. Or to whip up a chocolate cake in one bowl. To listen to her tell you why she would eat pasta with beets "every day of my life" is to begin to enjoy her passion of simple food. Her recipe for Cornbread and Prosciutto stuffing at Thanksgiving is now made either by me, by my daughter or by my son every Thanksgiving, even if we are eating alone that day. We tweak it, of course, but it is Laurie's, basically, beginning to end. Nantucket Cranberry Pie, which is a cake and simple enough for a ten year old to make, is another staple. Creamed corn: just some fresh corn, cream, spice and people will lick their plates when it's all gone. And Mustard Chicken, which is really just chicken coated in mustard with crumbs and butter..... cooked for a long time, it is as crispy and as juicy as anything fried and your house will smell mouth-watering. You will want to invite friends over, just to let them stand on the front porch and smell that chicken.
Oh, if only she had gone on living. I am convinced that Laurie Colwin started the "Get Over Yourself" trend of cooking. Stop fretting, just do it. And that's how good food happens, you just do it. If it doesn't work, you can reimagine it for the next day, feed it to the dog or toss it out. If you make a meal that is exemplary, you can call a friend to come and share it or eat it alone with a glass of wine and be happy. Your life will not be changed with either outcome in any dramatic way but it might make you happy for an hour or two.
Smile. Be happy. Life is good.
Combine in a bowl about a half cup of Dijon mustard, a grated garlic clove, some dried thyme, a pinch of cinnamon, salt and generous ground black pepper. Brush this on chicken thighs and legs, or just thighs, skin on. Then roll in fine bread crumbs or panko, dot with butter and put in a shallow greased baking pan. (You can line it with greased foil or parchment if you want or not.) Sprinkle, if you like, with paprika. Bake at 350 for about two hours (!) until nice and brown. (It is usually done in about 75 minutes for me, just saying.) Let cool for at least 15 minutes. It is good hot or cold.
.
On a rainy day there is not a better use of my time than reading Laurie Colwin explain to me, the reader, how simple it is to make soup. Or to whip up a chocolate cake in one bowl. To listen to her tell you why she would eat pasta with beets "every day of my life" is to begin to enjoy her passion of simple food. Her recipe for Cornbread and Prosciutto stuffing at Thanksgiving is now made either by me, by my daughter or by my son every Thanksgiving, even if we are eating alone that day. We tweak it, of course, but it is Laurie's, basically, beginning to end. Nantucket Cranberry Pie, which is a cake and simple enough for a ten year old to make, is another staple. Creamed corn: just some fresh corn, cream, spice and people will lick their plates when it's all gone. And Mustard Chicken, which is really just chicken coated in mustard with crumbs and butter..... cooked for a long time, it is as crispy and as juicy as anything fried and your house will smell mouth-watering. You will want to invite friends over, just to let them stand on the front porch and smell that chicken.
Oh, if only she had gone on living. I am convinced that Laurie Colwin started the "Get Over Yourself" trend of cooking. Stop fretting, just do it. And that's how good food happens, you just do it. If it doesn't work, you can reimagine it for the next day, feed it to the dog or toss it out. If you make a meal that is exemplary, you can call a friend to come and share it or eat it alone with a glass of wine and be happy. Your life will not be changed with either outcome in any dramatic way but it might make you happy for an hour or two.
Smile. Be happy. Life is good.
Combine in a bowl about a half cup of Dijon mustard, a grated garlic clove, some dried thyme, a pinch of cinnamon, salt and generous ground black pepper. Brush this on chicken thighs and legs, or just thighs, skin on. Then roll in fine bread crumbs or panko, dot with butter and put in a shallow greased baking pan. (You can line it with greased foil or parchment if you want or not.) Sprinkle, if you like, with paprika. Bake at 350 for about two hours (!) until nice and brown. (It is usually done in about 75 minutes for me, just saying.) Let cool for at least 15 minutes. It is good hot or cold.
.
Liane Moriarty: "Nine Perfect Strangers"
You may have seen the HBO series "Big Little Lies" based on Moriarty's novel of the same name. Not a bad series, not a terrible book.
This new one, however, was trite as trite can be. As trite as a chocolate on February 14, as trite as a bouquet of grass. (Disclaimer: just my opinion.) Nine people arrive at a remote wellness spa to spend ten days getting healthy and being "transformed." By the end of the book the only transformation I wanted to see was each and every one of them transformed into molecules from a car bomb or buried under piles of rubble or dirt. What a self-absorbed, narcissistic bunch of jerks! Yes, they all had problems but who doesn't? And if you have thousands of dollars to spend on some lame-ass spa regime, I have no sympathy for your "adventure" not living up to the photos in Dwell Magazine.
Yes, it is a novel but there is little novelty in this book. The plot and all its "twists" are as complicated as the "dog ate my homework" excuse from a ten year old. Oh, gosh, some drugs are introduced! Oh, my, one man person ends up liking a woman person and Wow, they just met! And goodness, many people are breaking the rules of the militaristic owner! But wait, almost everyone, in the end, has had some kind of break-through and has turned over a dead leaf and now sees the meaning of life!
Sigh. Boring, predictable and way, way too long. Don't these new young writers have editors? If they do, and if they are paying them, well let's just say Wasted Money!
But it's an easy read, you can get through all 500 pages in a day but why bother? To say you read it? Lie, say you did, wait for the movie and move on.
Perfect strangers? Nope. Perfectly lame? Yep.
.
This new one, however, was trite as trite can be. As trite as a chocolate on February 14, as trite as a bouquet of grass. (Disclaimer: just my opinion.) Nine people arrive at a remote wellness spa to spend ten days getting healthy and being "transformed." By the end of the book the only transformation I wanted to see was each and every one of them transformed into molecules from a car bomb or buried under piles of rubble or dirt. What a self-absorbed, narcissistic bunch of jerks! Yes, they all had problems but who doesn't? And if you have thousands of dollars to spend on some lame-ass spa regime, I have no sympathy for your "adventure" not living up to the photos in Dwell Magazine.
Yes, it is a novel but there is little novelty in this book. The plot and all its "twists" are as complicated as the "dog ate my homework" excuse from a ten year old. Oh, gosh, some drugs are introduced! Oh, my, one man person ends up liking a woman person and Wow, they just met! And goodness, many people are breaking the rules of the militaristic owner! But wait, almost everyone, in the end, has had some kind of break-through and has turned over a dead leaf and now sees the meaning of life!
Sigh. Boring, predictable and way, way too long. Don't these new young writers have editors? If they do, and if they are paying them, well let's just say Wasted Money!
But it's an easy read, you can get through all 500 pages in a day but why bother? To say you read it? Lie, say you did, wait for the movie and move on.
Perfect strangers? Nope. Perfectly lame? Yep.
.
Sunday, May 26, 2019
Still here, maybe, thinking about going, same old.
Too much work, too many bills, not enough time. Too many books, not enough time, too much of everything, not enough time or money and that fucking damn lottery ticket still holds out on me. Cooked some ribs tonight on the grill (in the rain!) and not only overcooked them but overcooked the corn, spilled the mustard onions on the ground and over cilantro'd the black bean salad. The redeeming dinner item was a good bottle of Tuscan red wine. Watched crap on TV, meant to go to bed early and didn't. Work again tomorrow.
Is it any wonder that I keep thinking about driving through the south? Or the north or the mid-east? Or the south of France or Italy or somewhere new, like the south of Argentina or Chile? Will there be a time when I stop planning my next exit route? Or not even an exit route, just the next purge of the wanderlust feeling I seem to have all the time? All. The. Time.
I am cooking and baking a lot these days, trying new things in lieu of seeing new places. At least that's how it feels. Instead of Chattanooga, Tennessee, I make lemon bread. Instead of the Black Hills of South Dakota, I make salmon chowder. I set flour and yeast out at night and make a loaf of bread when I get home from work the next evening. Sometimes these things turn out fine and sometimes they get dropped directly into the garbage can. But it makes me feel like there is forward motion of a sort. Less stagnant. Less bored.
I have read a couple of books in the past five days, none of which were good but I will report on all of them tomorrow. It's a testament to my good will that I don't hurl some of them out the front window. Where is the next really good book, one that will captivate me and lift my spirit? It ain't landing on my doorstep, that's for sure.
OK, enough angst for one night. At least tomorrow is a holiday which means I get paid double for working it. Ah, the things we do for money. But as Bob Dylan aptly says, we all have to serve somebody.
,
Is it any wonder that I keep thinking about driving through the south? Or the north or the mid-east? Or the south of France or Italy or somewhere new, like the south of Argentina or Chile? Will there be a time when I stop planning my next exit route? Or not even an exit route, just the next purge of the wanderlust feeling I seem to have all the time? All. The. Time.
I am cooking and baking a lot these days, trying new things in lieu of seeing new places. At least that's how it feels. Instead of Chattanooga, Tennessee, I make lemon bread. Instead of the Black Hills of South Dakota, I make salmon chowder. I set flour and yeast out at night and make a loaf of bread when I get home from work the next evening. Sometimes these things turn out fine and sometimes they get dropped directly into the garbage can. But it makes me feel like there is forward motion of a sort. Less stagnant. Less bored.
I have read a couple of books in the past five days, none of which were good but I will report on all of them tomorrow. It's a testament to my good will that I don't hurl some of them out the front window. Where is the next really good book, one that will captivate me and lift my spirit? It ain't landing on my doorstep, that's for sure.
OK, enough angst for one night. At least tomorrow is a holiday which means I get paid double for working it. Ah, the things we do for money. But as Bob Dylan aptly says, we all have to serve somebody.
,
Monday, May 13, 2019
15 minute pasta
We are all seduced by those recipes that tell you that dinner can be on the table in 20 - 30 - 40 minutes but when we try to replicate that timetable, it simply does not work.
But this one does. In the time it takes to put a pan of water on the heat, bring it to a boil and salt it, add the pasta, your other stuff is ready. Seriously. The following is a recipe for one person but obviously easy to double or triple or whatever.
Put that pan of water on. I start with hot water so it boils even quicker. Salt that water.
Chop up a big clove of garlic or two medium ones. Or more if you have more people. It doesn't need to be micro. Just sort of finely chopped. If you have some anchovies languishing in a jar in your fridge, this is the time to make them serve you well. If you have any greens in your fridge, same thing. (I actually just used the tops of radishes I grew in my small garden, they were perf. But spinach, arugula, parsley, even cilantro would be fine. No greens is fine as well.)
As you are waiting for the pasta water to boil, put a couple of glugs of olive oil into a 6 - 8 inch frying pan. Larger if you are cooking for more than one. Heat it. When warm add the anchovies if you are using them. Let them sweat and fall apart. Add the chopped garlic. Let it slowly get hot. You don't want the garlic to brown, you want it to cook slowly and get soft and sort of sweet. Now your water should be boiling so add pasta and stir it up and let it cook. To the oil and garlic add a large pinch of red pepper flakes, stir. Let that cook. Add a pinch of salt. That's about it. Of course, you can add some finely chopped onion if you want (I never do.)
Wait for the pasta to be done. Drain it and add it to the frying pan. If you are using greens add them. Toss with tongs. The heat should be pretty low to medium so that your pasta might sizzle a little going into that pan. Add some ground pepper. Have a small taste. Add salt if needed. Finely grate in some parmesan. Toss around a bit. At this point you are done unless you want to add other stuff like more greens or a diced tomato or some diced ham or a splash of cream or all of the above. Keep the heat low, just to heat anything you add but you don't really need to add anything, it is fine with just garlic and red pepper flakes. Tip it all into a shallow bowl that you have heated up with either hot water or some other way (oven, microwave, blah, blah) and then grate some more cheese on top and some more ground pepper and then you are done.
Eat with a glass of red wine or whiskey (not red) and enjoy. Seriously, from start to finish, 15 minutes. Time it. I did.
But this one does. In the time it takes to put a pan of water on the heat, bring it to a boil and salt it, add the pasta, your other stuff is ready. Seriously. The following is a recipe for one person but obviously easy to double or triple or whatever.
Put that pan of water on. I start with hot water so it boils even quicker. Salt that water.
Chop up a big clove of garlic or two medium ones. Or more if you have more people. It doesn't need to be micro. Just sort of finely chopped. If you have some anchovies languishing in a jar in your fridge, this is the time to make them serve you well. If you have any greens in your fridge, same thing. (I actually just used the tops of radishes I grew in my small garden, they were perf. But spinach, arugula, parsley, even cilantro would be fine. No greens is fine as well.)
As you are waiting for the pasta water to boil, put a couple of glugs of olive oil into a 6 - 8 inch frying pan. Larger if you are cooking for more than one. Heat it. When warm add the anchovies if you are using them. Let them sweat and fall apart. Add the chopped garlic. Let it slowly get hot. You don't want the garlic to brown, you want it to cook slowly and get soft and sort of sweet. Now your water should be boiling so add pasta and stir it up and let it cook. To the oil and garlic add a large pinch of red pepper flakes, stir. Let that cook. Add a pinch of salt. That's about it. Of course, you can add some finely chopped onion if you want (I never do.)
Wait for the pasta to be done. Drain it and add it to the frying pan. If you are using greens add them. Toss with tongs. The heat should be pretty low to medium so that your pasta might sizzle a little going into that pan. Add some ground pepper. Have a small taste. Add salt if needed. Finely grate in some parmesan. Toss around a bit. At this point you are done unless you want to add other stuff like more greens or a diced tomato or some diced ham or a splash of cream or all of the above. Keep the heat low, just to heat anything you add but you don't really need to add anything, it is fine with just garlic and red pepper flakes. Tip it all into a shallow bowl that you have heated up with either hot water or some other way (oven, microwave, blah, blah) and then grate some more cheese on top and some more ground pepper and then you are done.
Eat with a glass of red wine or whiskey (not red) and enjoy. Seriously, from start to finish, 15 minutes. Time it. I did.
Thursday, May 9, 2019
"The Friend", National Book Award Winner
As is true of any subjectively selected award winner, all minds do not agree on the winner. Some NBA winners have been stellar, in my humble opinion. In the last dozen years, some of my faves have been "Salvage the Bones" by Jesmyn Ward (I have a copy that I will carry forever) and "Let The Great World Spin" by Colum McCann and "Redeployment" by Phil Klay, to name a few. Needless to say, I was hopeful about this year's winner, "The Friend" by Sigrid Nunez.
However, I was disappointed. It is wisely written and an excellent discourse on grief. Beautiful and spare, the narrator charts her road of grief with minimal lines, very few meanderings from that road. We learn about her connection to the dead man, her shock and yet acceptance of his suicide. All her feelings and the sharing of those feelings seem righteous. But perhaps it's because I am one of those people who don't wallow, one who likes to confront my sorrows and then who tries to move on, "The Friend" went on and on far too long for me. And it's a very short book, so go figure.
Much has been said about the narrator's bond with the dead man's dog. Yes, there is a lot of dog-centric fiction these days and I like dogs and so that's not a problem for me. The dog in this novel seemed very cool and intuitive in that dog manner. But as large as the dog was (Great Dane) it seemed to take up a very small space in the narrator's emotional life until towards the very end. By then I was tired of her rambling about the dead guy and thus tired of her connection to the Great Dane. This is in no way a fault of that dog.
We aren't supposed to like the dead man, he didn't seem like a nice guy and I am grateful to the author for not making him seem honorable. Too many times the dead are forgiven for everything just because they are dead. Not in this case. But still, the narrator pines for him far too much. The dog does the same but I can forgive that depression in a dog, they don't have rational thought like humans do. Dogs just want what they want and are sad when they can't get it. Humans can want as well but at some point they need to realize the guy ain't coming back and deal with it.
That's my take. Harsh, perhaps, but I like to think of it as realistic. Read it and we can discuss.
.
However, I was disappointed. It is wisely written and an excellent discourse on grief. Beautiful and spare, the narrator charts her road of grief with minimal lines, very few meanderings from that road. We learn about her connection to the dead man, her shock and yet acceptance of his suicide. All her feelings and the sharing of those feelings seem righteous. But perhaps it's because I am one of those people who don't wallow, one who likes to confront my sorrows and then who tries to move on, "The Friend" went on and on far too long for me. And it's a very short book, so go figure.
Much has been said about the narrator's bond with the dead man's dog. Yes, there is a lot of dog-centric fiction these days and I like dogs and so that's not a problem for me. The dog in this novel seemed very cool and intuitive in that dog manner. But as large as the dog was (Great Dane) it seemed to take up a very small space in the narrator's emotional life until towards the very end. By then I was tired of her rambling about the dead guy and thus tired of her connection to the Great Dane. This is in no way a fault of that dog.
We aren't supposed to like the dead man, he didn't seem like a nice guy and I am grateful to the author for not making him seem honorable. Too many times the dead are forgiven for everything just because they are dead. Not in this case. But still, the narrator pines for him far too much. The dog does the same but I can forgive that depression in a dog, they don't have rational thought like humans do. Dogs just want what they want and are sad when they can't get it. Humans can want as well but at some point they need to realize the guy ain't coming back and deal with it.
That's my take. Harsh, perhaps, but I like to think of it as realistic. Read it and we can discuss.
.
Monday, May 6, 2019
"Amazing Grace" all Aretha Franklin
In 1972, after winning so many awards for her many songs, Aretha Franklin decided to make an album of Gospel Songs, hearkening back to her roots. She did a two night gig in a Baptist Missionary Church in Southern California and the show was filmed live. The filming was produced by Sidney Pollack but for many reasons, not released until now.
If you are a fan of Aretha, this is a must-see. It is 90 minutes of singing. There is little chatter, just her amazing voice and the response from the small crowd. It starts slow and builds to a peak that will leave you wanting to wave your arms in the air and shout "Amen!"
It's a documentary of the most simple kind: good camera work, good sound and the powerful, beautiful, strong and joyful voice of a legend. Two thumbs up from me!
If you are a fan of Aretha, this is a must-see. It is 90 minutes of singing. There is little chatter, just her amazing voice and the response from the small crowd. It starts slow and builds to a peak that will leave you wanting to wave your arms in the air and shout "Amen!"
It's a documentary of the most simple kind: good camera work, good sound and the powerful, beautiful, strong and joyful voice of a legend. Two thumbs up from me!
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