Seafood and Vegetable Tempura

This is so good, completely no fault, and easy to do on a weeknight. Never need to go out for this again! You can scale it up for a bigger batch. 5 tbsp. flour 5 tbsp. cornstarch 1 tsp. baking powder ½ tsp. baking soda ½ tsp. fine sea salt ½ cup sparkling water (or more) 1 lb. vegetables and/or shrimp Vegetable oil, for frying ½ cup ponzu sauce 1 tbsp. Thai sweet chili sauce In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the club soda and whisk until the batter is smooth and the consistency of heavy cream. If the batter gets noticeably thicker as it sits, add an ice cube. Stir the cube around in the bowl—don’t wait for it to melt. Cut firm vegetables, such as carrots, potatoes, celery root and pumpkin, into 1/8-inch-thick slices. Cut softer vegetables, such as mushrooms, zucchini, onions and peppers, into 1/4-inch-thick pieces. Peel and devein shrimp. Pat all dry before dipping in the batter. Pour enough oil into a medium saucepan to measure about 2 inches. Attach a deep-fry thermometer to the pan; heat the oil to 350°. Line a plate with a double layer of paper towels. Working in batches, drop each piece into the batter; stir gently to coat. Using chopsticks or a fork, lift the food from the batter, allowing the excess batter to drip back into the bowl. Carefully add a few pieces to the hot oil, being sure not to crowd the pan, which will cause the oil temperature to drop, and returning the oil to 350° between batches. Fry, turning occasionally with the chopsticks or fork, until lightly golden on both sides, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon or strainer, lift the vegetables from the pan, letting the excess oil drip back into the pan. Transfer to paper towels; season with salt. Cover with more paper towels to blot excess oil. In a small bowl, mix the ponzu and Thai sweet chili sauce to serve with the veggie, fish and shrimp tempura.

The Topeka School by Ben Lerner

In the last year I have read a number of works of fiction that function more as a memoir than as a story, and this is one such book. It is set in the late 1990s in Topeka, Kansas, where Lerner himself grew up. It is told in three intertwined narratives, alternating between the perspectives of Adam and his parents, Jonathan and Jane. When crossed, Adam uses his debating skills to launch on his parents “an overwhelming barrage of ridiculous but somehow irrefutable arguments” that will be recognizable to any parent of teenaged children to some degree or another. Jonathan and Jane are New York psychiatrists who moved to Topeka to work at a psychiatric institution that is a liberal enclave in the otherwise conservative town. Jane has found national fame and local notoriety after writing a book about relationships and toxic masculinit, which makes her wildly unpopular. as you can imagine. White men in particular hate it when what they see as their birthrite is assailed. The parents are both revealed as well intentioned but also desperately unhappy. One of the many powerful questions the book asks is how, when we know ourselves so well, do we still manage to be so monstrous to one another?

General Tso's Chicken

There is a version of this on Serious Eats and in Kenji's new cookbook The Wok, but this version is Fuschia Dunlop's from Every Grain of Rice, which is an excellent introductory Chinese cookbook for those of us who get overwhelmed when we read a Serious Eats recipe. She is all about "you can do this", not "the very best way with 27 steps". 2 teaspoons light soy sauce ½ teaspoon dark soy sauce 1 egg yolk 2 tablespoons potato flour 2 teaspoons oil For the sauce 1 tablespoon tomato paste 1 tablespoon water ½ teaspoon potato flour ½ teaspoon dark soy sauce 1½ teaspoon light soy sauce 1 tablespoon rice vinegar 3 tablespoons water For the stir-fry 350 g (12 oz) chicken breast or thigh fillets, diced 6–10 dried red chillies 2 teaspoons finely chopped ginger 2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic 1 large red capisicum, diced 2 teaspoons sesame oil cooking oil for deep-frying spring onions (scallions), sliced Instructions To make the marinade, mix together the light and dark soy sauces with the egg yolk. Add the chicken pieces and mix well. Stir through the potato flour and then the oil. Make the sauce by mixing all the ingredients together in a small bowl or jug. Heat the cooking oil in a large saucepan until about 180°C (350°F) and deep-fry the chicken in batches until crisp and golden. Set the chicken aside. Heat another saucepan with some of the used cooking oil and stir-fry the dried chillies for a few seconds. Add the ginger, garlic and capsicum and cook for a few minutes until fragrant. Add the sauce and stir until it thickens. Add the cooked chicken to the sauce and give everything a good mix. Stir in the sesame oil and garnish with spring onions.

The Dangers of Smoking In Bed by Mariana Enríquez

This is short stories which are not entirely my jam, although I have loved things I have read by this author and translated by this translator. The author is is from Buenos Aires and sets most of her stories there, operates on the boggy ground between recognizable daily life and the dark-running streams of fear, rational and irrational, we all have inside us. It isn’t quite as strong as the others I have read, but it does contain a handful of brilliantly unsettling stories. If you want to wince, flinch, and momentarily panic when you switch on a light, this is a book for you. Let me give you an example. In the very first story a woman attempts to strangle the undead corpse of a three-month-old baby – her great aunt – this is fiction that wants to disturb and unsettle its readers, and breaking the rules that suggest a placid story is a good one can be just as productive as following them.

Pork and Shrimp Rice Noodles

Laura Lee's relatively new cookbook, Coconut and Sambal, is an incredible introduction into the world of Indonesian cooking. I made this with shrimp instead of prawns, ground pork instead of pork belly, and snap peas instead of an Asian green. Delicious! 200 grams skinless, boneless pork belly (cut into lardons) 2 tablespoons light soy sauce 2 tablespoons palm sugar or brown sugar 2 teaspoons ground coriander 120 grams flat rice noodles (5mm thick) or other similar-shaped noodles 2 cloves garlic (peeled and very thinly sliced) 120 grams raw king prawns (deveined and peeled but with tails left intact) 2 duck or hen's eggs 1 large pak choi or any green vegetable of your choice (chopped into small chunks) 2 spring onions (thinly sliced on the diagonal) 50 grams beansprouts coconut oil or sunflower oil (for frying) FOR THE MARINADE 2 tablespoons light soy sauce 2 tablespoons palm sugar or brown sugar 2 teaspoons ground coriander Mix together the marinade ingredients to make a paste, then stir it through the pork lardons and set aside for 15 minutes. In a separate bowl, mix together the soy sauce, sugar and ground coriander and set aside. Place the noodles in a heatproof bowl and pour boiling hot water over them so they are completely covered. Allow to soak for 10 minutes (or follow the packet instructions), then drain and run under cold water. Return the noodles to the bowl and toss with a little of the oil so they do not stick together. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wok or large frying pan over a high heat. When the oil is hot, add the pork lardons and marinade. Move the pork continuously around the pan for a few minutes until cooked through, then remove and set aside. Heat another tablespoon of oil in the pan, then add the garlic and prawns. Cook, stirring continuously, for 2 minutes or until the prawns have just turned pink, then remove from the pan and set aside. Heat another tablespoon of oil in the pan over a high heat, add the noodles and cook for 1 minute, then move everything to one side. Add 1 teaspoon of oil and crack the eggs straight into the empty side of the pan. Leave the eggs to cook for a minute until beginning to set, continue cooking to scramble them, then stir them through the noodles. Return the prawns, garlic and pork lardons to the pan, along with the pak choi, spring onions, beansprouts and prepared sauce. Cook for a further 2 minutes, stirring, until the prawns are cooked through and the pak choi has softened, then serve immediately.

The Twilight Zone by Nona Fernandez

There is a lot of serious material contained within this relatively slim volume, where the ugly brutality, secrecy and repression of the Pinochet regime is compared to an old style American television science fiction show. That is the short version of a review of this book--the longer version is that the book's conversational, essayistic narration guides the reader sure-footedly through a minefield of political absurdity, shining a blacklight on doublespeak and empty political theatre. The narrator is refreshingly down-to-earth. It’s fair, and uncontroversial. . The prose is unfussy, limpid, direct. The overall effect is the sort of lightness championed by Italo Calvino—a lightness meant to counterbalance the weight of living. The book illuminates rather than bludgeons. This translation comes at a timely moment. US institutions must now decide how they will handle the still-fresh aftereffects of the Trump regime. Post-Pinochet Chile might provide a what-not-to-do guide on the matter. After his overdue dismissal from the presidency, Augusto Pinochet was granted a perpetual presence in politics (a lifelong senate seat, a military commandership) and impunity from his three-thousand-plus criminal charges.

Garlic Buttered Rice

I moved to my down-size house over a decade ago, and when that happened I retired my rice cooker, which was in high used when my kids were smaller and at home. They were raised by Asian women and rice is comfort food for them. I had the rice steaming recipe written in permanent marker on the rice cooker, we were that serious about it. We buy rice at the Asian market in the 25 pound bags. Since that time, I cannot remember having made it. My spouse has completely taken this task over, and so when I wanted to bring some food to my elderly parents that I thought rice would go well with, I had to look up how to make it. This turned out well, and I would do it this way again. 1 1/2 cups long grain white rice 1/4 cup finely chopped yellow onion 1 1/2 Tbsp minced garlic 2 1/2 cups broth Salt and freshly ground black pepper 2-4 Tbsp butter 1 Tbsp minced fresh parsley (optional) Melt butter in pan: Melt 1 Tbsp butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Saute onion: Add yellow onion and saute until starting to deepen in color, about 3 minutes. Saute garlic: Add garlic and saute until just barely starting to deepen in color (not browned), about 1 minute. Add broth, boil: Pour in chicken broth, season with salt and pepper to taste and bring to a boil. Add rice, simmer: Add rice and stir once, cover with a snug lid then reduce heat to low. Let simmer until liquid has been absorbed, about 15 – 18 minutes. Rest, add more butter, fluff rice: Remove from heat and let rest 5 – 10 minutes. Add remaining butter, toss and fluff with a fork. Garnish: Serve warm garnished with parsley if desired.

The Human Comedy by Honore de Balzac

Bazac was a genius, a man who wrote prodigiously over a 20 year period, and perceived the darkest desires and motivations of human kind. He lived large, sought an even bigger life, and died young. This is supposed to serve as an introduction to that body of work,with short stories and two novellas. In some ways it delivers on this promise and in other ways it does not. On the up side, the works contain characters from every corner of society and all walks of life—-lords and ladies, businessmen and military men, poor clerks, unforgiving moneylenders, aspiring politicians, artists, actresses, swindlers, misers, parasites, sexual adventurers, crackpots, and more. This is definitely true to Balzac's form in his multivolume magnum opus, demonstrating that we are all on some level, exactly the same. His insights provided the inspiration and guided author's who were inspired by him, from Marcel Proust, to Henry James, to Dostoyevsky. After reading a bit more of Balzac than is contained within this novel, you can see his imprint on the writers who revered him. He is an incomparable storyteller’s fascination with the power of storytelling and I suspect if you read his entire opus, you would understand the human condition.

Kung Pao Chicken

This is amazing. I would have it every week--or at least every other week! For the Chicken: 2 small boneless skinless chicken breasts, about 12 ounces (340g) total, cut into 1/2-inch cubes 2 teaspoons (10ml) light soy sauce (see note) 2 teaspoons (about 5g) cornstarch 1 teaspoon (5 ml) Shaoxing wine (see note) 1 large pinch kosher salt For the Sauce: 2 tablespoons (30ml) Chinkiang vinegar (see note) 1 tablespoon (15ml) honey 1 tablespoon (15ml) Shaoxing wine 2 teaspoons (10ml) light soy sauce 1/2 teaspoon (about 2g) cornstarch 1/4 cup water or homemade or store-bought low-sodium chicken stock, as needed For the Stir-Fry: 3 tablespoons (45ml) vegetable oil 6 to 12 small dried red chiles (such as árbol), stems removed, cut into 1/2-inch pieces with scissors, seeds discarded 1 teaspoon (about 2g) Sichuan peppercorns, reddish husks only (stems and black seeds discarded) 4 medium cloves garlic, thinly sliced 1-inch knob ginger, peeled and cut into fine matchsticks or grated 6 medium scallions, white and pale green parts only, cut into 1/2-inch pieces 3/4 cup roasted peanuts (about 5 ounces; 150g) Directions For the Chicken: Combine chicken, soy sauce, cornstarch, wine, and salt in a small bowl and turn until well mixed and chicken is evenly coated in a thin film of the cornstarch paste. Set aside. Chicken evenly coated in a thin film of the cornstarch paste in small bowl. For the Sauce: Combine vinegar, honey, wine, soy sauce, and cornstarch in a small bowl. Stir together with a fork until no clumps of cornstarch remain. Vinegar, honey, wine, soy sauce, and cornstarch combined in a small bowl. To Stir-Fry: Pour a small amount of oil into the bottom of a large wok or skillet and rub around with a paper towel. Place over high heat and preheat until smoking. Add remaining oil and immediately add chiles and Sichuan peppercorns. Stir-fry until fragrant but not burnt, about 5 seconds. Immediately add chicken and stir-fry until there are no longer pink spots on the exterior (chicken will still be raw in center at this stage), 45 seconds to 1 1/2 minutes. Add sauce and stir-fry until all the ingredients are coated evenly and the chicken is cooked through, about 1 minute, adding water 1 tablespoon at a time if necessary to keep the sauce from clumping. Serve immediately with steamed white rice.

Olga Dies Dreaming by Xóchitl González

Puerto Rico, a US territory since 1898, is at the heart and soul of this novel. The island has limited representation in Washington and various natural disasters have added to its financial woes. In 2017, Hurricane Maria devastated the island. The humanitarian crisis and the US’s shocking failure to provide adequate relief for its citizens lie at the heart of this damning indictment of a world where a colonialist past is damning in the present, and the value of having fine things is prized more highly than compassion. The nuclear family at the center of this story is brilliantly diverse. Two Nuyorican siblings, Olga and her brother Prieto, were raised by their grandmother and they are protective of each other and burdened by their parents’ mistakes. They continue to seek the approval of their activist mother, who abandoned Olga when she was 12 (and Prieto not much older), to fight for self-determination for Puerto Rico. Not long after, their father died of AIDS, a junkie traumatised by the Vietnam war and unwilling to match his wife’s militancy. Olga has become a successful wedding planner, and Prieto a congressman, come up against a corrupt and hostile system in their pursuit of the American dream. Olga yearns to be the a cultural icon, but becomes disillusioned by the relentless drive to accumulate wealth and fame. Prieto enters politics determined to protect his Brooklyn neighbourhood and its minority community but, politically naive, Prieto finds himself blackmailed by property developers intent on gentrifying the area. This is a novel that is well constructed, and story well told and not soon forgotten, with a message well worth thinking about and supporting. It is on the one hand quite simple, but on the other, utterly complex.

Lemon Yogurt Blueberry Muffins

It is a great pleasure to wake up in the morning and have something baked and ready to eat--these muffins are quick to put together, and the lemon flavor builds the next day. 2 cups (272 grams) all-purpose flour 2¼ teaspoons baking powder ¼ teaspoon baking soda ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt ⅔ cup (133 grams) sugar Finely grated zest of 1 lemon ¾ cup (180 ml) plain yogurt, not straight from the fridge 2 large eggs, at room temperature 1 stick (8 tablespoons; 4 ounces; 113 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled 1½ cups (360 ml) blueberries (optional) Center a rack in the oven and preheat it to 400 degrees F. Line a regular-size muffin tin with cupcake papers (first choice, especially if you’re including the blueberries) or coat the cups with baker’s spray. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a large bowl. Put the sugar and lemon zest in a medium bowl and, using your fingers, press and mash them together until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Whisk the sugar into the flour mixture. Scrape the yogurt into the bowl you used for the sugar, add the eggs and whisk to blend. Whisk in the melted butter—the mixture may look slightly curdled, but it will be fine. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and, using a flexible spatula and a few brisk strokes, stir and fold until most of the flour is moistened. You might have a few patches of dry flour here and there, and that’s okay. Add the berries, if you’re using them, and stir to incorporate. Don’t overmix—a bit of negligence yields a nicer texture. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until the muffins are golden brown and a tester inserted into the center of one comes out clean. Transfer the tin to a rack and let the muffins rest for 5 minutes, then lift them out of the tin and onto the rack.

Our Country Friends by Gary Shteyngart

This is a lock down novel set in the early days of the COVID pandemic. A group of artists who are friends, rivals, and companions escape New York City for the country and live together in an uneasy disharmonious way. While the literary reference that seemed to come to mind as a parallel is Boccaccio’s The Decameron, a collection of tales traded by characters waiting out the Black Death in a Tuscan villa, it is actually the plays of Anton Chekhov, particularly Uncle Vanya, that appear to have inspired this. The author is Russian, after all. A handful of characters are cooped up together in a rundown country estate, complaining about cold samovars and unfulfilled dreams, falling in love and drinking too much and confronting one another over ancient betrayals; Chekhov’s dramatic elements modernized and remembered.

Shrimp Piccata Spaghetti+

My husband has been sending me recipes as he comes upon them in the course of his day, maybe in the hopes that I will make them. I have worked from home for almost a year and a half, which has been an amazing way to transition from a high powered job to a less intense job as I make my way towards retirement, but the sad truth is that while I am able to accomplish all of my work tasks within the confines of the traditional work day, I do not find myself with a lot of time on my hands. The good news about this recipe is that it is easy peasy, requiring less than half an hour from slowly amazzing the ingredients to having the meal on the table. Kosher salt and black pepper 1 pound spaghetti 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 4 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 medium shallot, finely chopped (1/2 cup) 3 garlic cloves, minced 1 pound cleaned medium shrimp, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces 1 cup thawed frozen peas 2 tablespoons capers, plus 2 tablespoons caper brine 3 tablespoons lemon juice 2 tablespoons chopped parsley, plus more for garnish Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high. Cook spaghetti according to package instructions until al dente. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking water, then drain pasta. While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium and melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in it. Add shallot and cook, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in garlic until fragrant, 30 seconds. Reduce heat to medium-low, add shrimp and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until shrimp just turn opaque, 4 to 5 minutes. If the shrimp is done before the pasta finishes, remove the skillet from heat. Return pasta and 1 cup of the reserved pasta water to the large pasta pot and heat over medium. Add the shrimp mixture, peas, capers, caper brine and the remaining 3 tablespoons butter, and season with salt and pepper. Stir vigorously until sauce thickens, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice and parsley.

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

It is hard to describe what happens in this book without giving it all away, so I am going to be brief. The first thing is that this book, much like the author's previous book, The Martian, is largely a system based novel that a character driven one, and as such, there are a lot of descriptions of what is happening rather than why they are, and there are only two characters and one human. What I can say is that tells the story of Ryland Grace, a high school science teacher who wakes up alone on a spaceship in a different star system with no memory of how he got there. He quickly figures out that he’s been sent on a mission to save our solar system from a microorganism called the Astrophage, which is essentially eating our sun. If Ryland doesn’t succeed, the Earth will enter a new ice age that kills billions of people. There are many twists and turns and it adds up to a very enjoyable read.

Cabbage and Beet Salad

The main thing to remember is that you can make this without everything. I would defintiely not skip the kasha, but one kind of seaweed and no beets would be fine. This is crunchy and delicious! ½ head red cabbage 1 medium-size beet, ideally candy-striped Juice of 1 lemon 1 teaspoon dried hijiki seaweed 1 teaspoon ume vinegar or red-wine vinegar 2 tablespoons sweet white-miso paste 3 tablespoons tahini 1 teaspoon unseasoned rice vinegar 1 tablespoon shiro shoyu or light soy sauce 8 anchovy fillets, coarsely chopped 3 tablespoons neutral oil, like canola ½ cup kasha 2 tablespoons aonori seaweed, green seaweed or finely shredded nori 3 tablespoons toasted white sesame seeds 1 tablespoon shio kombu or salted kombu, optional Pinch of salt, or to taste Cut cabbage in half, and remove core. Cut into 1-inch wedges and then into 1-inch pieces. Toss these lightly in a bowl, and set aside. Under running cold water, scrub beet with a vegetable brush or paper towel. Trim the beet top and beet root to provide a flat base for slicing on a mandoline. Set thickness to 1/8 inch, and slice beets into flat rounds. Season beets with half the lemon juice, and add them to the bowl with cabbage. Set aside. Make sesame-anchovy dressing. In a small bowl, cover hijiki with warm tap water. Allow to bloom for 15 minutes, then drain well, and season with ume vinegar or red-wine vinegar. Add miso, tahini, rice vinegar, shiro shoyu, the remaining lemon juice and the anchovies, and whisk to combine. Dressing should have a thick, almost mayonnaise-like consistency. Make the kasha furikake. Pour neutral oil into a sauté pan, and place over medium-high heat until it begins to shimmer. Pour kasha into the hot pan, and stir it quickly with a spoon to coat with oil. Allow kasha to fry in the oil, stirring constantly, until it has darkened by two shades of brown. Drain kasha through a fine strainer, and transfer to a plate covered by paper towel. While it is hot, season with the seaweed, which should adhere to the kasha. When it has cooled, mix kasha in a small bowl with the toasted sesame seeds and, if using, the shio kombu. Salt to taste. Make the salad. Add 3 tablespoons of the sesame-anchovy dressing to the bowl with the cabbage and the beets, and mix well to combine. Add more dressing if necessary. Transfer the salad to a serving bowl, and sprinkle 4 tablespoons or so of the kasha furikake over the top. (Leftover kasha furikake may be passed at the table, or saved to eat over white rice.)

Peach Blossom Paradise by Ge Fei

This book is the first volume in the author's Jiangnan Trilogy and was just recently translated into English so that it can be enjoyed by a broader audience outside of China. It reminds me in many ways of the Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin, who wrote in the 18th century. and left no romantic notions of love in the time of dynasties. This book takes place at the start of the 20th century during the lawless final years of the Qing Dynasty, and although the Xinhai Revolution and the establishment of the Republic of China provide it backdrop, this sinuous, captivating epic is less interested in textbook history than in the madness and illusions that underwrite it. The novel centers on the character of Xiumi, whom we meet as a 15-year-old girl in a declining but previously wealthy estate in a village north of the Yangtze River. Xiumi’s father has gone insane and disappeared, apparently to seek out a mythical paradise known as the Peach Blossom Spring. Replacing him in the household is a man claiming to be Xiumi’s uncle, who keeps suspect company, speaks about an imminent political upheaval and does little to disguise his lecherous thoughts about Xiumi. He is only the first man she encounters in a growing web of revolutionaries, imperial spies, assassins and gangsters, all of whom view her as a spoil of battle. But the power dynamic alters when Xiumi adapts to the ruthlessness of age, emerging as one of the leading conspirators in the insurrection. This is an atmospheric and engrossing read.

Gochugaru Salmon with Crispy Rice

We are working slowly but surely on increasing our Asian food repertoire this year and this was quite a good (and easy) recipe to have with a side of salmon. Highly recommended weeknight dish! 4 skin-on salmon fillets (6 ounces each) Kosher salt (Diamond Crystal) and black pepper 1 tablespoon olive oil 4 cups cooked white rice, preferably leftovers 4 teaspoons gochugaru (see Tip) 2 tablespoons maple syrup 2 tablespoons rice vinegar 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, kept whole Sliced cucumbers or pickles, for serving (optional) Season the salmon on all sides with salt and pepper. Heat a large cast iron or nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and sear the salmon fillets skin side down until the skin is browned and crispy, 2 to 5 minutes. The salmon’s orange flesh will begin to turn pale coral as the heat slowly creeps up the sides of the fish; you want that coral color to come up about two-thirds of the way at this point for a nice medium-rare. Carefully flip the salmon and cook the second side until the flesh feels firm, another 1 to 2 minutes. When you press it, it should not feel wobbly. Transfer the salmon to a plate skin side down and keep the pan with the rendered fat over the heat. Add the rice to the fat in the pan and spread in an even layer, packing it down as if making a rice pancake. Reduce the heat to medium and cook until the bottom is lightly browned and toasted, about 5 minutes. You should hear it crackle. Flip the rice like a pancake, using a spatula if needed. You may not be able to flip it all in one piece, but that’s OK. Cook until lightly toasted on the second side, another 1 to 2 minutes. Go longer if you want crispier rice, but the trifecta of crispy-chewy-soft tastes wonderful. While the rice is cooking, stir together the gochugaru, maple syrup, rice vinegar and 1 teaspoon salt in a small bowl. When the rice is done, divide it evenly among the plates. In the now empty pan, add the gochugaru mixture and cook, stirring constantly, over medium-high heat until it bubbles up and reduces significantly, 15 seconds to 1 minute. It should look pretty sticky. Turn off the heat and add the cold butter, stirring with a wooden spoon or tongs until fully melted and incorporated into the gochugaru mixture. Pour this glaze over the salmon and serve with cucumbers or pickles if you’d like. Tip

Somebody's Daughter by Ashley Ford

This memoir of a Midwestern black woman's rise to adulthood from a multiply traumatic childhood is on the one hand very straight forward, but just underneath the surface it is much more complicated. The author relates a childhood where she felt like a bad child, where she struggled with being seen and feeling wanted. She was at once surrounded by family, but not always protected by them, and many parts of what happened to her before she left home are hard to read. Then underneath all this is the ripple effect of her much adored father going to prison. At no point does she imply there is anything unjust about it, that he did indeed do the crime he was imprisoned for. When she was a child she did not know what it was, and but as a teen she learns that he raped two women, knowledge that she has trouble grappling with. The way all of this ripples through her family is another layer to this book. In the end, the author has shared her thoughts and observations, warts and all, and that is what sets her memoir apart. She's a woman unafraid to face herself and share what she sees, which she does with admirable realism, humor and, heart.

Nasi Goreng

This is amazing and not too challenging to put together. For the Spice Paste: 2 small shallots (2 ounces; 55g), roughly chopped 3 medium cloves garlic 1 large fresh green chile, such as Fresno or Holland, stemmed and seeded, or 1 teaspoon sambal oelek, such as Huy Fong (see note) 1/2 teaspoon terasi (Indonesian shrimp paste), optional (see note) For the Nasi Goreng: 4 cups cold cooked jasmine rice (21 ounces; 600g) or other medium- to long-grain rice (see note) 2 tablespoons (30ml) neutral oil, such as canola or sunflower oil 2 tablespoons (30ml) kecap manis (see note), plus more for drizzling 2 teaspoons (10ml) soy sauce Kosher salt Ground white pepper Optional Toppings: 2 large fried eggs, cooked sunny-side up or over easy Sliced cucumbers Sliced tomatoes Fried shallots For the Spice Paste: Add half the shallots to a mortar and grind with the pestle until a coarse purée forms. Add remaining shallots, followed by garlic, chile, and terasi (if using), grinding with the pestle until each ingredient is mostly incorporated before adding the next. The final paste should resemble thick oatmeal in texture. Alternatively, combine all spice paste ingredients in a small food processor and process until they form a paste. For the Nasi Goreng: If using day-old rice, transfer rice to a bowl and break rice up with your hands into individual grains. Heat oil in a large wok or skillet over high heat until shimmering. Add spice paste and cook, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom of the wok or pan to prevent the paste from burning, until a pungent smell permeates your kitchen and the paste turns a few shades darker, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium at any time if the paste appears to be browning too quickly. Add rice to the wok and stir to coat with the spice paste. Add kecap manis and soy sauce. Stir and cook until rice is evenly colored and hot throughout. Season with salt and white pepper. Divide rice between two plates and top each plate of rice with a fried egg. Garnish with cucumber and tomato slices and shower with fried shallots, if you like. Serve immediately with kecap manis alongside for drizzling.

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

I really loved this story, and hope there are more to come, because this is the author's first book. It weaves together aspects of her personal past and present life to create a thought provoking and easily read story. Black cake, both the dessert and the book itself, has a complicated history. The dense, rum-soaked, fruit-packed dessert is a Caribbean tradition at Christmas, Easter and weddings. For those no longer living in the islands, it’s also a strong reminder of home. Eleanor Bennett, too, has a complicated history. As the novel begins, she has just died in Southern California, leaving her daughter, Benny, and son, Byron, with an audio recording full of long-buried secrets. The estranged adult siblings are asked to listen and carry out their dead mother's wishes, which turns out to be a pretty big ask. The story wends together several threads as they relate to the Caribbean, colonization, forced enslavement of Africans and the resulting trade triangles in a way that is both seamless and hard to put down.

Biscoff-Like Cookies

My spouse came home from a vacation that invovled airplane travel and decided to try to make the cookie that they hand out with the drink service. I was a bit sceptical, but these were really quite good. 2 cups (10oz/282g) all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup (8oz/225g) butter, at room temperature 1/2 cup (4oz/115g) sugar 1/4 cup (1 1/2oz/42g) brown sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract In a medium-sized bowl, mix together flour, spices, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In a separate large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer on low speed. Add in the vanilla extract. Gradually blend the flour mixture into the butter mixture until it is well combined. The dough may feel dry and crumbly. Bring the dough into a ball, cover, and chill for a minimum of 1 hour. When the cookie dough is chilling preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) then grease and line 2 cookie sheets, set aside. Once chilled, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out your cookies using the cookie cutter and carefully transfer to your prepared baking sheet 1 at a time using, and offset spatula (this ensures the cookies keep their shape) Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden and brown. Remove from the oven and all to fully cool on a cooling rack. These will keep covered in an airtight container and stored at cool room temperature for up to 10 days.

A Calling For Charlie Barnes by Joshua Ferris

fronts. He has five marriages, is a college drop out; he has been unable to stay with any employer or profession for any length of time and he is unable to tell the truth about almost any aspect of his life, even to his wives and children. The story opens where he is briefly convinced that he pancreatic cancer, and he immediately calls all his relatives to inform them, even before he has meet with a doctor to discuss it. Through that we learn that he has been convinced he had cancer a number of times before, and they all treat him a bit like Peter and the Wolf, which is indeed the case at least briefly. The ins and outs of navigating the end of life when you have spent the beginning and middle screwing many things up is at once sobering and amusing, and ultimately leaves you thinking.

Hand of God (2021)

This is a Telling of the director's growing up experience, maybe fictionalized a little, maybe a lot, but it is apparently unlike his usual work and it appears that it is meant as a window into how he became who he is today. Set in Naples during the 1980s, Sorrentino’s movie follows introverted 17-year-old Fabietto Schiesi as he figures out his identity relative to his horny, embarrassing, and affectionate family members who say exactly what they think without any filter, and while they seem to mean well, sometimes they are just mean, but they always love him and he knows it. The movie takes several unexpected turns and is very atmospheric throughout. It is a personal, occasionally challenging and unconventional autobiography.

America and Iran by John Ghazvinian

This is a fascinating telling of the relationship between the United States and Iran going back to before the US was an independent country. The book starts there, when things were good, and then goes through a very detailed retelling of how it went wrong over and over again up until the present day. Iran had so much promise as an ally in the Middle East. Somehow along the way that perspective got warped. Iran was different religiously than many of the other countries in the region with a predominantly Shiite population, and one where the separation between mosque and state was established. They had a colonial relationship with Britain they were eager to shed and had no love of Russia back in the beginning of the 20th century. There were so many mistakes made along the way, but the fist one was installing the Shah in 1953, which squashed democracy in its infancy and as time went on, the Shah made the country ripe for revolution. The subsequent chain of events pushed Iran further from the west, and then the demonizing was ramped up to what is possibly the point of no return. Very sad course of events.

Women's Athletic Apparel

I have been fuming about this since the Olympics this summer, and am pleased to note that in retrospect, the rules on bikinis were ultimately changed. However, sexism, as well as misogyny, is alive and impressively disgusting at the highest level of sports. I have loved the Olymics all my life and yet this year I did not watch any of the events. Why? It was too hard to ignore the fact that the Olympics, with rules and regulations still largely controled by men, are perpetuating control over women and their bodies. The women's beach volley team from Norway was fined for wearing shorts rather than the regulation bikini bottoms “with a close fit and cut on an upward angle.” Could anyone possibly enjoy watching a woman compete without being able to actually see her unclothed ass? And if she refuses to be practically naked, then she should be fined or disqualified?

It is disgusting at best. The older I get the more I understand that this is unlikely to change substantively in what is left of my life, and that there is little to nothing that I can do about it. I am heartened that my children's generation seems to be taking gigantic strides in the arena of equal treatment. Additionally, the previous administration taught me that about a third of United States voters, both men and women, but mostly men, mostly white, think that the old sexist, racist, homophobic ways really suit them. Those are things to deal with, but what I do not have to do is watch. Entering my curmudgeon stage, it seems.

The Charterhouse of Parma by Stendahl

This, the last book by Stendahl, is the story of an Italian nobleman in the Napoleonic era and later. It was a masterpiece, even in it's own time, and admired by Balzac, Tolstoy, André Gide, di Lampedusa and Henry James. It was inspired by an inauthentic Italian account of the dissolute youth of Alessandro Farnese, and starts more as a historical soap opera than an enduring classic. The life of Farnese closely mimics that of Fabrizio. (Farnese became Pope in 1534, had a beautiful aunt, Vandozza Farnese, who was the mistress of the cunning Rodrigo Borgia. He murdered a young woman's servant, was imprisoned in the Castel Sant'Angelo, escaped by means of a very long rope, and maintained as his mistress a well-born woman called Cleria. In Stendahl's version, the story opens with Fabrizio in prison, but he is soon set free and stumbles from one potential catastrophe to another, always managing to keep his head just above water, and while he deserves the trouble he gets into and more, we are always rooting for him to get away to have just one more adventure. An excellent 19th century French novel that you never heard of is well worth seeking out.

Passing (2021)

This is a movie about two light skinned black women who know each otehr from childhood and meet again in 1920's New York City. Clare is passing for white. She’s convincing enough to fool a lot of people, including her racist husband. Irene is living in Harlem but on one particular day decided to try her hand at fooling the masses that she too is white. She nervously enters a White dining establishment and takes a seatlooking uncomfortable and anxious. It is in white Manhattan that they remeet up, but it is in Harlem that Clare wants to experience just exactly the part of her culture and herself that she has given up in order to live with the access that being white gives her. The script is taken from a book of the same name, and is multi-layered in nuance, maybe as a result. This was completely snubbed by the Oscars this year, but the acting, screenplay, and cinematography are all quite impressive.

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

This has a kind of straight-faced slapstick humor that the author is widely known for. It is at core a bemused observation of human nature, seen through the lens of an event that is unlikely to occur in real life, and populated with quirky yet believable characters, and in the end you have laughed some and learned something. It’s almost New Year’s Eve in a small Swedish town when a distraught parent, short on rent and afraid of losing child custody, makes the poor choice to half-heartedly rob a bank. The ill-conceived plant doesn’t work out--it’s a cashless bank and even customers willing for fork over what cash they have do not have enough. The police are closing in, so the inexperienced robber, still wearing his ski mask disguise and carrying a toy handgun, flees to a nearby apartment building and unintentionally turns an ordinary open house for an apartment that is up for sale into an extraordinary hostage situation.

The Final Revival of Opal and Nev by Dawnie Walton

This book, yet another from Obama's 2021 reading list, is the type of novel that grabs you no matter your interests--it covers a lot of ground, including music, art, the 1970s, black culture, and the progress of civil rights through the decades. The book is constructed as an oral history, with a premise as complex as its characters. Fictional cult classic ’70s punk rock band Opal & Nev is coming together for a 2016 reunion show and to tease the possibility of a tour. Music journalist Sunny Shelton is tasked with writing the band’s biography, potentially because her father used to play for them — and was even killed at an event where they were playing. Underneath that, Sunny has a deeper secret: Opal Jones had a love affair with her father. Despite all of this, Sunny is determined to provide a fair and balanced look at this band that affected so many people, including her. The beauty of this book for me is that it allows readers to reckon with how we view pivotal moments in history and how tragic and personal moments can be turned into flashpoints that are discussed but not fully understood. As Sunny gets to the bottom of what happened to her father that tragic day, everything jolts into a new perspective.

The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021)

Andrew Garfield and Jessica Chastain really channel Jim and Tammy Baker in this remake of the 2000 biopic. Tammy Faye’s life unfolds from her childhood fascination with religion and her turbulent and largely unaffectionate childhood, to her courtship with a young Jim. In this depiction she is outspoken and strident, daring to take a seat at a table with the men advising her husband on his growing career, much to the disdain of a conservative like Jerry Falwell. I am not sure how much truth there is behind all this, but the other tele-evageslists depicted are really misogynists, but Baker is depicted as loving women, to a fault. Chastain, who won an Academy Award for her performance, plays Tammy Faye as a pure soul, someone who believed in all of her causes and was surrounded by inferior men who consistently tried to dim her inner brightness. The film has been criticized for its preoccupation with hair and make-up, but that seems true to the character, and it won in this category as well at the 2022 Oscars.