Shrimp and Grits

This is another GREAT recipe from Jubilee and if you have interest in doing a deep dive into cooking from the American south, I highly recommend this cookbook.  It is a great read, full of references to other cookbooks from the last two hundred years of African-American cooking in the Americas.  This recipe is the last recipe you will need to make this dish.  It is that good.  And so easy, a weeknight meal for certain.

• 3-1/2 C water + more as needed
• 1-1/2 C chicken stock
• 1 t salt, divided
• 1 C corn grits or polenta (not instant)
• 2 T butter
• 6 T whole milk
• 1/2 C shredded cheese
• 1/2 C bacon, diced (3-5 slices)
• 1/4 C flour
• 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1/2 C green onions, chopped
• pinch red pepper flakes
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and pressed
• 1 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 T fresh parsley, chopped
• salt and pepper as needed

In a large saucepan, pour in water, 1 C stock, and 1/2 t salt. Bring to a boil over high heat. Gradually whisk in grits, 1/4 C at a time, stirring until well-blended. Bring mixture to a boil again, then reduce heat to low and simmer until tender. Mine took approximately 30 minutes. If it starts to get too thick, add water as needed. Once the grits are tender, remove from heat. Stir in the butter, milk, and cheese. Stir until the cheese is melted and incorporated. Keep warm until ready to serve.

In a skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat until the fat has been rendered and the bacon is cooked completely. Remove the bacon from the pan and drain on paper towels. Leave 2 T bacon grease in the pan...remove any more than that. Turn off the heat.

In a small bowl, combine the flour and remaining salt. Toss the prepared shrimp in the flour mixture to coat lightly on all sides.

Heat the bacon fat again until sizzling. Stir in the shrimp and sauté for 2 minutes. Add in the green onions, red pepper flakes, and garlic. Cook for another minute or two. Pour in the remaining 1/2 c.  stock and stir until the gravy is smooth and thickened, approximately 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in lemon juice, parsley, and cooked bacon.

Chao Tom

I got this recipe from Cook Like a Local, but I think that this is a traditional Vietnamese dish (making me think ever more that I need to go there sometime when they let us back in), but this version is very good.  I made it on a weeknight, so even though it seems like it has a number of steps, it does comes together quickly.

Shrimp paste:
2 pound medium shrimp
1 tsp. Salt
1 Tbs. cornstarch
2 teaspoons  brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 Tsp.  fish sauce
2 large egg whites, beaten
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot shallot
2 tablespoon butter or oil

Coarsely chop the shrimp, then put them in a bowl. Add a generous 1/4 teaspoon of salt, the cornstarch, sugar, pepper, fish sauce, egg, garlic, and shallot. Transfer to a food processor and process just until a coarse paste forms. Transfer to a bowl, stir in the pork fatback, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside for 15 to 30 minutes. The mixture will stiffen as it sits.

Prepare 12 3-inch sticks of sugar cane (We thought you could skip this, and just do them without).
Line a steamer tray with parchment paper and oil the parchment. Ready a pot of water for steaming.

Have a bowl of water near where you’re working, along with the shrimp paste and sugarcane sticks. Wet one hand, then use the free hand to put ~1/4 c. of paste in the palm of your hand, spreading it out into circle about 2 1/2 inches wide and a good 1/4 inch thick. Center a sugarcane stick atop the paste (the ends of the stick will not be covered), then close your hand to make the paste adhere to the stick and surround it. Or make the ball, and poke the stick through it.  Hold on to the sugarcane stick with your dry hand and turn the stick, all the while patting the paste with the wet hand to smooth out the surface. Set on the prepared steamer tray. Repeat to make 11 more. Put overflow sticks on a plate. 

Steam the shrimp sticks over boiling water for 3 to 4 minutes, until opaque, slightly puffed, and just cooked through. Transfer to a plate and set aside to cool. The shrimp sticks can be covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Then you can heat 2 c. of oil to 350 and fry them, or do them on the grill.
Serve with Nuoc Cham.

Popcorn Shrimp

This comes from Chris Shepherd's cookbook Cook Like a Local.  My Food 52 cookbook group universally panned the corn based butter sauce included so we made a dipping sauce with sour cream and sriracha instead.
This is so so good.  The smaller the shrimp the better, but super simple and an easy week night meal. 

• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground pepper
• 1 cup rice flour
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1 pound shelled and deveined small shrimp
• Vegetable oil, for frying
• Snipped chives and lime wedges, for serving 

Set a rack over a baking sheet. Put the rice flour in a pie plate. In another pie plate, beat the egg with the milk. Season the shrimp with salt and pepper and dust them in the rice flour, tapping off the excess. Dip the dusted shrimp in the egg, then dredge again in the flour; transfer to the rack.

In a large saucepan, heat 1 1/2 inches of vegetable oil to 350°. Add half of the shrimp to the oil and fry until golden and crisp, about 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the shrimp to a paper towel–lined baking sheet and season lightly with salt and pepper. Repeat with the remaining shrimp.

Transfer the shrimp to a platter and garnish with chives and lime wedges.

Sally's Chocolate Birthday Cake

• For the Cake:
• 12 ounces unsalted butter (about 3 sticks; 340g)
• 12 ounces brewed black coffee, or black tea such as Assam (about 1 1/2 cups; 340g)
• 3 ounces Dutch-process cocoa powder (about 1 cup, spooned; 85g)
• 6 ounces finely chopped dark chocolate, roughly 72% (about 1 1/4 cups; 170g)
• 16 ounces light brown sugar (about 2 cups, packed; 455g)
• 1/2 ounce vanilla extract (about 1 tablespoon; 15g)
• 1 teaspoon (4g) Diamond Crystal kosher salt; for table salt, use about half as much by volume or the same weight
• 6 large eggs, straight from the fridge (about 10 1/2 ounces; 295g)
• 3 large egg yolks, straight from the fridge (about 1 1/2 ounces; 45g)
• 9 ounces all-purpose flour, such as Gold Medal (about 2 cups, spooned; 255g)
• 1 tablespoon (about 13g) baking soda
• 6 ounces finely chopped dark chocolate, roughly 72% (about 1 1/4 cups; 170g)
• 16 ounces light brown sugar (about 2 cups, packed; 455g)
• 1/2 ounce vanilla extract (about 1 tablespoon; 15g)
• 1 teaspoon (4g) Diamond Crystal kosher salt; for table salt, use about half as much by volume or the same weight
• 6 large eggs, straight from the fridge (about 10 1/2 ounces; 295g)
• 3 large egg yolks, straight from the fridge (about 1 1/2 ounces; 45g)
• 9 ounces all-purpose flour, such as Gold Medal (about 2 cups, spooned; 255g)
• 1 tablespoon (about 13g) baking soda 

Milk Chocolate Frosting
3 cups (24 oz) heavy cream
3 3/4 cups (20 oz) good quality milk chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 tsp kosher salt

1. Getting Ready: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat to 350°F (180°C). Line three 9- by 2-inch anodized aluminum pans with parchment and grease with pan spray. (The cakes can be baked in 2-inch-deep pans, but they will dome more and rise less.)
   
2. For the Cake: Combine butter and coffee or tea in a 5-quart stainless steel pot or saucier over low heat. Once melted, remove from heat, then mix in cocoa and chocolate, followed by brown sugar, vanilla, and salt. Mix in eggs and yolks, then sift in flour and baking soda. Whisk thoroughly to combine.
   
3. Divide batter between prepared cake pans, about 23 ounces each. (If you don't have three pans, the remaining batter can be held at room temperature up to 90 minutes, though the rise will not be quite as high.) Bake until cakes are firm but your finger can still leave an impression in the puffy crust, about 30 minutes (a toothpick inserted into the center should come away with a few crumbs still attached).
4. Cool cakes directly in their pans for 1 hour, then run a butter knife around the edges to loosen. Invert onto a wire rack, peel off parchment, and return cakes right side up. Meanwhile, prepare the buttercream. 
    
   Frosting:
   

   In a 3 quart stainless steel pot, warm the cream over medium heat. When bubbling hard around the edges, pour over chocolate in the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk by hand until smooth, stir in the salt, and set aside until no longer steaming. Cover and refrigerate six hours, or until thick and cold (45˚f) about 6 hours. Alternatively you can cool in an ice bath, stirring frequently, for about an hour.

   Whip with a whisk attachment on medium high until the frosting is thick and silky. (75 to 120 seconds). Use immediately.

   
   

   Assembly:

   Invert each pan onto a wire rack, and peel off the parchment. Trim the tops of the cake using a serrated knife. Place one layer cut side up on a serving plate or turntable. Cover with a cup of the frosting spreading evenly with the back of a spoon or offset spatula. Repeat with the second and third layers, cut side down. Finish the top and sides of the cake with the remaining frosting, and the decorations of your choice

Wake the PoPo up Before They GoGo

I cannot say how much I dislike the terminology around this concept, which is juxtaposed with how much I like this solution.  I do think there are a lot of things that need to be done immediately about police brutality, with this being the longer term goal and the ousting of those police officers for whom humiliation and brutality are a way of life, probably both on and off the job.  I also, while we are at it, want to stop focusing on how many people are killed and instead say that what we saw with the murder of George Floyd was just how casually brutality was meted out and how accepted it was by fellow officers as just another day at work.  I have been disgusted by the displays of police gassing peaceful protesters in a respiratory disease pandemic.  They are reaping what they have sown. 

Steak on the Stove

I do not really cook meat at all, but my spouse does and he loves this technique if it is just not a grilling night.  Yes, I know it is summer, but yesterday we had almost three inches of rain in a thunder and lightning filled storm and if steak had been on the menu, there is no way grilling would have been an option.
So here goes.
Enjoy!

• 2 pounds sirloin steak
• 4 tablespoons butter 1 tablespoon for each piece of steak
• salt and pepper

Instructions 

• Melt some butter in an oven safe pan. Keep pan super hot, medium-high to high. Preheat the oven to 350.
• Salt and pepper one side of the steak then place it seasoning side down into the pan. Season the other side. Cook the meat 3-4 minutes on the first side without touching it or moving it around.
• Flip your steaks over, top them with butter and then throw them into the hot oven for 5 minutes, keeping them in the same skillet. 
• After the 5 minutes, take them out of the oven and transfer steaks to a plate. Cover with foil and rest for 5 more minutes.
• Finally, take the foil off and thinly slice the steak against the grain. Serve with vegetables, potatoes or any other side you like to have with your steak.

Beef Daube

This is from Dorie Greenspan's spectacular book Around My French Table.  She is a favorite with the Food 52 Cookbook group I am in, and it was the first time we tasted the cow we just got a 1/2 of (sharing with a coworker of my spouse and presenting challenges related to freezer space in the midst of a pandemic, where appliances are hard to come by).
This is delicious (and so is our cow, thank goodness).

• 4 slices thick-cut bacon, cut crosswise into 1-inch-wide pieces
• 3 1/2-pound beef chuck roast, fat and any sinews removed, cut into 2- to 3-inch cubes
• 2 tablespoons mild oil (such as grapeseed or canola)
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 yellow onions or 1 Spanish onion, quartered and thinly sliced
• 6 shallots, thinly sliced
• 1 garlic head, halved horizontally, only loose papery peel removed
• 1 1/2 pounds carrots, trimmed, peeled, halved crosswise, and halved or quartered lengthwise, depending on thickness
• 1/2 pound parsnips, trimmed, peeled, halved crosswise, and quartered lengthwise (optional)
• 1/2 cup Cognac or other brandy
• 1 750-ml bottle fruity red wine (I know this may sound sacrilegious, but a Central Coast Syrah is great here)
• A bouquet garni — 2 thyme sprigs, 2 parsley sprigs, 1 rosemary sprig, and the leaves from 1 celery stalk, tied together in a dampened piece of cheesecloth

Instructions

 

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

 

2. Put a Dutch oven over medium heat and toss in the bacon. Cook, stirring, just until the bacon browns, then transfer to a bowl.

 

3. Dry the beef between sheets of paper towels. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil to the bacon fat in the pot and warm it over medium-high heat, then brown the beef, in batches, on all sides. Don’t crowd the pot — if you try to cook too many pieces at once, you’ll steam the meat rather than brown it — and make sure that each piece gets good color. Transfer the browned meat to the bowl with the bacon and season lightly with salt and pepper.

 

4. Pour off the oil in the pot (don’t remove any browned bits stuck to the bottom), add the remaining tablespoon of oil, and warm it over medium heat. Add the onions and shallots, season lightly with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, until the onions soften, about 8 minutes. Toss in the garlic, carrots, and parsnips, if you’re using them, and give everything a few good turns to cover all the ingredients with a little oil. Pour in the brandy, turn up the heat, and stir well to loosen whatever may be clinging to the bottom of the pot. Let the brandy boil for a minute, then return the beef and bacon to the pot, pour in the wine, and toss in the bouquet garni. Once again, give everything a good stir.

 

5. When the wine comes to a boil, cover the pot tightly with a piece of aluminum foil and the lid. Slide the daube into the oven and allow it to braise undisturbed for 1 hour.

 

6. Pull the pot out of the oven, remove the lid and foil, and stir everything up once. If it looks as if the liquid is reducing by a great deal (unlikely), add just enough water to cover the ingredients. Re-cover the pot with the foil and lid, slip it back into the oven, and cook for another 1 1/2 hours (total time is 2 1/2 hours). At this point, the meat should be fork-tender — if it’s not, give it another 30 minutes or so in the oven.

 

7. Taste the sauce. If you’d like it a little more concentrated (usually I think it’s just fine as is), pour it into a saucepan, put it over high heat, and boil it down until it’s just the way you like it. When the sauce meets your approval, taste it for salt and pepper. (If you’re going to reduce the sauce, make certain not to salt it until it’s reduced.) Fish out the bouquet garni and garlic and, using a large serving spoon, skim off the surface fat.

 

8. Serve the beef and vegetables moistened with the sauce.

Genesis Begins Again by Alicia Williams

This coming of age story is one that feels all too real. It highlights the fact that racism, leading to a preoccupation with skin tone is still very much alive- even from one person of color to another. From a young age, thirteen-year-old Genesis has been told that she’s “too black” and that everyone wishes she looked like her light-skinned mother. The saddest part is that she hears these words all too often from her father: her alcoholic, gambling, dark-skinned father. In order to please her father  Genesis follows any method to try to lighten her skin- rubbing lemons on her flesh, lathering herself in yogurt, and even taking a bath in bleach, even after her mother shares with Genesis her own experience of being excluded for being "not black enough". However, Genesis soon discovers that her skin isn’t the problem and that perhaps if she just understands the real issues, a change in her perspective could be the solution that everyone has been looking for.
The characters in this book are well written personalities that are unique from each other and the reader gets a chance to get to know their backgrounds which makes them very believable and three dimensional. The experience of getting immersed in another family's culture reminds me of my own growing up experiences that shaped my adult self.  A very good story that resonates right now.

Soy Sauce Pickled Eggs

This recipe comes from Chris Shepherd's cookbook, Cook Like a Local.  It is super fast and easy, and really nice change from deviled eggs, and even easier to make.
I did not have the bonito flakes that are called for, and just peppered the eggs and added some sesame oil and chili oil to the mayonnaise and miso mix to jazz it up a bit.  I also used a 1/2 recipe and stuffed 9 eggs into the jar.

3 star anise pods

4 garlic cloves

12 large eggs, at room temperature

2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon white miso

1 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup bonito flakes

In a medium saucepan, combine the soy sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, cinnamon stick, star anise, garlic, and 1 cup water. Cook over medium heat until the brown sugar dissolves, then remove from the heat and let cool completely.

Place the eggs in a saucepan large enough that they can all fit in a single layer. Cover with enough water to submerge them. Add the salt and bring to a boil over high heat. As soon as the water boils, remove the pan from the heat and cover; let sit for 7 (for a soft, pudgy yolk) to 10 minutes (for hard-boiled). Drain the water, then transfer the eggs to a vessel filled with ice water to stop the cooking. Peel the eggs and place in a large container. Pour the cooled soy liquid over the eggs, transfer to the refrigerator, and let marinate for at least 2 and up to 6 hours. Drain the eggs.

 In a medium bowl, whisk together the miso and mayonnaise until completely smooth. Halve the eggs lengthwise, spoon a small dollop of miso mayo on the cut side of each egg half, and top with a sprinkle of bonito. Serve.

Chickpeas and Greens

This recipe is from Ottolenghi's cookbook Plenty, but with a couple of variations.  I had collard greens from my CSA, which require long cooking to become tender whereas his recipe calls for Swiss Chard, which cooks up quickly.  He called for tamarind and I subbed apple cider vinegar.

• 1 lb swiss chard (stalks and leaves), cut into 3/8-inch slices, or other greens
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 14 oz canned chopped plum tomatoes, with their juices
• 1 1/2 tbsp sugar
• 1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked and boiled (or 2 cans chickpeas)
• 1 1/2 tsp coriander
• 3 tbsp tamarind paste or apple cider vinegar
• salt and black pepper
• 2 lemons
• cilantro
• greek yogurt

1. Put the onion and olive oil in a large heavy pan and saute on medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until the onion is soft and golden.   Add the canned tomatoes, sugar, chickpeas, ground coriander, chard or other greens that have been cooked until tender, and some salt and pepper. Add water to keep the texture desired.
2. Add the tamarind.  Bring to a boil, then cover with a lid and leave to simmer for about 20 minutes.  Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed. Add the juice of two lemons just before serving.
3. While the stew is cooking, chop cilantro for serving.
4. When ready to serve, spoon in to bowl and can finish with greek yogurt and cilantro.

Dear Martin by Nic Stone

I found this book to be very in tune with what is going on today related to Black Lives Matter and police brutality.  The book opens with the main character, Justyce, being beat up and arrested while he is trying to get his drunk white friend home from a party, and it sets the tone for Justyce trying to balance anger with "What would MLK do?"
I am a white late middle age woman and what I read was the in. your face everyday nature of the racism that Justyce faces, in both big and small ways.  What I did not see is that this book is set in a white upper class school where Justyce has one classmate of color.  The girls he dates are white.  He doesn't seem to have much in the way of friends, neither black nor white.  I read a review that siad, "where are the black girls in this story?"  She contended it is written not for a black audience, but for a white one.  That the choice of MLK as the spiritual guide is one that has white visibility, whereas Malcolm X is a more realistic choice for a black teen.  There are so many pitfalls on the path to understanding what is the right and the wrong this to support, and this book has some of those complications.

Wilted Greens Salad

This is one of the recipes from Jubilee that I did not get around to in June, but now that I have an exploding amount of greens in the fridge, the time was right.  I used kale, Swiss chard with all the stems removed, and some Asian greens for this.  I was pretty skeptical that it was going to be "cooked" enough to eat the greens more or less raw but it was very good.  The warm dressing is flavorful and delicious.

• 2 pounds mixed tender greens (spinach, arugula, chard, baby kale, watercress)
• 4 radishes, thinly sliced
• ½ cup thinly sliced red onion
• 2 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, cut into halves
• 8 slices bacon
• ⅔ cup cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• ⅓ cup crumbled blue cheese (optional)

1. In a large salad bowl, toss together the greens, radishes, onion, eggs and tomatoes.
2. In a large skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp, about 7 minutes. Leaving the rendered bacon fat in the skillet, remove the bacon to drain on paper towels and crumble when cool enough to handle.
3. Heat the bacon fat in the skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in the vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper. Swirl the pan over the heat for 1 to 2 minutes to concentrate the flavors and slightly thicken the dressing. Pour the hot dressing over the greens and toss quickly to coat. Sprinkle the greens with the crumbled bacon and blue cheese (if using).

Schitt's Creek (2015-2020)

*********SPOILER ALERT********
Close this right now and read no further, because this picture is a huge reveal.  It also in a big part of why I ended up very much enjoying this series.So, while I am alsways vague about the ending and in a lot of ways the details of books and movies that i watch, I am breaking with that mold here.
The first season of this show I just did not like it at all.  The story is that a family that had had tremendous wealth, self built but precarious, had lost it all, and retreated to a town that they "owned".  They arrive with nothing but a massive amount of clothing, and the town's mayor finds them accommodations in a roadside motel.  They have nothing but contempt for the people, and all in all they really do not get them either.  The towns people are mildly amused by them and tolerate their berating speech.
Season two is more bearable, but by season three it is going well.  This is when Eugene Levy stepped away from writing and let his son take the helm alone.  Daniel Levy created an arc of a story that is one of the most lovely that I have watched, all the better because there is a lot of gender bending that is very familiar in real life but not so often seem in a TV series.  I was sad to see it end, but it does a really nice job of doing that as well.  Recommended.

Cook Like A Local by Chris Shepherd

I feel like this cookbook flirts with greatness, but somehow falls just short of it.  I do love that it is divided by ingredients, and that his favorite chile condiment is gouchujang and his favorite clie sauce is Sambal Olek (both of which you should have on hand if you get this.  There are several things that I will take away from the month of cooking out of it with our Food 52 Cookbook group.  The first is that I have a whole new nacho game.  His queso recipe is heads and shoulders above others we have made in the past, and this is the one.  His nacho meat and a quick pickle for canned beans are also pretty game changing and an easy weeknight meal or snack.  The whole fish recipe, which uses a full 3/4 c. of fish sauce, is the best i have ever had.  And the condiment Nuoc Cha I have used to make THE BEST cucumber salad with just a dash of sesame oil and chili oil.  I love the pickled eggs and have made them twice, so they will go in the rotation.  I really like that several of the ingredients that you make show up in another recipe, so you can use half for one and half for another.  I will not remake the tater tot casserole, the vegetables are not his strength, although the kale with hoisin is a keeper.In the end I decided to buy the book because there were recipes I would return to time after time and some that I have yet to make.

A Nacho Philosophy

Chris Shepherd's cookbook, Cook Like a Local, has a sleeper of a recipe, one that I definitely skipped right over, but my son wanted me to make.  Thank goodness,  because this is the best homemade queso I have ever made.  Do not skip the Sambal Oelek!!
Here is his nacho philosophy:

1. Chips Are All Important. “Make sure your chips are thick and sturdy. If you get only one takeaway from this recipe, it’s thick chips. And they should be a certain shape. Are rounds good? No, I don’t think so, you want the corner texture; it’s a little crispier. And homemade are too greasy; don’t waste your time trying to make your own chips.” Testing tip: Not all thick chips are created equal. Make sure yours are sturdy and won't melt when sauce hits them. If you're serious about your nachos, it's worth doing a test with a few chips and salsa to make sure they'll hold up.
 2. Go for Double Cheese. “If you’re only going to do one cheese, go with shredded Colby or Cheddar. Flavor and texture-wise it’s a better payoff, the way the cheese clings to the chip. But if you can do both cheese sauce and shredded cheese, you’ll be happier. You’re basically ensuring a jackpot with every chip.
3. Layering, Layering, Layering. “The worst mistake you can make with nachos is to pour everything over the top. A high-rising pile of nachos is a beautiful thing. Respect the bottom layers; you don’t want those chips to be naked. Construct your nachos: bottom layer, middle layer, top layer.” Testing tip: This doesn't mean a nacho mountain—the toppings inside won't melt. Use a large pan and spread the chips out. And then, of course, top them well.

Nacho Meat
1 lb. ground beef
1 tbsp. chili powder
1 tbs. cumin
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
½ tbsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
Salt

Nacho Fixings
Thick, sturdy tortilla chips
1½ cups nacho meat
4 cups shredded cheese
1 cup pickled jalapeños
1 cup shredded cabbage
1½ cups pico de gallo, for serving
1 cup sour cream, for serving
½ cup cilantro leaves, for serving

Make the Nacho Meat. In a large sauté pan, heat the oil. Add the onion and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 10 minutes. Add the ground beef and cook, stirring, until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Stir in the remaining ingredients and cook for 1 minute. Season with salt to taste.

Spicy Cheese Sauce
 1/4 c. diced onion
4 garlic cloves minced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 cup half and half
2 c. grated sharp Cheddar
3 tbsp. sambal oelek
1 Tbs. red hot sauce
Salt

Melt the butter in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, add onions and garlic. Slowly stir in the flour and cook over moderate heat until the roux is smooth and bubbling, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the  half and half slowly. Cook, whisking occasionally to remove any lumps, until thickened and smooth, about 15 minutes. Slowly whisk in the grated sharp cheddar, a handful at a time.  Stir in the sambal and hot sauce. Season with salt.

Assemble the Nachos. Preheat the oven to 350°. Cover a large, rimmed cookie sheet or baking pan with foil (optional). Arrange a layer of tortilla chips on the cookie sheet. Spread one-third of the nacho meat on the chips, followed by a third each of the cheese sauce, Colby cheese, jalapeños, hominy and cabbage. Repeat the process two more times. Bake in the oven for about 10 to 15 minutes, until the cheese is melted. Top with the remaining ingredients. Consume immediately.

The Seagull (2018)

Yet another Chekhov play put to the screen.  This one has a Shakespearean tragedy written all over it.  The play was first performed in 1896 and was a complete disaster.  It wasn't until a re-staging of it two years later that it became a hit, and Chekhov, a short story writer, went on to write several more masterpieces before his premature death at 44 years old from tuberculosis.
The play is known for introducing a naturalistic form of writing that challenged the melodramatic conventions and cliches of the time, and is often credited with introducing subtext to the theater. Of note, it involves writers and actors in equal parts, who are at once at odds with each other and in love with the wrong people, in a Much Ado About Nothing sort of way, but one which leans more heavily on the tragic than the comic.  The acting is superb, with Annette Benning giving a spectacular performance as the aging yet talented actress who cannot quite step out of her admiration of herself to take care of anyone else, not her son nor her aging brother.  It is a very Russian masterpiece.

White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo

In my experience, it is hard to talk about race.  People do become very defensive very quickly, and it is hard to shift the conversation away from thinking about it personally to look at systemic racism.  In the midst of a nationwide debate on institutional racism and police violence, Americans are bulk-buying recent texts on race to help them grapple with that complexity, and I certainly fall into that cliche.  When I saw that many of these books, this one included, had so many holds on them at my local library, I knew that if i wanted to stay in any way current on what is being consumed, I would have to buy things, and buy i did.  I now have half a shelf worth of reading on this subject.  I had already read Ta-Nehisi Coates book, "Between the World And Me", so I started with Ibram Kendi's "How To Be An Antiracist" and this.  My department at work is reading it, and so while reading them in tandem, I finished this first.
The take home message from this book is that it is really hard to discuss race.  In group settings, people express their subjective feelings of being disadvantaged by their whiteness and their dismay at being unable to say what they want.  Getting people to see another point of view, again at least in a group setting, is very hard at the best and impossible at worst.  There is very little in this book about what to do about these barriers, so it is more about recognizing it in yourself, and warnings about what will happen when you try to point it out to people.

Jubilee Barbecued Shrimp

I have been really enjoying cooking in general during the pandemic, as well as really diving head first into the cookbooks that my Food 52 Cookbook group have been doing.  We just left June behind, so there will be less cooking out of Jubilee in July, but there are several recipes that I have yet to try.  I counted them up, and this is the 30th recipe I have had out of the cookbook!  this is very straight forward to put together, and perfect if your spouse is baking bread at the rate that mine is!

• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 2 bay leaves, crushed
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1/2 cup fish stock (or chicken stock)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 pound shell-on shrimp
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
• Hot crusty French bread, for serving

1. In a small bowl, combine the cayenne, black pepper, salt, red pepper flakes, thyme, oregano, paprika, and bay leaves.
2. In a large cast-iron skillet, heat the butter over medium-high until melted and sizzling. Add the garlic, spices, wine, fish stock, lemon juice, and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the sauce thickens enough to lightly coat a spoon, about 5 to 7 minutes; shake the pan as it cooks to help bring the sauce together.
3. Add the shrimp, reduce the heat to low, and cook, turning once, until the shrimp turn pink and firm, 3 to 5 minutes.
4. Sprinkle the shrimp with parsley and serve immediately from the skillet with hot French bread to soak up the sauce. Eat with your hands.

To Write Love On Her Arm (2012)

This is a movie about substance abuse and the insidious hold that it has on people, and the things that people will do to help them.  It is also about compassion, risk, and what people will give up in order to get high again.
The story is about Renee Yohe, a teen whose troubled psyche, substance abuse and self-injury inspired an online support system for those like her — especially those so troubled they repeatedly cut themselves.  Kat Dennings plays her — a music-obsessed Florida teen when her troubles began — with a coy confidence.
Pale and dark, hiding behind her hoodie and her headphones, Renee at least has a support system, but a support system’s only supportive when they’re around, and Renee abandoned them for cocaine, ecstasy, the works.
The story revolves around the pull of relapsing, no matter how long it has been since last use, the ruthlessness of those who deal drugs, the risks of what you give up when you surrender to going back down that road.  Realistic and hard.

Pistachio Yogurt Chicken

We did an Indian, mostly Meera Sodha, meal and this was the highlight of it.

• 5cm piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
• 100g unsalted pistachios, plus extra to serve
• 3 tablespoons rapeseed oil
• 2 large white onions, sliced into fine rings
• 2 large ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• ½ teaspoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds, crushed
• ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
• 2.5cm piece of cinnamon stick, or 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
• 800g skinless, boneless chicken thighs, chopped into 2cm cubes
• 4 tablespoons home-made or Greek yoghurt, plus extra to serve
• 250ml hot chicken stock
• juice of ½ a lemon

In a food processor or spice grinder, grind the pistachios to a fine powder and set aside. Bash up the ginger and garlic up in a pestle and mortar to a coarse paste and set aside.
Put the oil in a wide-bottomed, lidded frying pan on a medium heat and, when it’s hot, add the onions. Fry until caramelized, which should take around 20 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger paste and stir-fry for 3 to 4 minutes before adding the tomatoes.
Put the lid on the pan and leave the tomatoes to cook for around 6 minutes, until they start to break down, then add the black pepper, garam masala, chilli powder, coriander, cardamom and salt. Stir, then put the chicken pieces into the pan.
Turn the chicken so that it seals on all sides, then add the ground pistachios. Stir-fry for a minute, and pour in the chicken stock. Lightly whisk the yoghurt with a fork, then stir it into the pan.
Pop the lid on the pan and leave to cook for around 15 minutes. Taste the dish for salt and spice. You may want to add a little water at the end of cooking to ensure a sauce the consistency of thick cream.
To serve, spoon over a dollop of yoghurt, throw a couple of chopped pistachios over the top and squeeze over the lemon juice. Eat with a bowl of basmati rice or some naan bread.

The Pandemic Dilemma

My parents are elderly and they both have pre-existing conditions on top of that, as do most people their age.  The pandemic poses very serious risks for them and they have done very little outside their home for the last four months while the virus has been raging all around them.  This is led to a shrinking of their world that is worsened by the poor response of our state and federal government in providing leadership throughout the pandemic, and it is people like them who suffer the most.
I read this week that Sweden's approach, which was to essentially ignore precautions, keep everything open, trust in the good behavior of others, in the hopes of saving their economy has been a total bust.  People have died at a higher rate and their economy has not fared better than those places that shut down.
That is because this is not a political force.  It is a biological one, and as Neil deGrasse Tyson famously says: "The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it."
COVID doesn't care if you are tired of the lock down or you think it is a liberal hoax.  It is a virus.  The more you ignore it the better it does.
My youngest son asked me the other day if I knew how the Black Plague ended, and when I said I did not, he replied:"When people learned to quarantine."  There we have it.  History, something we are poor at learning from and therefore destined to repeat.

Saint Laurent (2014)

This is a biopic about a mostly young Yves Saint Laurent, although there are somewhat distracting flashes forward and backwards towards the end of the movie.  It wasn’t easy being Saint Laurent. But, often enough, it could be self absorbed, self indulgent, and dizzyingly creative.  The coiture aspects of the movie are gorgeously done, demonstrating the genius of the fashion designer, and that his talent was evident at a very young age.  He was wildly successful professionally across his life span, and he was lucky enough to have an adept manager who kept his brand protected and the money flowing.
Much of the movie reflects upon the designer's lifestyle, which is a portrait in excess.  It is to wallow in Fellini-esque excess in the mid and late 1970's that involves bottomless glasses of pricey champagne, bins full of sedatives and hallucinogens, cliche high-society types, easy pre-AIDS sex of every stripe, pulsing electronica music and gorgeous vapid people lounging.  That is just not my thing, but it does seem to be an accurate reflection of Saint Laurent's life and his survival into older age is a tribute to his resilience.

It Was 20 Years Ago Today

Today is the 20th anniversary of the day that my youngest son was diagnosed with a brain tumor.  The world as I knew it ceased to exist, and a new one began.  The world where children died, maybe one of my children.  It was a shattering event, one that made me understand that putting one foot in front of the other is not always an option, or so incredible painful as to not seem possible.
One of my coworker's children was found dead a week ago from an undiagnosed aneurysm that hemorrhaged and they died in their bed, without calling out for help.  That could have been us 20 years ago.  We were lucky to be able to get help, but before we reached a hospital our son had lost consciousness and without emergent surgery would have been in a very similar situation.  There but for the grace of health insurance and an airplane to take us to a neurosurgeon go I.  It was months before I could make it through a day without crying, and nothing is ever the same again.  I know that grief changes but goes nowhere.  And today I remember it all, and give thanks that my child is still with us, but not all of us are so lucky.

Green Beans a la Creole

This is a variation of a green bean recipe that I or my spouse often make, but this one has bacon.  I used less that the recipe called for and that was a mistake.  The recipe calls for tomatoes and chiles and while Ro-Tel has this all wrapped up in a can, it is still a pandemic and I am still not going into the grocery store, so I used some frozen Hatch chiles and a can of tomatoes.  We are on the verge of green bean season and so this recipe can go into a rotation for variation. 

Salt
1 1/2 pounds green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons bacon drippings or vegetable or olive oil
1 cup diced onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 (10-ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chiles (such as Ro-Tel)
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
Black pepper Instructions
1. Set up a large bowl of ice and water. In a large skillet, bring a couple cups of well-salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the beans and cook until they turn bright green and tender-crisp, 3 to 4 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally. Plunge the beans in the ice water to stop them from cooking further. Drain and set aside.
2. In the same skillet, heat the bacon fat over medium-high heat. When hot, saute the onion and garlic until translucent, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and chiles, paprika, and beans. Season with salt and pepper and continue to cook 5 to 10 minutes, or to desired tenderness.

The Great Gilly Hopkins (2016)

This is a bit painful to watch, but ends on an upbeat and largely realistic noted.  Gilly Hopkins has been abandoned by her mother at a very young age.  Her mother was very young herself at the time, living as a runaway and hooked on drugs.  So Gilly has grown up in foster care and has the usual rage that comes with being abandoned by your parents, whereby the anger is focused on those who are trying to help rather than on the parent who abandoned you.
Gilly gets a "final chance" where she is placed in a foster home with a woman with a bottomless capacity to love.  Gilly abuses her trust, and taunts her young charge at first, but comes eventually around to seeing just how good she has it.  That is when. a letter she wrote early on about false allegations of abuse comes home to roost.  Her grandmother comes to find and rescue her.  The situation is a good one for her, but the adjustment is hard, and the worst is that she comes to see her mother for what she is, a fragile, selfish person who has absolutely no feelings for the daughter she abandoned.  In the end, Gilly gets the best of both worlds, a real family and a foster family.  Well acted.

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo

This book, which co-won the Booker Prize for the first time.  Now having read both of the winners, this is the best, hands down.  They were throwing Margaret Atwood a Lifetime Achievement Award.  The story begins just hours before the debut of a play at the National Theater in London, and it ends as the audience spills into the lobby. During that brief window of time, a whole world is  Spun out. There is a character a chapter that draw us deep into the lives of 12 women who identify as black from various backgrounds and experiences and who's lives are intertwined.
Young and old, some become rich, most are struggling along. A few are embittered, while others are full of hope. They fall in love with men and women, and they challenge the limits of that binary structure. They rise from a vast palette of racial and national backgrounds stretching from Northern Europe to Africa. Some, particularly the older ones, worry about their heritage being washed away in the insistent flow of white culture. As the novel progresses, their connections accrue gradually, allowing us moments of understanding spiked with surprise. Together, all these women present a cross-section of Britain.

Peruvian Grilled Chicken with Cilantro Chile Sauce

This Serious Eats recipe should be enough to convince you that The FOod Lab is a cookbook that needs to be on your bookshelf, even if it looks, at first glance, to be just a little too complicated to cook out of.  The chicken is unbelievably moist and the suce is something that you might want as a staple in your refrigerator.

• For the Sauce:
• 3 whole jalapeño chilies, roughly chopped (see note)
• 1 tablespoon (15ml) ají amarillo pepper paste (see note)
• 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves (1 ounce; 28g)
• 2 medium cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup (120ml) mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup (60ml) sour cream
• 2 teaspoons (10ml) fresh juice from 1 lime
• 1 teaspoon (5ml) distilled white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons (30ml) extra virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

• For the Chicken:
• 1 whole chicken, 3 1/2 to 4 pounds (1.6 to 1.8kg)
• 4 teaspoons (20g) kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons (30g) ground cumin
• 2 tablespoons (30g) paprika
• 1 teaspoon (5g) freshly ground black pepper
• 3 medium cloves garlic, minced (about 1 tablespoon)
• 2 tablespoons (30ml) white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons (30ml) vegetable or canola oil

Directions

1. For the Sauce: Combine jalapeños, ají amarillo (if using), cilantro, garlic, mayonnaise, sour cream, lime juice, and vinegar in the jar of a blender. Blend on high speed, scraping down as necessary, until smooth. With blender running, slowly drizzle in olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Sauce will be quite loose at this point, but will thicken as it sits. Transfer to a sealed container and refrigerate until ready to use.
   
2. For the Chicken: Pat chicken dry with paper towels and place on a large cutting board, breast side down. Using sharp kitchen shears, remove backbone by cutting along either side of it. Turn chicken over and lay out flat. Press firmly on breast to flatten chicken. For added stability, run a metal or wooden skewer horizontally through chicken, entering through one thigh, going through both breast halves, and exiting through other thigh. Tuck wing tips behind back.
   
3. Combine salt, cumin, paprika, pepper, garlic, vinegar, and oil in a small bowl and massage with fingertips until homogeneous. Spread mixture evenly over all surfaces of chicken.
   
4. When all charcoal is lit and covered with gray ash, pour out and spread coals evenly over half of coal grate. Alternatively, set half the burners of a gas grill to high heat. Set cooking grate in place, cover grill, and allow to preheat for 5 minutes. 
5. Place chicken, skin side up, on cooler side of grill, with legs facing toward hotter side. Cover grill, with vents on lid open and aligned over chicken. Open bottom vents of grill. Cook until an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of breast registers 110°F (43°C). Carefully flip chicken and place, skin side down, on hotter side of grill, with breasts pointed toward cooler side. Press down firmly with a wide, stiff spatula to ensure good contact between bird and grill grates. Cover and cook until skin is crisp and an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of breast registers 145 to 150°F (63 to 66°C), about 10 minutes longer. If chicken threatens to burn before temperature is achieved, carefully slide to cooler side of grill, cover, and continue to cook until done. Do not leave the lid off for longer than it takes to check temperature, or chicken will burn.
   
6. Transfer chicken to a cutting board and allow to rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Carve and serve with sauce.

The Confirmation (2015)

Any movie that is solely focused on a boy and his weekend dad is going to have some emotional challenges, and this one is no different in that respect, but Clive Owens is a particularly down on his luck dad, and his son, Anthony, is an introspective yet straightforward, old-before-his-time 10 year old. 
The movie is somewhat of a chase scene thriller, one you almost certainly should not have taken your child to.  It starts when Owen's tools, which are both expensive and have sentimental value because they were his father's, are stolen.  There is some shared blame, in that he left them unlocked and his son left the truck unattended in a sketchy parking lot, and so they spend their entire weekend together looking for them.  This involves have several unsavory encounters, guns are involved, and so is fighting.  Anthony and his father love each other, and when his mother and her new husband return from their weekend away she suspects most everything, and she starts to appreciate what they have, and she softens her tone.  At the end, there is a feeling that everything will eventually work out.

Happy Masked Independence Day

Today is the anniversary of our founding fathers putting their lives on the line to declare the independence of their colony from England.  this day, above all others, we should reflect on where we are as a country compared to what they envisioned for us.
I am not a historian, and I am not even particularly well read in American history.  The closest I come is having taken an American History class from the great Gordon Wood, a renowned American historian, when I was in college.  That said, it seems absurd to assert that they would have prioritized personal freedom over the greater good of the country when it comes to an infectious disease.  They lived at a time where it was uncommon to not loose children to illness, and everyone knew someone who had dies of an infectious agent.  Probably not having to leave the confines of their family, and maybe not the walls of their home to have experienced such loss up close and personal.  So the current pandemic and the controversy over trying to save everyone from infection not being an agreed upon goal is infuriating.  People have and will die because of it, and those who refuse to follow the simplest of public health guidelines are culpable.

Sweet Potato Salad with Orange-Pecan Dressing

We have been cooking out of Toni Tipton-Martin's James Beard award winning cookbook this month, and this is yet another wonderful recipe.  This could be the sweet potato dish on your Thanksgiving table, and yet it is also a great summer dish to have instead of potato salad.
The flavors are amazing and I am going to try the dressing on something else as well.  I cut the sweet potato into bite sized cubes, tossed with olive oil, salt, and pepper and roasted for 40 minutes at 400 degrees rather than boiling them.

• 3 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, or more as needed
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1/4 cup fresh orange juice (from 1 orange)
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground of freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 cup chopped scallions (about 3)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped toasted pecans
• 1/4 cup golden raisins
• 1/4 cup dark raisins
• Freshly ground black pepper

---

In a large pot, combine the sweet potatoes and enough lightly salted water to cover. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and cook until just tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and allow the potatoes to cool to room temperature, then transfer to a large bowl.
In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, maple syrup, orange juice, vinegar, ginger, nutmeg and the 1/4 teaspoon of salt.
Add the scallions, parsley, pecans and raisins to the sweet potatoes and toss to combine. Gently stir in the dressing, tossing just until combined. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Whole Snapper with Cilantro Peanut Pesto and Nuom

We started cooking out of Chris Shepherd's Cook Like a Local in July and this was our first recipe tried. I got a whole red snapper and this looked promising.  I made the sauces and my spouse prepped and cooked the fish.  It was a great balance of sweet, salty, sour, and hot.  A real flavor bomb.

Peanut Pesto

• 2 cups roasted peanuts
• 5 garlic cloves
•   1 whole bunche cilantro
• 1 bunch mint, leaves picked
•   1bunch green onions
• 1 cup Red Boat fish sauce
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 3 limes, juiced

• 1 whole red snapper, 2-3 lbs, scaled and cleaned
• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
• ¹⁄₄ red onion, shaved
• 1 lime, halved
• ¹⁄₂ red chili, thinly shaved
• garlic chives, cut into 1-inch sticks, for garnish
• crushed peanuts, for garnish
• salt and pepper to taste 

Nuom Chac

• 1 cup hot water
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1/3 cup Vietnamese fish sauce
• 2 medium cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. sambal oelek
  

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Make the Vietnamese Peanut Pesto: Place the first 8 ingredients in blender except for the peanuts and blend until smooth. Transfer to a food processor, add the peanuts and pulse until peanuts are chopped but still chunky. Set aside. 
3. Make the Nuom Chac: In a small bowl, whisk together water and sugar until sugar dissolves. Add in lime juice, fish sauce, garlic, and sambal oelek and stir to combine. Use 1/2 c. for this and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
4. Season the snapper on both sides with salt and pepper and drizzle with oil. Place on a hot grill, and grill evenly on both sides, allowing fish to cook for 10-12 minutes or until done.
5. Carefully remove the fish from the grill smear even layers of the pesto over the entire fish. Reserve extra pesto.
6. Place fish on serving plate and pour 1/2 c. nuoc chac over the top, then garnish with red onions, red chiles, garlic chives and crushed peanuts. Serve with sliced lime wedges.

Training in the COVID Era

Today is the beginning of a new year for those of us who work in academic medicine.  I have been on this calendar, the July-June annual calendar since I was in medical school, going back to the early 1980's.  As a resident and then a residency training director, it was the only calendar that mattered for my professional life.
The pandemic has made this a challenging year to start your residency.  For one thing, in all likelihood, you haven't seen a patient in months.  That is often the case, as most senior medical students finish their required rotations in the spring and spend the enduing weeks before July doing things that they will be unable to do for years to come.  Like travel, which did not happen this year.  Then there is the act that they are starting just as the country is revving up with what constitutes the most COVID cases we have seen, and so their lives will be consumed with the pandemic and the consequences of a country where people can actually politicize illness prevention.  I pray we all get through this.