Roast Chicken with Oranges and Fennel

This is from the Ottolenghi and Tamimi cookbook 'Jerusalem'.  The great thing about this recipe is that if you are cooking for a crowd, but also have to work a full day then you can do all the prep work the day before, and cook it the next day.

• 6 1/2 tablespoons Arak (or Ouzo or Pernod)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange (or clementine) juice
• 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons grainy mustard
• 3 tablespoons light brown sugar or honey
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• freshly ground pepper
• 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces (a mix of thighs and drumsticks is nice)
• 4 clementines, unpeeled, sliced thin
• a few sprigs of thyme
• 2 to 3 medium onions (or fennel bulbs) cut lengthwise and then into quarters
• 2 1/2 teaspoons fennel seeds, lightly crushed

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together arak, oil, orange and lemon juices, mustard, brown sugar and salt. Season with pepper, to taste.   Place chicken with clementine slices, thyme sprigs, onion pieces (or fennel wedges), and crushed fennel seeds (if using) in a large mixing bowl or ziplock bag. Turn several times to coat. Marinate chicken for several hours or overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 475 degrees. After 30 minutes, check on the chicken. If the skin is browning too quickly, turn the oven down to 400ºF and continue roasting until the skin is brown and crisp, 20 to 25 minutes longer. I roast the chicken at 475ºF for 45 minutes and at 400ºF for 10 minutes, but every oven is different, so just keep an eye on it. Remove pan from the oven.
3. Transfer chicken and clementines and onion pieces with juices to a serving platter. Let rest 5 to 10 minutes before serving. Or, proceed to step 4, which I have never done.
4. Optional: Pour cooking liquid into a small saucepan. Place over medium-high heat, bring to a boil, then simmer until sauce is reduced and you are left with about 1/3 cup. You can degrease by using a spoon to remove some of the fat from top of the sauce. Pour heated sauce over chicken.

Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris 1932 by Francine Prose

This is a deceptively serious book written in a light fashion.  It centers on a cabaret style club in France, owned by Yvonne.  She has a pet lizard and a weakness for sailors.  Her club is the hub of sexual transgressions, military intrigue, and social change.  The interlocking voices who tell the story — all seductive and unreliable in their own ways — show Paris as it devolves from the decadence and gallows humor of the 1930s to the terror and bravery of the Occupation.  In this alchemy of patriotism, xenophobia, sexual frustration and anti-Semitism, the book raises up underground heroes and cosmic villains. We hear first off from Brassaï, self renamed Gabor, in his affectionate letters to his parents in Hungary. While they are attempts at reassurance and full of gratitude for their financial support, he describes the bizarre sights of the city even while begging them not to worry.  The other characters are equally diverse and interesting and the scenes are disturbing and turbulent, all the while maintaining an air of off-handedness.

Hainan Li Culture, Kunming, China

The Li people are an ethnic minority in China, with their own customs and costumes.  The women comb their hair into a bun with metal or bone hairpins. During festivals, they wear bracelets, ear rings, necklaces, and foot rings. The practice of tattooing girls which prevailed in ancient times is now mostly discontinued.

When children grow into their teens, they are expected to move from their parents' house. Boys build their own houses, and girls will be under the authority of their parents. Usually these rooms are smaller than the ones they lived before. This is also the place where the youth find their lover.


The Li have a reputation for being good at singing and dancing. Their dances arise mainly from their work in the field, pestling the rice, and worshiping ancestors.

The most traditional Li festivals is the Spring Festival.
Before the Spring Festival, all the families prepare sumptuous dinners, brew wine and cook Dengye, a kind of cake. It can be stored for a time and after that, it turns to be hard and tenacious. If you cut it into slices and then fry or bake it, then it will take on quite another flavor. On New Year's Eve, the Li will worship ancestors; the following days, they visit and greet each other as well as sing and dance.

Sanyuesan is another well known Li festival.  It refers to the third day of the third month when this is celebrated. The elders are honored and visited by other people with yellow wine, cured vegetables and cakes; young people go out hunting and fishing and in the evening, they sing face to face, in traditional flowery clothes, and worship ancestors. This is also a wonderful time to express love to those persons who are dear to one's heart.

Summer Rolls with BBQ Brisket and Sriracha Mayonnaise

This recipe is adapted from the New York Times, and is super easy if you have the BBQ Brisket.  You can either make it or get some from your favorite local BBQ place.

There are lots of variations that can be made--the BBQ meat is a great combination with the sriracha mayonnaise so retain that piece, but substitute some homemade cole slaw for the shredded cabbage or add other pickled vegetables.  I have a recipe for the pickled daikon and carrot that was posted a couple of days ago.

For the barbecue mayonnaise:

• ½ cup mayonnaise
• ¼ cup barbecue sauce
•   Lime juice, to taste
•   Sriracha, to taste

For the rolls:

• 1 block (about 7 ounces) rice vermicelli
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 8 to 12 rice-paper wrappers for summer rolls, about 8 1/2 inches wide
• 8 sprigs mint, leaves picked off
• 8 sprigs Thai basil or basil, leaves picked off
•   Pickled carrots and daikon (do chua), homemade or fresh or jarred from Vietnamese markets
• ¾ to 1 pound barbecued beef brisket, thickly sliced
• ½ cup thinly sliced red cabbage
• 16 sprigs cilantro
•   Whole lettuce leaves

Make the barbecue mayonnaise:

1. Combine mayonnaise and barbecue sauce, and stir until smooth. Season to taste with lime juice and sriracha, and set aside. (Can be made 1 day ahead and refrigerated.)

Make the rolls:

1. Put the rice vermicelli in a large bowl. Cover with boiling water, add the salt and let soak, swishing occasionally, until soft but still resilient, 3 to 5 minutes. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold water until the water runs clear. Let drain for at least 30 minutes, or spread on a plate and refrigerate for up to 2 hours.
2. When ready to serve, set out all the ingredients on a clean surface. Half-fill a bowl wide enough to fit the wrappers with lukewarm water. Place 1 wrapper in the water and pat it, gently bending to test, until pliable but not completely soft. Shake off excess water and lay the wrapper down.
3. Place a straight line of mint and basil leaves across the circle, about 2 inches up from the bottom edge. Plump up that line with a small clump of vermicelli, a pinch of do chua and 1/8 of the brisket. Drizzle a scant teaspoon of barbecue mayonnaise over the meat. Finish with red cabbage and 2 cilantro sprigs.
4. Bring bottom edge of wrapper tightly up over the filling, then fold the sides in to cover. Continue to roll upward, tightly but gently, and place finished rolls on a plate, seam-side down. Repeat with remaining rolls. Cover rolls with lettuce leaves to keep them fresh. Serve as soon as possible.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

I read this book because it is assigned to one of my kids for a college class on the art of storytelling.  The class is using video games as the medium for the story, and the book is centered on a gigantic video world.

The year is 2044 and things have gone about how you would expect them to.  No one paid attention to climate change until it was far too late, there is little food and water throughout the world, and the have nots far outnumber the haves.  Wade is living in a trailer park high rise, an orphan who has been nominally cared for by his meth addicted aunt.  He spends most of his days in the virtual world of OASIS--where he not only games but also goes to school.

OASIS was the brainchild of James Halliday who grew up in the eighties.  After he died, his lawyers issued a public last will and testament to all OASIS users.  Somewhere within the game, Halliday had hidden three keys.  Solving the first riddle would lead to a puzzle and successful completion would lead to the first key and the next riddle.  The first person to receive all three keys and find the 'Easter egg' would win his legacy and billions of dollars.   Which is what Wade spends all his spare time doing.  He has some advantages, including a life long obsession with Halliday and his loves.  This gets him the first key, which then makes him a target for just about everyone, including a corporation that is willing to kill to get Halliday's fortune.

The reader knows the outcome of the game from the outset, so the story is really about how that happened, and it is remarkably enjoyable, even for a video game Luddite such as myself.

Miao Culture, Guilin, China

The Miao people are one of 55 ethnic minorities that are recognized by the Chinese government, but in reality they have been grouped together with a range of different cultures that share some common cultural practices and similar languages.  The Hmong of SE Asia are amongst the sub-cultures of Miao.

We saw Miao people in Guilin, and there are several places where tourists can step into the clothing and jewelry of the Miao and have their pictures taken. 

Silver accessories are a standard for the Miao people. For more than 400 years, it's been the custom to decorate oneself head to toe, with silver. A full set can weigh up to 20 pounds. The purpose of wearing all this silver is of course primarily aesthetic, but they are also worn as amulets to ward off evil, and as symbols of wealth. The clothes bear strong cultural message. The patterns range from ancient totem to historic legend. Historians view it as the "Wearable History Book".
The tradition of wearing silver is preserved by a great number of craftsmen, scattered through the Miao villages. Most of the silver accessories are made by hands in a traditional way. A silver head-piece takes a couple of months to finish. In some villages, every male is trained in silver-work. Each ornament is an exquisite work of art and sparkles with the wisdom of the Miao people.

Daikon and Carrot Pickle (Do Chua)

This is a key ingredient in Bahn Mi sandwiches, but can be added to fresh Vietnamese spring rolls as well.  Always have some in the refrigerator to add to salads or sandwiches!  I made this with kohlrabi instead of daikon, which we have in abundance.

1 large carrot, peeled and cut into thick matchsticks
1 pound daikons, peeled and cut into thick matchsticks
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons plus 1/2 cup sugar
1  1/4 cups distilled white vinegar
1 cup lukewarm water
1. Place the carrot and daikons in a bowl and sprinkle with the salt and 2 teaspoons of the sugar. Use your hands to knead the vegetables for about 3 minutes, expelling the water from them. They will soften and liquid will pool at the bottom of the bowl. Stop kneading when you can bend a piece of daikon so that the ends touch but the daikon does not break. The vegetables should have lost about one-fourth of their volume. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold running water, then press gently to expel extra water. Return the vegetables to the bowl if you plan to eat them soon, or transfer them to a 1-quart jar for longer storage.
2. To make the brine, in a bowl, combine the 1/2 cup sugar, the vinegar, and the water and stir to dissolve the sugar. Pour over the vegetables. The brine should cover the vegetables. Let the vegetables marinate in the brine for at least 1 hour before eating.

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

This is a really great book, one that you should read even if you are one of those people who only read a handful of books a year.  Yes, it is set in WWII France, and yes, there are children involved.  It is much more hopeful than its subject and setting would imply.  The book is paints a lyrical backdrop to a gruesome war.

There are two main characters and two threads of the story.  The first is Marie-Laure LeBlanc, is the once sighted now blind daughter of  the widowed master locksmith at the Museum of Natural History in Paris. Shy but smart, courageous and resourceful, she has learned to navigate the streets of her neighborhood with the help of a wooden scale-model made by her master carver father.  She learns to read Braille and is able to submerge herself in the fantasy world of fiction.  The treasure of their museum is a blue diamond, the Sea of Flames, which endows the owner with eternal life but curses all that they love.  There is the rub.  They are forced to leave Paris when the Nazis invade, and go to live with Marie-Laure's great uncle Etienne, who has a great love of radios and a great fear of everything else.  He has PTSD from WWI and never leaves the house, but it is a loving environment for Marie-Laure to live in during the war.

The second is Werner Pfennig, an orphan with a idiot savant understanding of circuitry, comes of age in the coal-mining town in Germany. He gets admitted to a Nazi training school, and becomes a cog in the German war machine, hunting down Resistance radio transmissions in France and capturing the offenders. He starts off rah rah Germany but over time he changes, realizing exactly what he is doing and becoming disillusioned with both the war and himself.  At this point the two stories come together.  Werner listens to Marie-Laure's radio broadcasts, which include poetry, literature and music, and when he becomes aware of her danger, he vows to save her--will he succeed?  It is a bittersweet ending, that is all I can say. 

Meyer from Berlin (1919)

Brace yourselves.  My youngest son is taking a film class focusing on Ernst Lubitsch, a director (and in this film, also an actor) who I had never heard of, but will spend this semester immersing myself in.  The bad news is that while he was a very influential director, much of his work is largely unknown today.  The good news is that a lot of his films are available on YouTube, this one included.

Meyer from Berlin is a German silent movie that features Sally Meyer, a character that Lubitsch created and played from 1916-1919.  Sally is a man who is oblivious to his flaws and has hutzpah, an overinflated sense of confidence that ends up serving him well.

Early in the movie we know that Sally is a womanizer.  When he is 'sick in bed' he manages to get up and kiss the maid when she brings him bouillon.  So when he takes off to an Alpine motel for some mountain climbing we are not surprised that he focuses his attention on the woman every man wants to woo, and he is successful at getting her attention because he seems so harmless.  The movie is beautifully shot  and it does not seem almost 100 years old.  The playfulness and off color suggestiveness is well done and fun to watch.

Astonish Me by Maggie Shipstead

I was not a huge fan of the author's first book, 'Seating Arrangements'--it was well written but every character in the book was so annoying that I had trouble focusing on the plot line. I just wanted them all to go away.  The people in this book are equally flawed as people (aren't we all) but much more enjoyable to read about.

This is an old story that rolls out against the backdrop of premier quality ballet.  Joan is a ballerina who is very good, good enough to dance in the corps in a company that tours both nationally and internationally, but she is not soloist material.  When she is Paris as a student she is backstage when a Russian dancer of the highest quality and artistry comes back stage.  She has a tryst with him, not because she likes him but because she wants to be enveloped by his talent.

He defects, she helps him, and they become lovers for a while but then he moves on, and she is heartbroken.  They have one last night when he tells her that he is marrying another woman, and she is left pregnant.  She dances for another month, but then goes back to her high school boyfriend, who loves her dearly, and they get married and raise their boy, Harry.

Well, Harry is quite a good dancer, and from there stems trouble, the unraveling of the truth that leaves everything changed and nothing for the better.  Mistakes were made, and some people paid for them and others did not.  A good read.